Womens World Cup 2023 draw
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United States and England could meet in the final of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup after being placed in opposite sides of the bracket in Saturday's draw. -
Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.) Titleholders USWNT have been drawn against Vietnam and Netherlands, with the group completed by one of the intercontinental playoff winners (Cameroon, Thailand or Portugal), while European champions England face Denmark, China and another of the playoff winners (Chile, Haiti or
Senegal). New Zealand will take on Norway in the opening game of the tournament on July 20, with co-hosts Australia playing their first match against Republic of Ireland later that day. - 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup draw: Group picks, predictions USWNT will play all their group games in New Zealand, with coach Vlatko Andonovski's side facing Vietnam in the opening Group E game at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, July 22. USWNT then face Netherlands on July 27 and finish up against the playoff winners on Aug. 1. The intercontinental
playoff winners will be known in February, when the teams meet in New Zealand as a test event for the finals. England, whose group is based in Australia, must wait to find out which team they will open against, also on July 22, when they will take on the playoff winners in Group D at Lang Park in Brisbane. Coach Sarina Wiegman then leads her team against Denmark on July 28 and China on Aug. 1. England
beat United States 2-1 when the two teams met at Wembley Stadium earlier this month; they will be unable to come up against each other in the knockout rounds of the World Cup before the final. The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is being held across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand between July 20 and Aug. 20, with the final being held in the 83,500-person Stadium Australia in Sydney. GROUP
A GROUP B GROUP C GROUP D GROUP E GROUP
F GROUP G GROUP H Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan Group D: England, Group B playoff winner (Senegal, Haiti or Chile), Denmark, China Group E: United States, Vietnam, Netherlands, Group A playoff winner (Portugal, Cameroon or Thailand) Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Group C playoff winner (Taiwan, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea or Panama) Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea Image The United States women’s soccer team will face the Netherlands, Vietnam and an as-yet-unknown playoff winner at next year’s Women’s World Cup — a fortunate draw for the Americans, even if it included the Dutch, the team they beat in the final to win their most recent world title in 2019. The Americans learned their first-round opponents at the tournament’s draw on Saturday, and they will enter the tournament in Australia and New Zealand — the first co-hosts in the World Cup’s history — as the two-time defending world champion. But they will arrive amid tectonic shifts in the women’s game, including an unsatisfying bronze medal at the last Olympics; a generational shift on their roster; and a surge of investment and interest that has powered the rise of new rivals like England and Spain and revived old ones like Canada, France and Germany. “We have a winning mentality and when we don’t win, it hurts — it hurts all of us,” Vlatko Andonovski, the United States coach, said this month, after setbacks in high-profile games against England and Spain left the Americans stewing over back-to-back defeats for the first time in more than five years. He and his players have long acknowledged that the world was closing the gap on the Americans’ hegemony in women’s soccer — Megan Rapinoe essentially admitted the gap no longer existed before the England game — and that the job of staying on top would only get harder as they pursued an extraordinary third straight World Cup title next year. But draws always bring hope, and the mood on Saturday was, momentarily at least, buoyant. “Today’s a good day,” said Lindsey Horan, the United States midfielder. “It’s exciting.” She said the opening game against Vietnam “offered us a great chance to get going in the tournament.” The Americans also will see a geographic advantage in their New Zealand-based group. They will open against Vietnam in Auckland (July 22), face the Netherlands in Wellington (July 27) and then close the first round against a playoff qualifier — either Portugal, Cameroon or Thailand — back in Auckland (August 1). Should they finish in the top two in the group — an almost certain outcome — only then will they venture to Australia for the round of 16. (Finishing first in the group will be seen as vital for both the Americans and the Dutch, because the second-place team can expect to be matched against Sweden in the first knockout round.) Some of the United States’ biggest rivals will have liked their draws, too: Sweden, the world’s second-ranked team, was drawn into a group with South Africa, Italy and Argentina, and Germany, the world No. 3 and the runner-up at last summer’s European Championship, will face Morocco, Colombia and South Korea. England, the newly crowned European champion, will face a European foe (Denmark), a faded former power (China) and, like the United States, a playoff winner whose identity will not be confirmed until February. For England, it will be either Senegal, Haiti or Chile. New Zealand will face Norway, the former champion, in the tournament’s opening game next July, and its co-host, Australia, will begin its quest against a newcomer, Ireland, before games against the World Cup mainstays Nigeria and Canada. But the expanded field means so many new faces — as much as a quarter of the field could be playing in its first World Cup — that the favorites should experience little trouble in the group stage. The stakes are still high, though, especially for a group like the one that includes the United States and the Netherlands, two likely title contenders. That will make early success vital for positioning, since a stumble in the group stage could mean facing the toughest rivals much earlier in the knockouts. Yet even as Ian Wright, the former England men’s player, declared his country the favorite, saying its players had “a target on their backs” as European champions, Andonovski knew that it was his side that would be, as usual, the target for everyone else. “For a team that’s always done well historically,” Andonovski said, “the pressure’s always going to be there.” The 2023 World Cup will be the first since FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, expanded the field to 32 teams. That produced a draw populated by familiar faces and first-time entrants: top-ranked challengers and former champions like Sweden, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands from Europe; regional powers like Brazil, Japan and Nigeria; and a handful of debutantes — Zambia, Morocco, Ireland, Vietnam and the Philippines. Image Credit...Shane Wenzlick/ReutersThe Americans? They qualified in July with the help of a mix of old and new: veterans like Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle, Horan and Becky Sauerbrunn, but also newer faces like Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Naomi Girma. Andonovski’s team remains a blend of past and present: Rapinoe will most likely make the roster next summer, but another longtime mainstay, Carli Lloyd, spent this weekend helping to run the draw, not waiting anxiously for the results of it. For Andonovski, the hard work is still ahead. By next summer, he hopes, his reimagining of his roster, his new mix of experience and youth, and his months of famously rigorous scouting, will give the United States its best chance at the first World Cup three-peat. He wasn’t always so sure. “I have to say, if you ask me if we’re ready to go in a World Cup and compete in the World Cup tomorrow, we’re probably not ready for it,” Andonovski had told reporters after the Americans qualified in July. “But are we going to be ready in a year? Absolutely.” Others are less than certain: The United States lost to England and Spain this month, its first consecutive losses in five years, and it faces another daunting challenge next month with two friendlies against Germany, the women’s Euros runner-up. England, the best team in Europe at the moment and unbeaten in its last 24 games, and Canada, which defeated the United States on its way to the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, will be waiting. But so will the Germans and the Dutch and the Swedes and the Spanish and the rest. The World Cup will open on July 20, with New Zealand and Australia both playing games at home, and conclude with the final on August 20 in Sydney’s Olympic stadium. Image Credit...Rick Rycroft/Associated PressThe first teams to find out where their paths begin are those in Pot 1, which includes the co-hosts — Australia and New Zealand — but also the United States, England, Germany, Sweden, Spain and France. Australia and New Zealand already knew their positions before arriving at Aotea Center in Auckland for the draw. New Zealand will go in Group A, and Australia in Group B. That ensures both will play the group stage on home soil. Here we go: New Zealand goes into Group A. It is in its fifth straight World Cup. Australia goes in Group B. The first unknown is Spain, which goes into Group C, one of the New Zealand-based groups. England is out next: It goes into Group D, which will be in Australia. Ian Wright, the former England star, declared his country the favorite on Friday. “There is a target on their backs,” he said. “That’s what happens when you get yourself to an elite level, which is what they have done in winning the Euro.” The United States goes into Group E: Book your flights to New Zealand if you plan to follow the Americans. They’ll start at Eden Park in Auckland. France goes into Group F. Sweden goes in Group G, which puts Germany, the runner-up at last summer’s Euros, in Group H. Image Credit...Gabriel Aponte/Getty ImagesPot 2 is up next. Norway comes out first, and will face New Zealand in the tournament’s opening game. Australia draws Canada, one of the teams no one wanted to face, and the United States gets the other one, the Netherlands. That sets up a group-stage rematch of the last World Cup final. That means a tough task just got even harder. “Winning a World Cup is hard,” the two-time winner Carli Lloyd said Friday. “Winning two is even harder. Winning three in a row? That is incredibly hard.” Spain draws Japan, and Brazil drops into Group F with France. Italy goes into Sweden’s group, and South Korea gets the joy (OK, maybe not) of facing Germany. Image Credit...Fernando Llano/Associated PressVietnam is one of the World Cup debutantes this year, and it will open with a doozy: the United States. Let’s hope there’s no repeat of USWNT-Thailand from the last one. But don’t rule one out. Ireland’s first World Cup won’t be easy, either: It is drawn into Group B with Australia and Canada, and will face the former in its opening match. Switzerland goes into Group A with New Zealand and Norway. Costa Rica will play Spain in Group C, and Denmark goes into Group D with England. Jamaica is next, but can’t go into the United States group because of regional constrictions, so goes into Group F — with France and Brazil — instead. Oof. Image Credit...Stephane Mahe/ReutersFive African teams and three unknown playoff winners make up Pot 4. The Philippines comes out first, completing New Zealand’s group. The Ferns will be happy with that: Norway and Switzerland will be tougher than the Philippines. Nigeria completes Australia’s group, and Zambia goes in with Spain and Japan in Group C. The playoff winners complicate the rest of the pairings because of geographical constraints, but the U.S. gets one in Group E. That will be one from Portugal, Cameroon or Thailand. Image Credit...Steve Welsh/Press Association, via Associated PressSeven teams in the 2023 field — Brazil, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Sweden and the United States — have qualified for every Women’s World Cup. Each will be making its ninth appearance in the tournament, which was first contested in 1991. At the same time, five teams in the draw — Morocco, the Philippines, Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia — are heading to the World Cup for the first time. And that might not be the end of the debutantes. Because of FIFA’s decision to expand the field to 32 teams, the number of first-time entrants could grow further after a series of World Cup playoff matches in February in New Zealand.
Haiti, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Portugal and Senegal will take part in those games, and none has ever qualified for the Women’s World Cup. If a first-time entrant emerges from each of the three playoff groups, that will mean eight teams — a quarter of the expanded field of 32 — will be playing on their sport’s biggest stage for the first time. Image Credit...Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesHow much is the spectacle of the 2023 Women’s World Cup worth to broadcasters? Not enough, at least according to FIFA. FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, on Saturday criticized broadcasters who he said were refusing to acknowledge the value of women’s soccer properties like next year’s World Cup. “Broadcasters offer us 100 times less than what they offer us for the men’s World Cup,” Infantino told reporters in Auckland. Bloomberg reported this week that FIFA had rejected bids to show next summer’s matches in several European countries because the offers were too low. “This is not a case of being priced out, but rather testament to a lack of willingness of broadcasters to pay what the women’s game deserves,” FIFA’s chief business officer, Romy Gai, said in an interview published Thursday. Gai called on broadcasters to sweeten their offers, pointing to record viewership figures for the 2019 World Cup in France. This summer’s European women’s championship, won by the host England, also set records for attendance and viewership. “We know the opportunity for women’s football is there,” Gai said. “Now, together, we need to capture it.” Gai told Bloomberg that bids from Italy, Germany, France and Britain had been turned down as too low, and suggested that he expected the same in Spain. He did not reveal which broadcasters had submitted the bids, according to Bloomberg. One reason for the reluctance to spend big for the 2023 World Cup could be timing: Since it will be played in Australia and New Zealand, most games will air well outside prime time in Europe. Who qualified for the 2023 Women's World Cup?Dates: 18-23 February 2023 Participating teams: 10 Tickets to Australia & New Zealand 2023: 3 Group A: Portugal, Cameroon, Thailand Group B: Chile, Haiti, Senegal Group C: Chinese Taipei, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Panama How it works: Cameroon will face Thailand for the right to play Portugal in the Group A final, ...
How many teams will be in the 2023 Women's World Cup?In addition, this tournament will be the first to feature the expanded format of 32 teams, from previous 24, replicating the same format used for the men's World Cup. The opening match will be contested between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park, Auckland.
Has Australia qualified for the World Cup 2023?Australia has officially qualified for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup after a dominant win over Kazakhstan.
Who will host FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023?The FIFA Women's World Cup 2023™ is jointly hosted by two countries, Australia and New Zealand, and held for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere.
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