The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off on Thursday. The ninth edition of the tournament travels to Australia and New Zealand from July 20-Aug. 20 and promises to be the most widely watched one to date. The defending champions, the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) will open their campaign against Vietnam on Saturday, July 22.
There are eight groups consisting of four nations, each country will play every team in their group once. The top two teams in each group will then move on to the knockout stages of the tournament.
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2o23 Women’s World Cup: Group C
Spain
- Nickname: La Roja
- FIFA Rank: 6th
- World Cup appearances: 3rd
- Best finish: Round of 16 (2019)
Following Spain’s qualification for this year’s Women’s World Cup (WWC), 15 players announced their resignation, citing problems with the coaching staff, including manager Jorge Vilda, in a tense standoff with the Spanish FA. La Roja will play the tournament with an incredibly different squad from the one that qualified by winning all eight games of their group in September. There is also uncertainty regarding their superstar midfielder, Alexia Putellas who was voted The Best FIFA Women’s Player for the last two years with Barcelona. The 29-year-old is recovering from an ACL injury but has been named on the squad to travel to Australia and New Zealand. This Spanish side reached the final 16 in France four years ago and will open their campaign against Costa Rica on July 21.
Costa Rica
- Nickname: Las Ticas
- FIFA Rank: 36th
- World Cup appearances: 2nd
- Best finish: Group stages
Costa Rica will hope to reach uncharted territory Down Under this summer by qualifying for the knockout stages. Their inspirational unbeaten qualifying round has sparked excitement at home for Los Ticos, led by Costa Rica’s all-time leading scorer, Raquel Rodríguez Cedeno. With 100 caps and 55 goals for her country, she is the leader of this up-and-coming team who will attempt their first-ever victory in a World Cup match this summer.
Zambia
- Nickname: Copper Queens
- FIFA Rank: 77th
- World Cup appearances: 1st
- Best finish: N/A
This history-making squad is the first African landlocked national team, male or female, to qualify for a World Cup. At 23, Barbra Banda is the focal point of the Zambian attack that will prove crucial if they are to progress further in their inaugural WWC. The African side’s tournament preparation has been overshadowed by sexual misconduct allegations against their coach, Bruce Mwape, who is currently under investigation. They will enter their first WWC as outright underdogs to Futoshi Ikeda’s Japanese side on July 22.
Japan
- Nickname: Nadeshiko
- FIFA Rank: 11th
- World Cup appearances: 9th
- Best finish: Champions (2011)
The 2011 champions and 2015 finalists are currently sitting at 11th in the world rankings. They failed to progress past the round of 16 after a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands four years ago. However, making history is not something new for this side. They became the first Asian nation to win a World Cup 12 years ago, a feat they will hope to replicate this summer. Recent Liverpool signee Fuka Nagano, along with Manchester City’s Yui Hasegawa, will operate as the midfield generals of this experienced team.
