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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2023 Women’s World Cup: Group G
Sweden
- Nickname: Blågult (The Blue & Yellow)
- FIFA Rank: 3rd
- World Cup appearances: 9th
- Best finish: 2nd (2003)
Sweden takes on South Africa on July 23, kicking off a ninth consecutive quest for World Cup glory. No team has come so close to winning a WWC without actually winning one as Sweden. They have made the final once and finished in third place three times, most recently in 2019. A shocking 4-0 loss to England at Euro 2022 saw Sweden bow out at the semifinal stages, an unexpected defeat that will surely have them gunning for redemption this summer. They will, however, be missing defender Hannah Lundkvist after she picked up a knock in a 5-1 friendly win over the Philippines earlier this week.
South Africa
- Nickname: Banyana Banyana
- FIFA Rank: 54th
- World Cup appearances: 2nd
- Best finish: Group stages (2019)
The current African Cup of Nations champions return to the WWC with some considerable talent in their arsenal. They also travel Down Under with the belief that they can make it through their group and into the Round of 16. Racing Louisville’s Thembi Kgatlana will lead the charge for South Africa, as well as sharpshooter midfielder Hildah Magaia.
Italy
- Nickname: Le Azzurre (The Blues)
- FIFA Rank: 16th
- World Cup appearances: 5th
- Best finish: Quarterfinals (2019)
This year has already been a successful one for Italian women’s soccer with Serie A turning to a professional model and boosting the status of women’s football in the country. This team has the chance to further that progress with a big performance against Argentina on July 24. Coming off the back of a disappointing Euro 2022 campaign, when they exited at the group stages, Le Azzure will hope to build on their 2019 quarter-finals appearance. They will call upon some familiar faces such as Cristiana Girelli to get them over the line in a tough group.
Argentina
- Nickname: La Albiceleste (The white and sky blue)
- FIFA Rank: 28th
- World Cup appearances: 4th
- Best finish: Group stages (2019)
Argentina’s Copa América performance meant they qualified for the WWC comfortably, reaching the semifinals in Colombia. Germán Portanova’s side has one goal in mind for this summer’s contest, to win a first World Cup game. Since the Argentinian took over in 2021, he has been ambitious in his goal-setting for the team. This squad has an experienced core with players such as Estefanía Banini, who was the first Argentinian woman to be named in FIFA’s Best World XI in 2021.
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