2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Group-by-group preview

This summer, 32 nations will battle for the biggest prize in women’s soccer when the FIFA Women’s World Cup travels to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time.

Beginning on Thursday with New Zealand and Australia’s opening matches, the Women’s World Cup will be broadcast on Fox Networks through the final on Aug. 20.

Here’s a look at the eight groups and a quick preview on what can be expected from each team.

Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland

New Zealand has competed in five Women’s World Cups but has never advanced past the group stage or won a game. However, with the tournament being held on home soil, it has a major advantage this year and could change the narrative.

Norway lost in the group stage of the European Finals for the second year in a row last year. But with a well-known figure as their new head coach, the team finds itself in a different situation this year. Former midfielder and new coach Hege Riise won the 2003 award for being her nation’s best-ever player. Norway is one of just four countries to have won a World Cup.

This year, the Philippines will compete in the World Cup for the first time. It was an unproven team that had never made it to a major tournament and had never won anything. However, since coach Alen Stajcic stepped in back in 2021, he has made a turnaround for the program, leading the team to win its first trophy last year at the AFF Championship.

Switzerland is also led by a new coach this year, Inka Grings, and is desperate to make up for last year’s humiliating UEFA EURO defeat (it was ousted in the group stage with just one point).

Group B: Australia, Canada, Republic of Ireland, Nigeria

Australia received an automatic bid for this year’s competition as one of the host nations after qualifying for the previous seven Women’s World Cups. Like New Zealand, it should flourish in front of its home crowd.

In three of their past four appearances at the Women’s World Cup, Australia has made it past the group stage and reached the quarterfinals. It has a good chance of having another successful season this year, especially with forward Sam Kerr leading its attack.

Canada lost to the United States 1-0 in the 2022 CONCACAF final and to Sweden in the Round of 16 of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, but it still is the favorite to advance from Group B in light of its Olympic triumph at the Tokyo Games.

Ireland is another team that will make its first appearance in the Cup this year. A 9-0 win over Georgia as well as 1-0 wins over Finland, Slovakia and Scotland catapulted the Girls in Green to Australia and New Zealand this year. Forward and team captain Katie McCabe will be key to the Irish’s success this summer.

Many believe that Nigeria has been placed in the group of death, but it will be hoping to advance one step further than it did at the Women’s World Cup in 2019, when it fell to Germany in the Round of 16.

Group C: Spain, Japan, Costa Rica, Zambia

Prior to Australia’s upset of Spain in the 2023 Cup of Nations, the Spaniards had a number of important victories in the previous year, including triumphs over the world champion United States (2-0) and Japan. Their star player Alexia Putellas, who missed last year’s European Championships and the majority of this past season due to an ACL injury, is now back and will look to disrupt the status quo.

In the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Japan failed to make it past the group stages despite being crowned world champions in 2011 and making the final in 2015. The Japanese will look to put the past behind them under new leadership in coach Futoshi Ikeda, who took over in 2021.

This year, Costa Rica will participate in its second World Cup after making its debut in 2015 but going winless. Its performance in the 2022 CONCACAF should give it the confidence it needs to make an impact.

Zambia, one of the eight teams to make its debut in this year’s tournament, will face challenges from Spain, Costa Rica, and Japan. With head coach Bruce Mwape under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, its success becomes even more problematic.

Group D: England, China PR, Haiti, Denmark

Since the start of 2022, England has compiled 20 victories, which is the second-highest total of any team (USA, 21), making the Lionesses the clear favorite in Group D. However, injuries have been a major problem for England. Prior to the Cup, it has lost five players (Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead are injured, while Ellen White and Jill Scott retired).

China hasn’t come close to achieving such feats since 1999, when it finished second in the Women’s World Cup after falling to the USA in the final on penalties. But in each of the Chinese’s seven prior World Cup appearances, they have progressed past the group stage and are tied for third most in World Cup elimination stages (USA, 8; Germany, 8; Sweden, 7; Norway, 7).

Haiti earned a spot in its inaugural Women’s World Cup after defeating Senegal and Chile in February. Earlier this year, it defeated Moldova 3-1 in a friendly match to earn its first victory against a European country. However, this is a very young team and its standout player, Melchi Dumornay, is only 19 years old.

Midfielder Pernille Harder, Denmark’s captain and standout player, has assisted her country in returning to the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 16 years after returning from a hamstring injury. It will also be the last competition for longtime manager Lars Sndergaard, who will leave his position as head coach following the World Cup after his six-year tenure.

Group E: United States, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam

With no surprise, the United States is the betting favorites in this year’s World Cup.

The USA women’s national soccer team has won four out of the eight Women’s World Cups, and this year, the defending champions have a chance to become the first male or female national soccer team to win three consecutive World Cups. With forward Megan Rapinoe returning for one final hoorah before her retirement, it will help on the difficult road to that goal. In the previous three World Cups, Rapinoe scored more goals than any other player.

The Netherlands will face the USA in what looks to be a rematch after losing to the Americans in the 2019 World Cup, where it was limited to only eight touches and no shots within the USA’s penalty area. The Dutch were unbeaten in their eight World Cup qualifying games. However, things aren’t looking good as star forward Vivianne Miedema will be unavailable after sustaining a knee injury while playing for Arsenal.

Portugal has the most combined defeats of any team in this year’s World Cup versus the teams in their group, with one win, one draw and a staggering 17 losses overall against the rest of Group E. In its first World Cup, it could face some significant challenges, especially having to go up against a stacked group that includes the reigning champs.

After defeating Myanmar 2-0 to earn its fourth consecutive gold medal at the South East Asian Games, Vietnam will enter the tournament on a high note. Huynh Nhu, its all-time highest scorer, is likely to be a player to keep an eye on. Five Vietnames Golden Balls have been awarded to her, including one each in the past four years.

Group F: France, Brazil, Jamaica, Panama

France is under a new coach, Hervé Renard, who coached for the men’s team and took charge after several players voiced their displeasure with former long-term coach Corinne Diacre, who was fired in March. History will say that France needs to score the first goal as it is 10W-1D-0L when scoring first at the World Cup and 0W-2D-6L when allowing the first goal.

Brazil has taken part in every tournament in the World Cup, but hasn’t won the tournament. Marta, the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 17 goals in 20 matches, is likely to lead the Brazilians as she aims to become the first player in either the men’s or women’s teams to score in six World Cups.

After losing all three of its group games at the previous World Cup, Jamaica will look to redeem itself this summer. With 56 goals, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw leads Jamaica in scoring; her 12 goals in CONCACAF World Cup qualifying were the second-most.

Panama will compete in its first World Cup and enters the competition as one of the lowest-ranked teams (No. 52). Its primary asset is its defense, which did not allow any goals during the inter-confederation playoffs. It will look to join the USA (1991) as the second CONCACAF team to win its inaugural World Cup game.

Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina

Sweden has qualified for all nine World Cups out of the seven teams that have done so and has the fourth-most World Cup victories (23 overall). It placed second in the previous two Olympics and third in the most recent World Cup. Sweden only failed to advance past the group stage once, in 2007.

In its first World Cup appearance in 2019, South Africa lost each of its three games in the group stage. It qualified for its second World Cup after winning its first title at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. South Africa, although being the underdogs in Group G, has some talented players and has made progress, particularly after winning all nine of its games in 2022.

For the first time, Italy has managed to qualify for back-to-back competitions, and in two of its previous three appearances in the competition, it has advanced to the quarterfinals. By going 9-1, it took first place in its qualifying group. This summer, it will look to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time.

Argentina has participated in the past three World Cups, but has failed to advance past the group stage each time. Since no nation has ever simultaneously held the World Cup crowns for men and women, the women’s squad is in doubt after the men’s team, headed by Lionel Messi, won its World Cup last year. But on the plus side, it hasn’t dropped a game this year (4W-1D-0L) and has outscored its rivals 11-1.

Group H: Germany, Colombia, South Korea, Morocco

The No. 2-rated team in the world, Germany, is among the favorites to go past the group stage and is also expected to win the tournament. The Germans had a successful run at the 2022 European Championship and have won games over powerful opponents like France and the USA (both 2-1). Germany will strive to join the United States as the second nation with three World Cup titles this summer.

In the Copa America Feminina 2022, Colombia won six straight friendly matches against Zambia, Paraguay and Costa Rica. The team also advanced to the final, but lost to Brazil. Following its failure to qualify for the World Cup in 2019, Colombia will attempt to take advantage of this opportunity.

South Korea is the second-best-ranked side in Group H (No. 17) in the FIFA rankings. The 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup saw South Korea have an excellent campaign as it placed second, which was its best tournament performance ever and their first appearance in the final of a major competition. However, it has a grim history at World Cups and has appeared to struggle against teams from other confederations.

Morocco, which became the first Arab nation to reach the World Cup final, will try to build on its achievements at the WAFCON competition from a year ago, when it advanced to the championship game. However, it is the tournament’s second-lowest-ranked country (72). It might have a chance for winning a game against Colombia or South Korea, but advancing over Germany would require something miraculous.