The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (WWC), the most anticipated female sporting event ever, kicks off on Thursday, July 20, in Australia and New Zealand.
It is the ninth edition and it is scheduled to take place from July 20 to August 20, 2023. This will be the first FIFA WWC to have more than one host nation, and also the first senior World Cup to be held across multiple confederations.
Additionally, this tournament will be the first to feature the expanded format of 32 teams from the previous 24. In 2019, FIFA unanimously voted to expand the WWC from 24 to 32 teams which will continue from the 2023 tournament onwards. The teams will compete across 64 matches at 10 different venues, making this year’s tournament the biggest to date.
The final match will take place on Sunday, August 20, 2023 at the Sydney Olympic Stadium in Australia. The United States are defending champions, having won the competition twice in 2015 and 2019. As kick-off approaches, here’s everything you need to know including the participating teams, dates, venues, prize money and players to watch as compiled by Beatrice Laryea.
Groups
As mentioned earlier, a total of 32 teams will be participating in the tournament and the teams have been divided into eight groups of four. The group draw for the 2023 Women's World Cup took place on October 22, 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand. Co-hosts New Zealand and Australia were automatically placed in Group A and B respectively.
Group A:New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland
Group B:Australia, Republic of Ireland, Nigeria, Canada
Group C:Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan
Group D:England, Haiti, Denmark, China
Group E:USA, Vietnam, Netherlands, Portugal
Group F:France, Jamaica, Brazil, Panama
Group G:Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina
Group H:Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea
