The countdown is officially underway to the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, where the USWNT will be looking to claim a unique record.
There are now less than 100 days to wait for the opening match of the women’s World Cup on July 20 between New Zealand and Norway. And then another month before the final at Stadium Australia in Sydney on Aug. 20. The United States women (USWNT) kick off their opening match against Vietnam on July 22.
Interest in the tournament is already high and as the BBC report, FIFA reckons they are on track for a record-breaking audience — both at the stadiums where they expect to sell 1.5 million tickets and of course on TV where a global audience of over 2 billion viewers is predicted. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has already set a high bar by claiming it will be the best-ever tournament and will unite the world.
This is still a relatively new tournament matching the growth in modern women’s soccer over the years. The first event was in China in 1991 and saw the USWNT outperform their male equivalents’ record by becoming champions for the first time.
USWNT have of course gone on to win the World Cup three more times and will be keen to repeat their success at the previous tournament in 2019 in France when they beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the final. If they do so, it will establish an amazing record as no men’s or women’s team has ever won three FIFA 11-a-side titles in a row.
Strong competition for USWNT to beat
There will be plenty of strong competition for them to face with the number of teams participating now increasing from 24 to 32. USWNT are in Group E alongside Vietnam, Portugal and 2019 finalists Netherlands.
USWNT will be amongst the favorites and are No.1 in the FIFA world ranking ahead of Germany and Sweden. Lying in fourth place in the rankings is the Lionesses from England who will be looking to build on their European Championship success last summer and may prove to be the biggest obstacle for USWNT.
A series of friendly matches in April to prepare has had mixed fortunes for the two close rivals. There was concern in England about weaknesses being exposed as the Lionesses surprisingly lost 2-0 to Australia. The WC2023 joint hosts had been beaten 1-0 by nonqualifiers Scotland just a few days earlier but stepped up their game in the next match to end England’s 30-match unbeaten run.
That contrasts with a successful couple of victories for USWNT over the Republic of Ireland in back-to-back matches this month. But they’ll be concerned about the loss of Mallory Swanson who was carried off injured and is now ruled out of WC2023. That could be a significant loss to the squad as she’s been on top form with seven goals in five matches already this season. Fortunately, there’s plenty of firepower on the roster to fill Swanson’s boots as the countdown continues.
There’s a long way to go yet, but FIFA is already building excitement and anticipation toward what looks like a terrific month of soccer this summer and a great chance for USWNT to make history.
Check out our NWSL hub page for more news, analysis, opinion and unique women’s soccer coverage. And don’t forget to follow FOR(E) on Twitter, FanSided’s home for women’s sports.
