With the 2023 Girls’s World Cup one week away, theScore has you lined. This is a full rundown of the important thing group-stage matchups and gamers to look at as the ladies transition from a 24-team format to a full-fledged 32-team spherical robin.
Group A 🇳🇿 🇳🇴 🇵🇭 🇨🇭
Schedule
Should-see match: New Zealand vs. Norway. The opening contest between co-host New Zealand and perennial challenger Norway may set the tone for the whole event. Girls’s soccer has grown tremendously on the Pacific island, with participation rising exponentially over the past 20 years. Organizers anticipate a capability crowd July 20 on the 46,350-seat Eden Park in Auckland, setting the scene for a possible upset in opposition to former champion Norway and a first-ever win for the Soccer Ferns in 15 Girls’s World Cup matches.
Key participant: Ada Hegerberg. Although the 28-year-old is extensively thought-about one of many best girls’s gamers of all time, she hardly has any World Cup expertise. Norway’s captain eliminated herself from worldwide choice between 2017 and 2022 due to what she perceived as inequality between the boys’s and girls’s applications in her nation. She’s since reconciled her variations with Norway’s soccer federation, and after struggling an ACL tear, Hegerberg is lastly prepared to indicate her immense expertise on the largest stage.
Predicted end: Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, Philippines
Odds to win event
- Norway: +5000
- Switzerland: +20000
- New Zealand: +25000
- Philippines: +200000
Group B 🇦🇺 🇨🇦 🇳🇬 🇮🇪
Schedule
Should-see match: Canada vs. Australia. These two powerhouse nations will meet July 31 with first place in Group B possible on the road. Canada and Australia are each ranked within the prime 10 and able to making deep runs. The Canadians have Christine Sinclair, probably the most prolific scorer in worldwide soccer. However the Matildas have Sam Kerr, the most effective forwards of her era, and the assist of a house crowd. Canada received the gold medal on the Tokyo Olympics, however Australia has proven extra consistency on the World Cup, reaching the knockout spherical in every of the final 5 tournaments.
Key participant: Sam Kerr. Kerr is Australia’s all-time main scorer on both the boys’s and girls’s facet and a serial winner with Chelsea’s adorned girls’s workforce. Naturally, she’s one of many favorites to win the Golden Boot because the event’s prime scorer. Kerr scored 5 targets on the 2019 World Cup, together with a hat-trick within the group stage, in addition to a tournament-leading seven on the 2022 Asia Cup.
Predicted end: Australia, Canada, Republic of Eire, Nigeria
Odds to win event
- Australia: +1200
- Canada: +2500
- Republic of Eire: +25000
- Nigeria: +100000
Group C 🇨🇷 🇯🇵 🇪🇸 🇿🇲
Schedule
Should-see match: After profitable the 2011 Girls’s World Cup and ending as runner-up in 2015, Japan has a brand new era of gamers with much more talent than their predecessors. Head coach Futoshi Ikeda promoted a number of of the gamers who received the U-20 Girls’s World Cup below his tutelage in 2018, together with flashy winger Jun Endo. Whereas Spain is reeling from a string of participant protests which have splintered Jorge Vilda’s roster on the worst potential time, it nonetheless has two-time defending Ballon d’Or Female winner Alexia Putellas.
Key participant: Alexia Putellas. The 29-year-old is coming off an ACL tear that dominated her out of the 2022 European Championship and held her to only 5 league appearances with Barcelona final season. Even when she will be able to’t play essential minutes on the World Cup, her presence is sufficient to give Spain a lift, significantly at a time when a number of skilled gamers, together with membership teammate Patri Guijarro, are lacking the event out of protest over Vilda’s administration model.
Predicted end: Japan, Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia
Odds to win event
- Spain: +550
- Japan: +2500
- Zambia: +25000
- Costa Rica: +100000
Group D 🇨🇳 🇩🇰 🏴 🇭🇹
Schedule
Should-see match: England vs. Denmark. Even with out injured stars Beth Mead and Leah Williamson, the Lionesses are one of many favorites to win the event. However their group is more durable than it appears to be like. Coming off wins over Hegerberg’s Norway, resurgent Japan, and No. 3-ranked Sweden, Denmark has the potential to derail England’s possibilities of profitable the group.
Key participant: Alessia Russo. With beginning striker Mead out injured, Russo has an opportunity to shine in England’s assault. She proved herself throughout Euro 2022, scoring 4 occasions off the bench, together with an unimaginable backheel aim within the semifinal win over Sweden. Russo made a giant transfer to Arsenal after main Manchester United with 10 targets in 20 Girls’s Tremendous League matches final season.
Predicted end: England, Denmark, China, Haiti
Odds to win event
- England: +450
- Denmark: +6600
- China: +20000
- Haiti: +25000
Group E 🇳🇱 🇵🇹 🇺🇸 🇻🇳
Schedule
Should-see match: United States vs. Netherlands. This is not only a rematch of the 2019 remaining. This is a chance for the Dutch to indicate they’re nonetheless a contender. With out star striker Vivianne Miedema – sidelined after tearing her ACL final December – the Netherlands has misplaced a large a part of its assault. Conversely, the U.S. stays as robust as ever within the remaining third. Alex Morgan is coming off a profession 12 months with the San Diego Wave, Sophia Smith is a continuing menace up entrance, and Trinity Rodman has carried out effectively in aid. Search for the Netherlands to play a dangerous, high-pressing sport to maintain the U.S. from hoarding possession.
Key participant: Jill Roord. Although the 26-year-old is not a direct substitute for Miedema, she has the flexibility to attain targets from midfield. With 86 worldwide appearances, she’s additionally a nationwide workforce veteran. Roord lately joined Manchester Metropolis for a club-record price after guiding Wolfsburg to the Girls’s Champions League remaining.
Predicted end: United States, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam
Odds to win event
- United States: +250
- Netherlands: +1600
- Portugal: +10000
- Vietnam: +100000
Group F 🇧🇷 🇫🇷 🇯🇲 🇵🇦
Schedule
Should-see match: France vs. Brazil. Brazil does not simply depend on previous heads. Although Marta, now 37, stays an choice in Pia Sundhage’s retooled facet, longtime fixtures Formiga and Cristiane are not round. Head coach Sundhage has turned Brazil into cold-blooded killers with a tricky defensive shell. Her workforce received the Copa America with out conceding a single aim. France will likely be Brazil’s solely actual take a look at on this top-heavy group.
Key participant: Wendie Renard. An unshakable pressure in France’s again line, Renard initially eliminated herself from choice in February, saying she had suffered mentally below former head coach Corinne Diacre. Dacre’s eventual ouster, coupled with the arrival of skilled worldwide coach Herve Renard, allowed Renard to reprise her position as captain. Her return is a blessing for a French facet that wants defensive solidity and management. She’ll be seeking to crown her adorned profession with a World Cup medal.
Predicted end: France, Brazil, Jamaica, Panama
Odds to win event
- France: +900
- Brazil: +2500
- Jamaica: +50000
- Panama: +200000
Group G 🇦🇷 🇮🇹 🇿🇦 🇸🇪
Schedule
Should-see match: Sweden vs. Italy. Sweden’s expertise faces off in opposition to Italy’s budding expertise in a contest of opposites. Sweden’s success nonetheless depends closely on the manufacturing of core gamers Caroline Seger, Kosovare Asllani, and Stina Blackstenius, who’ve a mixed 491 appearances. Comparatively talking, Italy’s girls’s program is in its infancy. Although Le Azzurre made a run to the quarterfinals of the 2019 Girls’s World Cup, they have been eradicated within the group stage of Euro 2022 with a solitary level in round-robin play.
Key participant: Arianna Caruso. The 23-year-old midfielder has already made greater than 100 appearances for Juventus, underscoring her significance at a younger age to one of the crucial profitable girls’s groups in Italy. Caruso is able to becoming a member of the assault and supporting striker Cristiana Girelli as a viable scoring menace.
Predicted end: Italy, Sweden, Argentina, South Africa
Odds to win event
- Sweden: +1600
- Italy: +10000
- Argentina: +25000
- South Africa: +50000
Group H 🇨🇴 🇩🇪 🇰🇷 🇲🇦
Schedule
Should-see match: Colombia vs. South Korea. Their first match of the event may resolve whether or not they advance or head house early. In solely its third Girls’s World Cup, Colombia’s attempting to achieve the spherical of 16 for the primary time. South Korea is extra tournament-savvy, having reached the ultimate of the 2022 Asia Cup. With two-time champion Germany almost assured a first-place end, Colombia and South Korea will battle for second.
Key participant: Alexandra Popp. One of the crucial completed strikers of her period, Popp scored six occasions at Euro 2022 whereas main Germany to the ultimate. An damage throughout warm-ups stored her from taking part in at Wembley Stadium. The 32-year-old additionally helped Wolfsburg attain the Girls’s Champions League remaining in June. She has 62 targets in 128 worldwide appearances and a gold medal from the 2016 Olympics.
Predicted end: Germany, South Korea, Colombia, Morocco
Odds to win event
- Germany: +700
- South Korea: +15000
- Colombia: +15000
- Morocco: +100000
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