2023 Women’s World Cup draw: How the USWNT and Canada fared

The 2023 Women’s World Cup draw is complete, all eight groups are set, and both the USWNT and Canada know their opponents. Well, most of them, anyway.

There are three slots left for teams that have not yet qualified for the playoff tournament next February 17-23 in Aotearoa, New Zealand. 10 teams will compete for the remaining 3 spots2 from the Asian Union, 2 from Africa, 2 from CONCACAF, 2 from South America, 1 from Oceania and 1 from Europe.

The draw was held in Tamaki Makaulau, Auckland, and 32 teams were divided into eight groups. Tournament hosts New Zealand and Australia will start their group games as A1 and B1 in Auckland and Gadigal Sydney respectively.

FIFA Draw Principles Avoid putting teams from the same confederation in the same group if possible. That is, some teams were randomly drawn into groups, he was moved to one group to avoid that conflict. However, due to the large number of UEFA teams, one group can contain up to two UEFA teams.

There are eight groups:

In Group A of the qualifying play-off tournament, Portugal have already reached the final, with Cameroon and Thailand facing off first. In Group B, Chile will face the winner of Senegal v Haiti. In Group C, Chinese Taipei has Paraguay and Papua New Guinea has Panama. The winners of these two matches will face off to determine qualification for the World Cup.

What does the lottery mean for the United States?

The two-time Women’s World Cup winners USA will be the first team selected for Group E, playing group stage matches in Auckland and Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. Here’s their schedule:

July 23 (Sat) USA (current FIFA World Ranking No. 1) vs Vietnam (34th)
Thursday, July 27: USA vs. Netherlands (No.8)
Thursday, August 1: USA vs. Playoff Group A Winner

Relatively speaking, this is not the most difficult group in the World Cup. Given their travel schedules, the United States are more likely to advance out of the group and move into the knockout rounds compared to teams in the group having to jump between Sydney and Booleupurs, albeit in the Netherlands. have an excellent chance. , for example.

“This is where the real preparation begins.”

Vlatko checks in @FOXsoccerof @stuholden After lottery 🎥 pic.twitter.com/yDC3MM5Z55

— US Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 22, 2022

The top matchup in this group is clearly USA vs. Netherlands. Both his teams have history. The U.S. beat the Netherlands 2-0 in her 2019 World Cup final, and in last year’s Olympic tournament, the U.S. edged the Netherlands in her Round of 16 and she went 4-2 on penalties. I won.

And not only because they could be the last team to make up Group E, but for yet another World Cup, they could also join last year’s recap of Thailand’s discussions. In 2019, the United States started a tournament against Thailand and won. 13-0, controversial spark About how a top team like the US copes and celebrates against inferior opponents. This time, it will be Vietnam’s first ever World Cup, and for the first time they will face his USWNT, who are deeply hungry to claim their first-ever World Cup three-peat.

The issue for USWNT here is the standings from the group stage. 1st place means he faces the 2nd place finisher in Group G. That means you can avoid his 16-round potential matchup with a familiar opponent. The enemy is Sweden (assuming 1st place in Group G).

There is one easy way for the US to achieve this. That is to score all three of her points against the group’s main test, the Netherlands.

🇺🇸 🌹 @RoseLavelle Last 2 goals scored @USWNT played against the Netherlands

Who remembers this beauty from the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final? ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/HGPrVWeFw9

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 29, 2021

If there are ‘death groups’, Canada has figured it out

After a major tournament draw, the first question is always ‘Who won the toughest group, the ‘group of death’?

At this World Cup, it will likely be Group B’s Australia (No. 13), Ireland (No. 24), Nigeria (No. 45) and Canada (No. 7). This is the group that feels the most balanced of the four teams, and therefore may end up being the most chaotic.

Australia are the hosts and certainly have some momentum as tournament favourites, given their past performances, but recent results have been volatile, dominating smaller nations but Spain, South Korea and Canada in Group B. etc. In fact, Olympic gold medal-winning Canada suffered her second loss to Australia in a friendly in September, and Australia suffered a shock 7–0 loss to Spain in June. But it was certainly an experimental roster.

However, this is a very promising result for Canada. Previously, I (Steph) called them “brutal defense teamAustralia and Nigeria in particular have domineering scoring prowess that could push Canada to a tight 1-0 or 2-1 result.

Unfortunately for Canada, being drawn as B4 left Australia congregated on their own east coast, while they were hit by a five-hour Nahm Melbourne–Perth–Melbourne group play.

What other matchups are you seeing?

Usually there is only one big opening match for the host country, but this time there will be two. New Zealand v Norway at Eden Park in Auckland and Australia v Ireland at Sydney Football Stadium on Thursday 20th July. The reasons may be different, but both countries have high hopes.Australia has made moves to cement its status as a world powerhouse in women’s football, but has yet to sustain it.New Zealand (22nd) is the team for ever Asked to do more with less And it’s been heartfelt and admirably delivered over the years, if not the result. He came just short of beating longtime regional foes Australia in a friendly in April, only to be sunk by two heartbreaking goals from him in stoppage time.

Group D Euro champions England will also be in the spotlight (Click here for an analysis of their path), Denmark (18th), China (15th) and play-off Group B winners Chile (38th), Senegal (84th) or Haiti (56th). Honestly, all three of these games have the potential to be a lot of fun, especially if Chile manages to make it out of the playoffs, but England’s side definitely has a heavy thumb.

Group F includes France (5th) and Brazil (9th) and is arguably one of the best group stage combinations. The two will meet in Brisbane on 29 July. His USWNT fans traveling to New Zealand should consider staying a few days around Wellington, as Sweden (No. 2) will also play at Wellington’s Regional Stadium. Wellington will also host Spain (No. 6) vs. Japan (No. 11) in Group C on 31 July.

It’s not a bad approach if you plan to use Sydney as a World Cup base camp. Starting with the opening match of the Australian tournament, France v Jamaica, Colombia v South Korea, England v Denmark, Germany v Colombia, and France to face the winner of the playoff group. There are so many top teams rolling around town. Additionally, Melbourne and Brisbane could potentially be run as side trips for a match or two.

(Photo: Matt Roberts – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)