Preview: 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

We're now just a couple of days away from this year's major international football tournament - the FIFA Women's World Cup. Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting the event and it will be the latter kicking things off on Thursday as they host Norway in the opening match of the tournament in Auckland before Australia face the Republic of Ireland in Sydney a few hours later.

With several nations in with a genuine chance of lifting the trophy and interest in the women's game at an all time high, this should be a fantastic Women's World Cup and it should also make for an excellent Superbru tournament with the community fairly split even for some of the Round 1 group games. The USA enter the tournament as the bookie favourite as they look to win a third consecutive World Cup but hosts Australia and several European nations including Spain, Germany, France, Sweden and Euro 2022 winners England will all feel they have a reasonable chance of coming out on top.



To provide you with a little help ahead of your Round 1 picks, I'll be going through each group in the tournament to give you a vague idea of how each nation is expected to get on. If this is your first time having a go at some women's football predictions on Superbru, be warned that picking the nation that would be more likely to win a men's match isn't always a solid tactic (if that wasn't already obvious by the fact that the United States have won the last two tournaments).

Here's the group stage draw for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup:

Group A

It will be interesting to see how New Zealand get on with their home advantage as they'll hope that home crowds in Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin can inspire them to not only win a match at a World Cup finals for the first time, but perhaps even progress to the knockout stages. 1995 champions Norway are the clear group favourites as they have a squad filled with plenty of players who play Champions League football for their clubs. Lyon's Ada Hegerberg is the star name having recently returned to international football following a dispute with the Norweigan federation. Hegerberg won a Ballon d’Or in 2018 and is the Women's Champions League record goalscorer.

The Philippines are the major underdogs in this group as they have qualified for a World Cup finals for the first time. That leaves Switzerland who are likely to rival New Zealand for the runners-up spot meaning their clash in Round 3 could be decisive. Switzerland are currently 20th on the FIFA Women's rankings, 6 places above NZ, but home advantage could well level the playing field.

Group B

Australia are of course the other team set to benefit from home crowds and they're a stronger side than New Zealand, reaching the quarter-finals in 3 of the last 4 World Cups. Last time out in 2019 they were only edged out in the Round of 16 on penalties by Norway, so there's plenty of reasons to believe the 'Matildas' can fare well on home soil where they will be led by Chelsea's Sam Kerr who is among the best and most famous players in the world.

Australia have been in good form ahead of this tournament, beating Spain, England and France in 2023, but this isn't an easy group. Canada, who are ranked 7th in the world and are currently Olympic champions, have a very experienced, strong squad (particularly defensively) while both the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria will be tricky opposition as they were both among the highest ranked teams in their respective pots for the group stage draw and are capable of causing relative upsets if Australia and Canada are below par.

As many of you may have already read about, there are considerable off-field issues in Canada at the moment relating to finances and the women's team were on strike earlier this year over pay equity. With both the men and the women still involved in talks with the federation in what has become quite a messy situation, it will be interesting to see if on-field performances are affected.

Group C

This group appears a little more top heavy, with Spain and Japan strong favourites to progress. Spain, ranked 6th in the world, are yet to prove themselves at a major tournament having been eliminated in the Round of 16 in 2019, and like Canada there's been a lot of off-field drama which could prove costly, but on paper they have more than enough talent to do well. 2-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas is the biggest star of all but the Barcelona midfielder suffered an ACL injury this season so comes into the World Cup short of game time.

Japan are currently 5 places beneath Spain on the FIFA rankings but they're the nation with a far better track record in World Cups, having won in 2011 and finished as runners-up in 2015. Of course, the team has had to transition since then (captain Saki Kumagai is the only 2011 squad member who will also be at this World Cup) but Japan remain a strong side and should certainly progress from this group.

That means Costa Rica and Zambia are facing an uphill battle in what will be Costa Rica's second WWC while Zambia are debutants. Costa Rica are ranked considerably higher than Zambia who are only just emerging (their current rank of 77th is the highest they've ever been) but keep an eye out for Zambian striker Barbra Banda who made history by becoming the nation's first ever female professional player and then scored back-to-back hat-tricks at the Olympics. Defence is likely to be the problem for both of these underdogs though - Banda's hat-trick against the Netherlands in Tokyo was in a 10-3 defeat.

Group D

England are the clear favourites in this group having won the Euros, though their chances of adding the World Cup to that European trophy have been reduced at least a little by injuries to Fran Kirby, captain Leah Williamson and Euro 2022 Golden Ball winner Beth Mead.

Nevertheless, Sarina Wiegman has been able to select a strong squad for this tournament and the 'Lionesses' should get through Group D, while Denmark and China are set to battle it out to try and join them which means their Round 1 matchup in Perth will be interesting.

Denmark are favourites, with their all-time record goalscorer Pernille Harder the player to watch having just joined Bayern Munich following a successful period with Chelsea, but China are capable of causing problems as the current champions of Asia having defeated Japan on penalties and South Korea 3-2 to win the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup.

Haiti will almost certainly struggle in such a difficult group, though their first ever qualification for a World Cup finals is a truly remarkable achievement given the struggles the country is facing. 19-year old Lyon forward Melchie Dumornay is their player to watch after scoring both goals in a shock 2-1 win over Chile which secured their place in this tournament.

Group E

The United States may be tournament favourites once again, but not by as much as they have been in previous tournaments and this World Cup is set to be a real test for them, starting with this group stage. Their Round 2 fixture against the Netherlands which is a repeat of the 2019 final stands out, but Portugal are also a very able side looking to cause an upset in their debut World Cup.

Realistically, the Netherlands are a more likely target than the USWNT if Portugal are to pull off a surprise win against one of the 'big two' in this group, particularly since Arsenal forward Vivianne Miedema is ruled out for the Dutch with an ACL injury which is a massive blow. Portugal suffered a narrow 3-2 loss against the Netherlands in last year's Euros and held England to a 0-0 draw earlier this month in a friendly.

Vietnam are the 4th-best team in the group and any confidence they may have gained from a narrow 2-1 friendly defeat to Germany in June might have been extinguished by the 9-0 loss they suffered against Spain last week.

Group F

This group is set to be a lot of fun, with France trying to make amends for failing on home soil in 2019 where they were eliminated in the quarters by the US, Brazil a team full of quality skilful players (obviously) who could go far if things come together and Jamaica looking to make far more of an impact at a World Cup than they did on debut in 2019 now that their striker Khadija 'Bunny' Shaw has emerged as one of the world's best while playing in England for Manchester City.

Like many other teams in this tournament including Brazil and Jamaica, France have had their fair share of off-field issues in the build up to this World Cup but the appointment of Herve Renard as Head Coach is a very interesting one given his big tournament experience. Renard will be a familiar face to many of you after creating plenty of headlines in the 2022 Men's World Cup where he managed the Saudi Arabia side that defeated eventual winners Argentina in Round 1. On the pitch, captain Wendie Renard (no relation) is incredible to watch as a fantastic defender whose aerial ability in both boxes is invaluable.

Talking of familiar faces, Brazil legend Marta will be playing in her sixth World Cup at the age of 37. Marta has recovered from an ACL injury in order to make the squad which is pretty remarkable but may of course limit how many starts she's able to make - Debinha is likely to have more of an impact as a flair player capable of the kind of wizardry we all tend to associate with Brazil.

France and Brazil should progress as Jamaica and Panama are likely to struggle defensively even if Shaw does cause a few problems in attack for Jamaica, but there should be plenty of entertainment in Group F.

Group G

This is the group where it's important to not just go off the men's rankings, guys. Sweden are really good (ranked 3rd in the world) and will surely progress while Argentina are far less likely to do so - both they and South Africa are looking for a first ever win at a World Cup finals.

Sweden came 2nd at the 2016 Olympics, 3rd at the 2019 World Cup and then 2nd again at the 2021 Olympics meaning they'll be desperate to try and finally lift a trophy this year, but they should get through the group without many issues meaning Argentina and South Africa will be looking to try and steal second spot from Italy. Le Azzurre were quarter-finalists in 2019 but suffered a very disappointing Euros last year where they picked up just one point in their group against France, Belgium and Iceland.

Argentina (ranked 28th in the world) appear better placed than South Africa (54th) to cause a potential upset if there is one but keep an eye on Banyana Banyana who won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 for the first time. The outcome of Italy vs. Argentina will be very interesting in Round 1 ahead of Argentina's meeting with South Africa in Dunedin in Round 2.

Group H

This looks like a favourable group for Euro 2022 runners-up Germany who are highly likely to top Group H. Morocco are the clear outsiders in their first Women's World Cup appearance meaning the opening fixture between Colombia and South Korea could well be massive in determining who progresses to the knockout stages.

Colombia's recent results suggest they'll be competitive - in last year's Copa America they were beaten 1-0 by Brazil in the final having beaten Argentina in the semis. South Korea are ranked 17th in the world which is 8 places higher than Colombia but their WWC record is average, as they've won just one game across their three World Cup appearances in 2003, 2015 and 2019 (a 2-1 win over Spain in 2015).

With little between the sides and a place in the knockouts quite possibly at stake, it's no surprise to see Colombia vs. South Korea is currently one of the most evenly balanced matches in terms of predictions made on Superbru.

So there you have it, plenty to look forward to. If you're keen to join our Predictor game then be aware that kick-off in the opening match is at 7pm local time in Auckland which is 5pm AEST/8am in the UK/9am in South Africa/quite inconvenient if you're in the US.

Good luck!