| Hosts: Australia and New Zealand Dates: 20 July-20 August |
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The ready is sort of over. The most important Fifa Ladies’s World Cup – that includes European champions England and debutants the Republic of Eire – will lastly get beneath method on Thursday.
Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting the ninth version, which for the primary time will characteristic 32 nations together with defending world champions america.
It’s the first Ladies’s World Cup with two co-hosts.
New Zealand launch the match in opposition to Norway at Eden Park (08:00 BST kick-off) earlier than Australia play the Republic of Eire at Stadium Australia, Sydney, on the identical day (11:00 kick-off).
Organisers hope the opening two video games will entice an mixture crowd of 100,000 followers.
It’s on track to be the most-watched Ladies’s World Cup, with greater than 1.3 million tickets purchased prematurely for the 64 matches at 10 venues throughout 9 cities.
Organisers are concentrating on a file two billion tv viewers for the 2023 version, a determine that will double the viewers that watched the 2019 World Cup in France.
“The long run is ladies. Because of the followers for supporting what would be the best Fifa Ladies’s World Cup ever,” stated Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
In addition to the Republic of Eire, seven different nations are making their debuts at this World Cup – Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines and Portugal.
Whereas america – who’re chasing a fifth world title – are the primary aspect on the planet, Zambia lie 77th and are the bottom ranked group on the match.
The ultimate takes place at Stadium Australia on 20 August (11:00 kick-off).
World Cup of firsts
This Ladies’s World Cup has been labelled the largest ladies’s sports activities occasion ever to be staged. One factor is for certain: the match will likely be enormous by way of showcasing – and rising – ladies’s soccer world wide.
For the primary time, Fifa will straight pay gamers on the Ladies’s World Cup. Quantities improve for the deeper that groups progress, starting from about £24,000 per participant for the group stage to only over £200,000 allotted to every champion.
These are important sums at a time when the common wage within the ladies’s recreation worldwide is £11,000, based on final yr’s Fifa benchmarking report. Total prize cash has elevated from £23m in 2019 to £84m.
In one other first, referees will announce the reasoning for video assistant referee (VAR) choices to followers in stadiums and tv audiences through a microphone and loudspeakers.
As on the males’s World Cup in Qatar final yr, referees are additionally inspired to cease time-wasting, so added time is more likely to be prolonged whereas lengthy purpose celebrations may also prolong stoppages.
In the meantime, captains will likely be permitted to put on armbands with messages about inclusion, gender equality and peace after rainbow armbands weren’t allowed on the males’s match final yr.
Not one of the eight out there armbands, nevertheless, explicitly advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Who will win this Ladies’s World Cup?
The final time the United States misplaced a World Cup recreation was in 2011 once they have been defeated on penalties by Japan within the closing in Frankfurt, Germany.
Since then they’ve gained 13 out of 14 on the worldwide stage and so they head into this version chasing a file third successive success following triumphs in 2015 and 2019.
Nevertheless, boss Jill Ellis has stepped down since guiding the Stars and Stripes to World Cup glory in France in 2019, whereas two-time World Cup and Olympic gold medal winner Carli Lloyd has ended her worldwide profession.
With 14 of the 23 gamers showing at their first World Cup, and Megan Rapinoe – considered a real American icon – saying this will likely be her fourth and closing World Cup, will there be a altering of the guard on the prime of girls’s soccer?
England’s unforgettable Euro 2022 success has rightly positioned them in conversations in the case of predicting World Cup favourites.
Nevertheless, accidents have hit arduous and the Lionesses are with out a number of key gamers together with Beth Mead, who was named Euro 2022’s greatest participant and gained the Golden Boot award given to the match’s prime scorer.
Spain have the very best ladies’s participant on the planet in Alexia Putellas, whereas two-time winners Germany have a robust and skilled squad.
France are led by skilled supervisor Herve Renard, whereas co-hosts Australia will likely be backed by giant crowds and have Chelsea’s prolific ahead Sam Kerr.
Controversial build-up
Olympic champions Canada are additionally hoping to go deep within the match, however they’re one in all a number of nations whose World Cup preparations have been disrupted by home points.
Spain and France have additionally made headlines in current months as rows between gamers and federations have escalated, though France’s points seem to have been resolved with the appointment of Renard.
Jamaica – and even Nigeria’s head coach – have taken motion or known as out their federations over points reminiscent of pay, sources and personnel.
England’s gamers are annoyed with the Soccer Affiliation over its stance on performance-related bonuses.
In the meantime, the South Africa squad chosen by coach Desiree Ellis didn’t take part of their closing warm-up fixture on dwelling soil earlier than leaving for the World Cup, which means a back-up group, which included a 13-year-old lady, was swiftly assembled to face Botswana with a purpose to keep away from a fantastic.
Six World Cups and counting
With 32 groups at this version, – up from 24 in 2019 and 16 as lately as 2011 – there are 736 gamers at this World Cup.
Three of these gamers are showing on the match for a sixth time – Marta (Brazil), Onome Ebi (Nigeria) and Christine Sinclair (Canada).
Having turned 40 in Could, defender Ebi is the oldest participant in Australia and New Zealand.
However she nonetheless trails Brazil’s Formiga, who holds the file because the oldest participant to participate within the competitors at 41 years and 112 days in 2019.
In the meantime, there are a selection of gamers who’re barely out of highschool.
South Korea’s Casey Phair, 16, will turn out to be the youngest ever participant at a Ladies’s World Cup if she seems in both of her nation’s first two group matches in opposition to Colombia or Morocco.
A rising damage listing
The USA, Netherlands, England, France and Canada are among the many nations who will likely be with out key gamers attributable to damage.
In addition to captain Becky Sauerbrunn (foot), america’ damage listing contains ahead Mallory Swanson (torn patellar tendon), midfielder Sam Mewis (knee) and ahead Christen Press (knee).
Vivianne Miedema, the all-time Netherlands main scorer, is out with anterior cruciate ligament harm – the identical damage that has prevented England’s Leah Williamson and Mead from collaborating.
Attacking midfielder Fran Kirby (knee) can be lacking for the Lionesses.
France are disadvantaged of midfielder Amandine Henry (calf), five-time Champions League winner Delphine Cascarino (ACL) and striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto (ACL).
One other participant dominated out due to an ACL damage is Canada ahead Janine Beckie.
Easy methods to comply with on the BBC…
The BBC is your vacation spot for protection 24 hours a day, seven days every week.
With 33 dwell video games on BBC TV and iPlayer, alongside protection of the important thing matches on BBC Radio 5 Dwell and BBC Sounds, soccer followers can benefit from the Australia and New Zealand Ladies’s World Cup wherever they’re.
With first choose of the last-16 stage, the BBC will present England’s first knockout recreation in the event that they make it previous the group stage.
The BBC is the one place you may watch each semi-finals on 15-16 August. The ultimate, on Sunday, 20 August, will likely be broadcast by each the BBC and ITV.