The Women’s World Cup will head Down Under next year as the FIFA showpiece returns for its ninth edition.
With the feverish excitement surrounding the Women’s Euros tournament, the return of the global competition is sure to captivate fans, especially with the show of the world’s best female soccer players.
The tournament will be bigger and better than ever before. The number of participating teams will be expanded from 24 (in 2019) to 32 for the first time, reflecting the enormous popularity and growth the women’s game is experiencing.
Another first is that the 2023 tournament will be the first joint competition in two countries. Read all about that – and more – below.
When is it?
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will take place from July 20 to August 20, 2023. Scroll down for more information, but reports stating the tournament could follow the men and deviate from its traditional summer slot have been quashed by FIFA.
Where is it?
The tournament will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, who defeated Colombia to win the vote. Venues include those that will be well known to rugby fans, such as Eden Park (Auckland), Suncorp Stadium (Brisbane) and Stadium Australia (Sydney).
Which teams have qualified?
England have not yet qualified for the tournament, with two games remaining in their qualifying group. However, the Lionesses are currently at the top of their group table and will play the rest of the games in early September.
Neither Ireland nor Wales can qualify automatically, but they both still stand a chance of a place in the play-offs. Scotland is assured of a play-off spot, which will take place in October.
The following teams have already qualified for the main draw: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China PR, Philippines, Vietnam, Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Zambia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Colombia, Brazil.
How to watch?
Broadcasting rights to the tournament have not yet been announced, but the 2019 edition was screened exclusively by the BBC.
How to get tickets?
Tickets go on sale October 6 – starting at just $20 AUD/NZD for adults and $10 AUD/NZD for children – but fans can register their interest on the official tournament website.
Who are the defending champions?
The US are the defending champions after beating the Netherlands in Lyon in 2019.
How has England done before?
England have qualified five times for the Women’s World Cup. They have reached the quarterfinals three times and the semifinals twice, most recently in 2019 when they were eliminated by the eventual winners the USA.
Latest news
by Tom Garry, Women’s Football Reporter
FIFA discussed postponing next year’s Women’s World Cup, it has emerged.
With less than a year to go before the competition starts in Australia and New Zealand, organizers are insisting that the dates for the Women’s World Cup in 2023 not be changed, after it emerged informal talks had taken place this month about postponing of next summer’s tournament by a few months.
Telegraph Sport understands that, as revealed by L’EquipeFor the past two weeks, senior officials of FIFA’s world governing body have reportedly been informally mulling the idea of rearranging the event in talks.
Three separate sources at three of Europe’s largest national associations have confirmed talks of the feasibility of moving the event to October or November, rather than the current schedule from July 20 to August 20. However, all of these sources emphasized that the idea was never a formal proposal and their feedback was that it was far too late to launch the competition, which will be in the 2023 calendar year.
The idea of changing the dates is not expected to be further elaborated at this time.
On Friday morning, a FIFA spokesperson told Telegraph Sport: “Following a successful ‘One Year to Go’ event, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is slated to start on July 20, 2023. No changes to the dates of the competition are foreseen. . “
Similarly, statements from the national FAs of the co-hosts in both Australia and New Zealand said they did not expect any changes, with the New Zealand FA adding: “Our preparations continue for the tournament kick-off at Eden Park on July 20, 2023.”
The men’s World Cup, which will take place later this year, has been moved from the traditional June-July days and will be played from November 21 to December 18, 2022, in a decision taken in 2018 so that it would not be played in the heat of the day. the Middle East. temperatures.
The weather was also touted by one source as one of the reasons informal talks were being held about possibly rescheduling the women’s event in 2023, which will take place in winter weather for the host countries down under. Others said the issue was related to concerns from a small number of international broadcasters that August dates were not optimal for the tournament, shortly after a number of broadcast rights were put out to tender. However, Telegraph Sport understands that many of the broadcasting rights elsewhere in the world have already been negotiated for significantly improved terms compared to the 2019 World Cup.
The topic of the international women’s calendar is currently a source of much debate, with a schedule for international windows not yet fully confirmed beyond the end of 2023. One date in the agenda for 2024 is the Olympic Games, when women’s soccer teams can play their games. pick the strongest, senior sides as opposed to the men’s teams, and it was announced on Thursday that for the first time in the history of football competitions at the Olympics, the women’s gold medal contest will close the event instead of the men’s, in Paris. The Olympic football tournaments will run from July 24 to August 10, 2024.