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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Louise Wilkes

The 13 Man City players who are heading to the Women's World Cup

Manchester City is home to many talented international stars worldwide, 13 of whom have been picked to represent their nation in this summer’s Women’s World Cup.

It wasn't the most successful campaign for City in 2022/23. They started their season with back-to-back losses to Aston Villa and Chelsea. However, they put together a 16-game unbeaten streak in all competitions to finish the year in fourth place in the Women's Super League table - narrowly missing out on Champions League football in 2023/24.

There are exciting City players representing seven different nations at the World Cup. With the tournament kicking off in a matter of weeks, some countries have left it until the last minute to announce their 23-player squad that will travel to Australia and New Zealand.

Here are where you can find your favourite Citizens this summer.

England

Alex Greenwood, Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp, Ellie Roebuck, Laura Coombs and Esme Morgan all make the final 23-player squad under Sarina Wiegman.

It will be Morgan and Coombs’ first World Cup campaign - the former missed out on Euros action due to a broken leg while the latter returns to the England set-up after a compelling Arnold Clark Cup performance.

Kelly, Hemp, Roebuck and Greenwood, however, bring experience and flair as part of Wiegman’s squad. They all rightly return to international duty after flying performances all season long in Sky Blue.

Sadly, Jess Park has returned to the club from England camp ahead of the goalless tie with Portugal missing out on a flight to Australia and New Zealand. She withdraws due to a shoulder injury sustained at the end of the 2022/23 season on loan with Everton.

Australia

Australia national team coach Tony Gustavsson has invited City’s Alanna Kennedy and Mary Fowler to wear the Matildas shirt and represent the nation in front of a home crowd.

Kennedy made two league appearances this season despite suffering from a broken nose in April during the previous international break.

Fowler joins the centre back after her first term at City having netted five goals and registered three assists in 22 appearances to date. They join former Citizen Hayley Raso who parted ways with the club at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

Manchester City's Mary Fowler (2022 Matt McNulty - Manchester City)

Norway

Julie Blakstad had a sensational spell at the club this season and earned her way onto Hege Riise's final 23-player squad. A workhorse down the flanks in the opening half of the 2022/23 campaign in a Sky Blue shirt with two assists and nine goals in 16 matches. However, she spent the second half of the year on loan at BK Hacken in a bid for more minutes.

Jamaica

Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw has been a force to be reckoned with this season. She broke the club record for goals scored in a single season by netting 31 goals in 30 appearances in the 2022/23 campaign.

Shaw was also the joint-top scorer at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship in the summer of 2022. Her three goals saw the Reggae Girlz through to their second World Cup qualification. Whilst also winning the CONCACAF Women’s Player of the Year, the first Caribbean player to lay claim to the accolade.

Bunny Shaw and Julie Blakstad celebrate during their 2-1 win over Everton in the WSL (Photo by Lynne Cameron - Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)

Sweden

Philippa Angeldahl makes the cut for her first World Cup under Peter Gerhardsson representing Sweden. She had a stellar end to the season at City, becoming a regular starter in the middle of the park in the latter half of the season. She netted five goals and provided three assists for the club following on from a successful European Championship campaign. Angeldahl scored two goals in the tournament helping Sweden reach the semi-finals.

Netherlands

Full-back Kerstin Casparij has made Andries Jonker’s 23-player selection for this summer's tournament after a highly successful season with City.

She featured in 25 games in her first season at the club, providing five assists.. Casparij was part of the Oranje squad that reached the semi-finals of last summer’s European competition. Fast forward a year and this moment marks the full-back's first World Cup call-up.

Kerstin Casparij of Manchester City competes for the ball with Ella Toone of Manchester United during the FA Women's Super League match between Manchester City and Manchester United at Etihad Stadium (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Japan

City midfield stalwart Yui Hasegawa makes her second World Cup with Japan. The team will want to rectify the country's declining performances since lifting the World Cup in 2011. Since then, they came runners-up in 2015 and were knocked out of 2019’s competition in the last 16 stage.

However, the technically gifted, exciting player who came from West Ham to replace a Kiera Walsh-sized hole has paid off and taken charge in the middle of the park next to Coombs. Her performances have been of top standard positioning both on and off the ball, arguably one of the most technically quality players in top-flight football.

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