England were talk of the town in Auckland, pegged as the team to beat by almost everyone on and off the stage at Saturday’s 2023 Women’s World Cup draw. The only person who seemed to be managing expectations was Sarina Wiegman, who learned her European champions had been handed a relatively clean run to the knockout stages. The England manager played down the hype and said the Lionesses would have to further improve to make this trophy a genuine prospect.
“We have built some trust and confidence, but we know we have to be better next year because the game develops so quickly,” said Wiegman after the Lionesses were drawn in Group D with Denmark, China and a yet-to-be-determined qualifying playoff winner – either Senegal, Haiti or Chile.
“As you could see in the Euros, there are so many good countries now … the games are really tight. That’s what I expect from this tournament. In the group stage there are some very tight matches but also some will give a high score, because 32 countries come from different levels at different moments of their development.
“The further the tournament goes the tighter the games will become,” added Wiegman, who led her native Netherlands to the 2019 final. “There are many favourites for this World Cup so I wouldn’t predict anything.”
England begin their campaign in Brisbane on 22 July, but will not know the identity of their first opponent until February’s intercontinental playoffs complete the expanded 32-team draw. They then head to Sydney to play Denmark on 28 July, followed by China in Adelaide on 1 August. Top the group and they would face the Group B runners-up – possibly co-hosts Australia – back in Brisbane in the last 16.
“We know Denmark very well, they are very technical and have a very recognisable style of play,” Wiegman said. “China have been in transition a bit and have a new coach – they struggled a bit at the Olympics – but are good opponents.”
All this will play out while the two-time reigning champions, the USA, do their business on the other side of the draw, headlined by a 2019 World Cup final rematch against the Netherlands, this time in Wellington on 27 July.
“Mixed feelings,” said the USA manager, Vlatko Andonovski, after finding out his side were drawn with the team they beat in Lyon. “The first thing is: ‘Wow, there’s a really good opponent’. But at the same time it’s exciting because we know that’s the match from the last World Cup, and it’s going to be a good game.”
The USA are in Group E, also featuring debutants Vietnam and another playoff winner – either Portugal, Thailand or Cameroon. Andonovski finds himself under unenviable pressure to replicate his predecessor Jill Ellis’s exploits, particularly in light of this month’s friendly losses to England and Spain. “Obviously we’re coming with hope to win it all,” he said. “It’s not gonna be easy – there’s so many good teams around.”
The benefit for the 29 qualified teams is that they can now begin to make logistical plans. One side of the draw plays all their group games in New Zealand, the other in Australia, though the latter involves more travel for those such as Canada and Ireland, who are scheduled to play each other in Perth after landing in Group B with Australia and Nigeria.
The first co-hosted Women’s World Cup also means a divvying up of the big moments. Sydney has the final, at Olympic Park, and Auckland’s Eden Park has the official opener between New Zealand and Norway, who are in Group A with the Philippines and Switzerland.
France, 2019 quarter-finalists at their home tournament, are in Group F with Jamaica, Brazil and the winner of the final four-team playoff between Taiwan, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea and Panama.
Spain, in the throes of a player mutiny against their manager, Jorge Vilda, are in Group C with Costa Rica, Zambia and Japan. Sweden, South Africa, Italy and Argentina make up Group G with Germany, Morocco, Colombia and South Korea together in Group H.New Zealand also laid claim to the pomp and ceremony of the draw, a rich embodiment of Māori and First Nations culture coupled with a less brilliant showcase of the Fifa machine. Among the officials and dignitaries – Carli Lloyd conducted the draw, Ian Wright plucked out some balls – were the Fifa secretary general, Fatma Samoura, and president, Gianni Infantino, who declared without a hint of irony that “Fifa is the official happiness provider”. Infantino had just attended the biannual Fifa council meeting, also in Auckland, where he criticised what he called unacceptably low offers for rights to screen this World Cup.
“When broadcasters – often public broadcasters, but also private broadcasters – offer us 100 times less for the Women’s World Cup than the men’s World Cup, even more than 100 times in some occasions, that is not acceptable,” he said earlier on Saturday. “We are not going to accept this.”
Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland
Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada
Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan
Group D: England, Playoff B winner*, Denmark, China
Group E: United States, Vietnam, Netherlands, Playoff A winner*
Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Playoff C winner*
Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina
Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea
* The 10-team inter-confederation playoffs will take place in New Zealand from 18-23 February next year.
Playoff A: Cameroon/Thailand v Portugal
Playoff B: Senegal/Haiti v Chile
Playoff C: Taiwan/Paraguay v PNG/Panama
He said the tournament would cost Fifa around $US400m. The governing body, courtesy of next month’s men’s World Cup in Qatar, is expected to rake in an income toward $7bn for the four-year commercial cycle ending in December.He also called broadcasters hypocritical for pushing Fifa to treat women’s football equally, particularly on the issue of World Cup prize money – the 32 teams at the men’s 2022 World Cup will share a $440m pot while a pot of $60m was initially proposed for the first 32-team women’s edition.
“In some countries they are quite good at telling us that we should give more emphasis on equal opportunities, on equality, on non-discrimination, on treating men and women in the same way,” he said. “Which is, of course, what we have to do, and we try to do that to the best of our ability.”
