By Doug McIntyre
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
The males’s World Cup is simply across the nook, and the ladies’s occasion isn’t far behind. It definitely feels nearer now, after the draw for the (*10*) was held on Saturday in Auckland, New Zealand.
Here are the 10 must-watch group stage matches at Australia/New Zealand 2023, which kicks off subsequent July with a report 32 groups.
USA-Netherlands
The second group sport for each nations is a rematch of the 2019 Women’s World Cup closing in France, which the U.S. received 2-0 on objectives by Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle. Much has modified for the 2 groups within the virtually 4 years since.
The Americans have a revamped roster; Rapinoe, the joint-top scorer and Golden Ball winner at France 2019, received’t be prone to begin at age 38. Meantime, the Dutch have been overtaken by rising European counterparts England and Spain, dropping from third to eighth within the FIFA rating and stumbling on the Euros final summer time after profitable the continental title in 2017.
New Zealand-Norway
The opening match of any World Cup is particular. It definitely will likely be for the co-hosts, who meet former world, Olympic and European champion Norway within the July 20 curtain-raiser.
It’s the sixth time the Football Ferns are showing on the foremost occasion; they’ll be hoping that competing on dwelling soil will assist them to advance to the knockout stage for the primary time. Beating the Norwegians would assist.
That’s a practical aim towards a facet that’s regressed closely during the last 20 years; even with former Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg again within the fold, England beat Norway 8-0 at Euro 2022, the most important defeat in program historical past.
Australia-Canada
A day after New Zealand play their first match, the opposite co-host kicks off their World Cup marketing campaign towards 2020 Olympic gold medalists Canada.
Led by all-planet striker Sam Kerr, the Eleventh-ranked Matildas wish to make their deepest run ever — assuming in fact that they survive the “Group of Death.” Australia reached the quarterfinals at three consecutive World Cups earlier than bowing out within the spherical of 16 in 2019.
As for Canada, Les Rouges are hoping to lastly replicate their Olympic success (the Canadians received bronze in 2012 and ’16) on the sport’s greatest stage, the place they’ve by no means superior past the quarterfinals.
England-China
Big issues are anticipated from the Lionesses after they received the European title final summer time, simply the second main event title for England, males’s or girls’s, and the primary in additional than half a century.
Sarina Wiegman’s facet opens towards a to-be-determined opponent (both Chile, Haiti or Senegal) and faces a superb Danish staff of their second match. But the marquee sport is the Group D finale towards the Fifteenth-ranked Chinese, who’ve superior to the knockout stage in every of the six Women’s World Cups they’ve participated in.
Spain-Japan
Two of probably the most technically gifted groups within the competitors will meet on this scrumptious Group B encounter. Spain, which upset the top-ranked U.S. earlier this month, boasts a golden era of expertise led by Alexia Putellas, the world’s consensus-best participant and Ballon d’Or winner in 2021 and ’22. La Roja is a contender to win all of it regardless of a disappointing quarterfinal exit on the Euros, the place they misplaced in additional time to eventual champ England.
This sport towards No. 11 Japan, the 2011 World Cup winner and 2015 runner-up, will inform us loads about the place Spain stands.
France-Brazil
Heavyweights within the males’s sport, Brazil and France have developed into elite groups on the ladies’s facet during the last quarter-century regardless of by some means nonetheless having no World Cup or Olympic titles between them.
That might change subsequent summer time. The fifth-ranked Les Bleus nonetheless have a chip on their shoulder and a degree to show following that slender quarterfinal loss to the United States in Paris in 2019, a defeat that additionally prevented them from qualifying for final years’ Tokyo Olympics. Brazil has to love its possibilities after profitable its first Copa América Femenina crown earlier this 12 months. Oh, and each groups play stunning soccer, too.
USA-Vietnam
The Americans’ title protection begins after they meet the Vietnamese in Auckland on Day 3. Much will likely be made from the political historical past between the 2 international locations within the lead as much as the match, however the U.S. will likely be heavy favorites on the sphere towards a rustic competing at its first World Cup, males’s or girls’s.
The final time the U.S. opened a World Cup towards an opponent from the Asian Football Confederation, in 2019, they ran out 13-0 winners. That lopsided victory over Thailand despatched them on their method to a fourth title. Looking to turn out to be the primary staff, males’s or girls’s, to win three straight World Cups, Vlatko Andonovski’s squad will likely be hoping historical past repeats itself subsequent summer time.
Denmark-England
With all due respect to Chile, Haiti and Senegal, England received’t get their first true check at Australia/New Zealand 2023 till they meet the Danes in Brisbane on July 22 of their second group stage sport.
Eighteenth-ranked Denmark was one of many world’s finest groups within the Nineties, and so they’re on the way in which again up now after lacking the final three World Cups. And whereas the Danish will nonetheless be vital underdog towards the reigning European titlists, they do have a status as giant-killers. At the Euros in 2017, Denmark ended Germany’s 22-year run as continental champions. They additionally went an ideal 8-0 in qualifying matches for this World Cup, scoring 40 objectives whereas conceding simply two. They received’t roll over for the Lionesses.
USA-Cameroon/Thailand/Portugal
For any nation with ambitions to win the World Cup, surviving the primary spherical is Step 1. For the U.S., not struggling a letdown of their group stage finale in 2023 will likely be equally necessary.
The Americans ought to beat whoever they find yourself dealing with on Matchday 3. But approaching the heels of that marquee contest towards the Netherlands, the U.S. might simply find yourself in a psychological battle with themselves. That won’t matter on the day. But it undoubtedly might when the knockout section begins. So preserve a eager eye on how locked in and sharp Andonovski’s staff is on this one. It might inform us loads about how the USWNT may fare when it issues most.
Germany-Morocco
Making their first look at a Women’s World Cup, Morocco can even turn out to be the primary Arab nation to play within the occasion after they tackle two-time champion Germany of their opening match.
The No. 3-ranked Germans have their sights set on their first world title since profitable Olympic gold in 2016. They had been eradicated within the quarterfinals of the final World Cup — like France, lacking the Tokyo Games due to it — after ending fourth at Canada 2015.
It may very well be a protracted day for the newcomers.
One of the main soccer journalists in North America, Doug McIntyre has lined United States males’s and ladies’s nationwide groups at a number of FIFA World Cups. Before becoming a member of FOX Sports in 2021, he was a employees author with ESPN and Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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