The funny thing about draws for the World Cups or any other major football event is that it can give you a lot of surprising results. In this very group, we have the two finalists from France 2019! How did that happen? Also in this group, we have two teams making their Women’s World Cup debut. This is the only group with two debut teams. Without further ado, here is my look at Group E of Australia/New Zealand 2023:
-United States of America (1): What can’t be said about the USA or the USWNT? Since women’s football got their own Women’s World Cup in 1991 and was added to the Olympic program in 1996, the Stars and Stripes have reigned supreme winning four of the eight Cups and four of the seven Olympic gold medals. As time goes on, they keep on churning out new legends. Many people here are expecting the American women to “threepeat.” The American women have often been the case that the only women that can defeat the American women are the American women. And they have done that in the past. Such as missing out on Olympic gold in the last two Olympics. There are team that know how to win against the United States and have done so unexpectedly. Even in the four years since their last WWC, the American women have had issues such as player conflicts within the team and pay discrimination. The latter issue saw a lawsuit launched against the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in 2019 and the GOALS Act (Give Our Athletes Level Salaries) passed by congress in 2021 which allowed the USSF settle the lawsuit with $24 million for the players.
Since October 2019, the USA has been coached by a Macedonian: Vlatko Andonovski. All players play for teams for the NWSL except for Lindsay Horan who play for a French team. The team is full of legends and current greats like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Horan, Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn and Kelley O’Hara. The team also has some promising young players like Emily Fox, Sophia Smith and Emily Rodman. In the last 12 months, their play has been mostly wins. Their most noteworthy wins have been against Canada, Japan and Brazil. They’ve had a win and a loss to Germany as well as losses to England and Spain. The team comes to Australia and New Zealand with the biggest of expectations and they will be ready to deliver.
-Vietnam (32): To think the Vietnam women’s team didn’t officially start until 1990 and play their first-ever match in 1997. Since then, Vietnam has made themselves into a team to be reckoned with. At the South East Asian Games, the women’s football tournament is often a Vietnam vs. Thailand affair with Vietnam having won eight times. They’ve also won the AFF Women’s Championship three times. Their play in the Women’s Asian Cup through overcoming old rivals Thailand and Chinese Taipei allowed them to win the playoff round and qualify for their first-ever Women’s World Cup.
The team’s coach is Mai Đức Chung who first managed in 2003 and has coached off and on. All the players play for teams in the Vietnamese league except for captain Huỳnh Như who plays for a Portuguese team. In the past 12 months, all their wins have been to Asian teams. They’ve endured losses to Philippines, New Zealand and Germany. Australia/New Zealand 2023 is the perfect arena for them to prove to the world they’re capable of breaking new ground.
-The Netherlands (9): The last Women’s World Cup was a pinnacle moment for Oranje Leeuwinnen as the reigning Euro holders made it to the final for the Cup and played well against the US despite losing 2-0. Since then, the Netherlands appears to have lost some of their spark. They only made it as far as the quarterfinals at the 2020 Summer Olympics and were even out in the quarterfinals at the 2022 Women’s Euro.
The team is coached by Andries Jonker who was hired after last year’s Women’s Euro. The team play for various teams in leagues throughout Europe. Top names include forward Lieke Martens and midfielders Danielle van de Donk and Sherida Spitse. In the past 12 months, their wins include Portugal. Switzerland and Denmark. They’ve also had losses to France, Norway and Germany. This Women’s World Cup is a chance to regain their reputation as one of the best in the World.
-Portugal (21): If there’s one European team that has made a lot of improvements over the years, it’s Portugal. Despite hosting a major women’s football tournament The Algarve Cup, the women’s team has often been lackluster. It wasn’t until 2017 when they first qualified for their first Women’s Euro. In the two times they’ve qualified, they’ve never made it past the Group Stage. A breakthrough happened in UEFA qualifying for the WWC. They finished second in Germany which allowed them to progress to playoff matches against Belgium and Iceland and won both matches. Even then, they had to go through the intercontinental route to qualify. Their playoff was against Cameroon and their win granted them their first-ever berth!
The Selecção das Quinas are coached by Francisco Neto who has coached the team since 2014. Most of the team plays for teams as part of Portugal’s Liga BPI. The team consists of many well-capped players such as forward Ana Borges, midfielder Dolores Silva and defender Carole Costa. In the past 12 months, the team has had notable wins against Ukraine, New Zealand and Iceland. They’ve also had draws against England and Wales and losses to Japan, Netherlands and Sweden. Chances are possible Portugal could be one of the surprise teams of this Women’s World Cup.
My Prediction: It’s hard not to choose teams other than the big favorites. However my basic sense tells me the qualifiers from this group will be United States and Netherlands.
And there you go. That’s my prediction for the Group E of the Women’s World Cup. Hard to believe there’s less than a week to go. Already the national teams have arrived. The excitement just grows!
Iceland (35): Iceland amazes me. A nation of less than half a million people fielding a football team to be reckoned with. This is their first-ever Euro. They almost qualified for the 2014 World Cup going as far as the knockout stage against eventual qualifiers Croatia and even bringing them to a scoreless draw in the first match. They’ve even reached their highest FIFA ranking of 23rd for three months of last year. The team consist of members that play for a variety of teams throughout Europe across many different countries. Sweden’s Allsvenskan league is the national league with the most members of the national team. In the past two years, the team has had key wins against Turkey, Czech Republic, Greece and the Netherlands twice. However 2016 has shown the team struggle in Friendly play losing four of their seven matches including Norway, Denmark and the United States. France will be the first stage for them to prove themselves on an international level. Don’t count them out.
Austria (11): Austria is an enigma. The team had their best days in the 1930’s and 1950’s. Since the 1960’s the team’s prowess has declined with only qualifying for four World Cups and giving a dismal showing at Euro 2008 which they co-hosted. Since 2014, the team has shown a remarkable turnaround. In Euro qualifying, they finished top of the group by winning nine of their ten games and only drawing once, even overpowering Russia and Sweden. The current team is coached by Swiss coach Marcel Koller and features players that mostly play for Germany’s Bundesliga. In the past two years, the team has had additional wins against the Czech Republic and Albania. The team has also had losses against Turkey, Switzerland and the Netherlands. I’m sure they hope to show the World what they’re made of in France. Possibly their best team in decades.
Hungary (18): I’m sure Hungary hates being known as a ‘blast from the past’ but it’s easy to dismiss them as that. It’s a long ways since their days of being the ‘Magical Magyars’ back in the 30’s and 50’s which include two World Cup finals appearances and Olympic gold in 1952. Their first signs of their prowess waning came in the 60’s. Despite finishing third in Euro 1964, they only went as far as the quarterfinals at both the 1962 and 1966 World Cups. Since 1966, the team has never made it past the Group Stage at the World Cup with their last appearance in 1986. Their last Euro appearance was in 1972. The demise of Communism led to less focus on Hungarian football talent and an eventual demise in world rankings including a worst-ever FIFA ranking of 86th in 1996. However Hungarian football is making a comeback as there is more funding for football and more development of players happening nationally. They’ve even hired a German, Bernd Storck, as their head coach. Most of the players play for Hungary’s OTP Bank Liga but there are four players that play for teams of Germany’s Bundesliga. They’ve had notable victories in the last two years against Finland, Norway and Albania and some notable draws against Croatia and Greece. They’ve also had some notable losses to Russia and Germany. France could be the stage for them to prove Hungary’s back.
Jon The Blogcentric 