It’s a given. The year after we have the excitement of the men’s World Cup, we get the excitement of the Women’s World Cup the following year. While I had the unusual situation of watching the men’s games in coffee houses at 7am some days and during some unusually cold weather for a December in Vancouver, I will be watching most of the women’s games during hot summer nights! It always makes sense to watch either World Cup during the summer months. It just seems right. The main problem about trying to watch them live is the time-zone situation. There are a few evening games for us North Americans to watch live, but most will take place in the early mornings while we’re sleeping.
So far only two games have been played. None of the groups have completed their first matches, but both host nations played their first games on Day 1. Makes sense. Now the rest of the teams just have to start their games. I know I’ve been delivering previews to each of the Women’s World Cup groups. This is just simply a post with hyperlinks to all my group analyses. I will also post the two countries from each group I think will qualify for the knockout round. Here are the links:
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!
Interesting to note that the draw for the nations in each group took place just as three nations were yet to be decided! On April 1st, the draw for the groups had just as a European berth and two intercontinental berths were not yet decided! They all eventually be decided by the end of June. I state this here because the team of that undecided European berth is in this very group.
Group B is widely considered to be this Cup’s “Group Of Death.” All four are jam-packed with talent and are currently ranked in FIFA’s Top 20. In addition, some anticipate this group will have the most politically heated matches as Iran has strained relationships with the UK and the United States. It will all be determined in Qatar. So here’s the rundown:
GROUP B
-England (5): This is quite the time for the English national team. Ever since Gareth Southgate was made coach of the England national team after Euro 2016, the team has been playing like a team unit not seen for decades. At the last World Cup, they made it to the semifinals. At Euro 2020, they made it to the final for the first time ever! However the final exposed a common weakness England still has: penalty kicks!
The Three Lions lineup for the World Cup has the return of veterans Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling. It includes young rising talents too like Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham. All but three players are Premier League players. Since Euro 2020, they’ve had a mixed bag of results. They’ve won against Albania, Switzerland and the Ivory Coast. They’ve drawn in both their games against Germany. They’ve also had a draw and a loss to Italy. They’ve also lost to Hungary twice. Qatar will put England again to the challenge.
-Iran (20): This is Iran’s sixth World Cup and they’re still seeking their first trip to the knockout round! Iran almost had the chance at the last World Cup (where they were also in Group B) but their results of a win, a draw and a loss couldn’t stack up against Spain and Portugal. Here in Qatar, you can bet Team Melli will do what they can to break new ground.
The team is coached by Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz. He has coached the team to both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. After the 2019 Asian Cup where Iran made the semifinals, the team went through two more European coaches before returning to Queiroz this September. Most of the team plays for clubs in the Persian Gulf Pro League. In the last year and a half, their wins have come against United Arab Emirates and Uruguay, they drew to Senegal and they’ve lost to South Korea and Algeria. Qatar just might be their best World Cup showing ever. They just have to make it happen.
-United States of America (16): The 20th Century had the US team looking like a joke in football. Then in the 21st Century, the US were showing how far they progressed by advancing to three knockout stages out of four World Cups. Then disaster struck before 2018 as they failed to qualify. Things changed for the US as they named Gregg Berhalter as their head coach and acquired former US team members Earnie Stewart as Sporting Director and Brian McBride as General Manager.
The squad for the World Cup has not officially been determined as of press time. The US team has a mix of players from the MLS and from various European Leagues. It’s highly likely the team will consist of their big names like DeAndre Yedlin, Kelly Acosta and Christian Pulisic. They’ve had recent notable wins against Mexico and Morocco, notable draws against Uruguay and Saudi Arabia, and losses to Costa Rica and Japan. 2022 looks to be the arena for redemption and a new chapter for the American team.
-Wales (19): Of all teams that are returning to the World Cup here in Qatar, none have had a longer wait than Wales. They only played in one previous World Cup back in 1958, where they made the quarterfinals. Since then, Wales have failed to qualify. It almost appeared Gareth Bale would be one of the best players ever never to compete in a World Cup. Then The Dragons qualified in the European playoffs of qualifying, won their semifinal against Austria and then won their final against Ukraine!
Wales is not a one-man team. Besides Bale, Wales also has star defender Chris Gunter and goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey. The squad mostly play in clubs with the Premier League and have been coached by Welshman Rob Page for two years. Their recent results put their status in question. Before qualifying, they’ve had wins against Belarus and Austria, and draws against Belgium and Czechia. Since qualifying, they had a draw and a loss against Belgium and additional losses to the Netherlands and Poland. It may sound tough, but all that will matter will be their play in Qatar.
My Prediction: It is a bit crazy having to make a prediction in what people call the “Group Of Death.” Nevertheless, I have a feeling that the qualifiers from this group will be England and the United States. Frankly any combination of teams would make sense at this point.
And there you go! My thoughts and predictions for Group B. Whatever the outcome is, I anticipate this will have the closest football of the whole tournament.
Jon The Blogcentric 