The 2023 Women’s World Cup is the ninth edition of the tournament, scheduled to run from the 20th of July to the 20th of August 2023. Hosted by Australia and New Zealand, this is the first time the competition had more one host nation, and also the first time for either sex in the senior World Cup level to be held in multiple confederations (with Australia now from the Asian Federation and New Zealand from the Oceania Federation). It is also the first time to feature 32 teams instead of just 24. For the participating nations and their kits, check out the links below:
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023
The competition begins with hosts New Zealand facing Norway at Eden Park, Auckland on 20 July 2023. The two teams that reach the finals meet at Sydney Olympic Stadium in Australia. The United States enters the event not just as the defending champions but also as a World Cup winner eyeing to be the first nation to secure a three-peat.
Tazuni is the the official mascot for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. The name is a portmanteau of the Tasman Sea (the marginal sea between the two host countries) and the word ‘unity.’ Little penguins, being endemic in New Zealand (with Australia also having a related species), provide the inspiration behind Tazuni.
Regarding the official match ball, it is known as the adidas OCEAUNZ (an amalgation of Oceania, Australia and New Zealand) and has a curvy visual design representing the mountains of New Zealand and the connection of Australia to the Indian Ocean.
Nike boasts not just having the most number of team kits in the tournament with 13, the brand also has under its wing strips for the defending champions as well as for both host nations. adidas follows suit with 10, while Puma is a distant third with 2. Other kit brands in the mix are Hummel, Castore, Le Coq Sportif and Reebook. Grand Sport (Thailand), KoPa (Zambia), and Saeta (Haiti) are some of the small kit manufacturers involved in the competition.
Previous World Cups
2019 World Cup in France
The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup was hosted by key cities in France and was the first one to use the Video-Assistant-Referee (VAR) System. The United States won the tournament, successfully defending the title they secured in the 2015 Canada World Cup. They became the second nation to repeat as champions, with Germany first achieving the feat in 2007. But unlike Germany, USWNT achieved the back-to-back championship under one manager, Jill Ellis. Only Vittorio Pozzo’s Italy, at the 1934 and 1938 FIFA Men’s World Cups (a full 81 years prior), managed to successfully defend the title with the same head coach.