Women's World Cup 2023: Groups, schedule, dates, TV and kick-off times, all you need to know
We have all you need to know for Australia/New Zealand 2023, including odds, fixtures, venues and TV information.
When and where is the World Cup being held?
The Women's World Cup 2023 will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand between 20th July and 20th August, with games set to be played in nine cities across the region. It is the first time that the tournament - running for a ninth time this summer - will have more than one host nation.
The opening game sees New Zealand take on Norway at Eden Park in Auckland, while the final will be held in Sydney at Stadium Australia.
When are the World Cup matches and what are the kick-off times?
We have listed every fixture below, including the kick-off time and location.
What is the route to the final?
As the tournament progresses we will remove the location and kick-off details of matches that have taken place and fill in the scorelines to map out a route to the final.
Thursday July 20
Group A: New Zealand 1-0 Norway (Eden Park, Auckland; kick-off 8am)
Group B: Australia 1-0 Republic of Ireland (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 11am)
Friday July 21
Group B: Nigeria 0-0 Canada (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne; 3:30am)
Group A: Philippines 0-2 Switzerland (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 6am)
Group C: Spain 3-0 Costa Rica (Eden Park, Auckland; 8:30am)
Saturday July 22
Group E: USA 3-0 Vietnam (Eden Park, Auckland; 2am)
Group C: Zambia 0-5 Japan (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton; 8am)
Group D: England 1-0 Haiti (Lang Park, Brisbane; 10:30am)
Group D: Denmark 1-0 China (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth; 1pm)
Sunday July 23
Group G: Sweden 2-1 South Africa (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 6am)
Group E: Netherlands 1-0 Portugal (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 8:30am)
Group F: France 0-0 Jamaica (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney; 11am)
Monday July 24
Group G: Italy 1-0 Argentina (Eden Park, Auckland; 7am)
Group H: Germany 5-0 Morocco (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne; 9:30am)
Group F: Brazil 4-0 Panama (Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide; 12pm)
Tuesday July 25
Group H: Colombia 2-0 South Korea (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney; 3am)
Group A: New Zealand 0-1 Philippines (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 6:30am)
Group A: Switzerland 0-0 Norway (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton; 9am)
Wednesday July 26
Group C: Japan 2-0 Costa Rica (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 6am)
Group C: Spain 5-0 Zambia (Eden Park, Auckland; 8:30am)
Group B: Canada 2-1 Republic of Ireland (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth; 1pm)
Thursday July 27
Group E: USA v Netherlands (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 2am)
Group E: Portugal v Vietnam (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton; 8:30am)
Group B: Australia v Nigeria (Lang Park, Brisbane; 11am)
Friday July 28
Group G: Argentina v South Africa (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 1am)
Group D: England v Denmark (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney; 9:30am)
Group D: China v Haiti (Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide; 12pm)
Saturday July 29
Group G: Sweden v Italy (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 8:30am)
Group F: France v Brazil (Lang Park, Brisbane; 11am)
Group F: Panama v Jamaica (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth; 1:30pm)
Sunday July 30
Group H: South Korea v Morocco (Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide; 5:30am)
Group A: Norway v Philippines (Eden Park, Auckland; 8am)
Group A: Switzerland v New Zealand (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 8am)
Group H: Germany v Colombia (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney; 10:30am)
Monday July 31
Group C: Costa Rica v Zambia (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton; 8am)
Group C: Japan v Spain (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 8am)
Group B: Canada v Australia (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne; 11am)
Group B: Republic of Ireland v Nigeria (Lang Park, Brisbane; 11am)
Tuesday August 1
Group E: Portugal v USA (Eden Park, Auckland; 8am)
Group E: Vietnam v Holland (Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin; 8am)
Group D: China v England (Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide; 12pm)
Group D: Haiti v Denmark (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth; 12pm)
Wednesday August 2
Group G: Argentina v Sweden (Waikato Stadium, Hamilton; 8am)
Group G: South Africa v Italy (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 8am)
Group F: Jamaica v Brazil (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne; 11am)
Group F: Panama v France (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney; 11am)
Thursday August 3
Group H: South Korea v Germany (Lang Park, Brisbane; 11am)
Group H: Morocco v Colombia (Perth Rectangular Stadium, Perth; 11am)
Round of 16
Saturday August 5
Group A Winner v Group C Runner-up (Eden Park, Auckland; 6am)
Group C Winner v Group A Runner-up (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 9am)
Sunday August 6
Group E Winner v Group G Runner-up (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney; 3am)
Group G Winner v Group E Runner-up (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne; 10am)
Monday August 7
Group B Winner v Group D Runner-up (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 8:30am)
Group D Winner v Group B Runner-up (Lang Park, Brisbane; 11:30am)
Tuesday August 8
Group F Winner v Group H Runner-up (Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide; 9am)
Group H Winner v Group F Runner-up (Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne; 12pm)
Quarter-finals
Friday August 11
Round of 16 match 1 Winner v Round of 16 match 3 Winner (Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington; 2am)
Round of 16 match 2 Winner v Round of 16 match 4 Winner (Eden Park, Auckland; 8:30am)
Saturday August 12
Round of 16 match 5 Winner v Round of 16 match 7 Winner (Lang Park, Brisbane; 8am)
Round of 16 match 6 Winner v Round of 16 match 8 Winner (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 11:30am)
Semi-finals
Tuesday August 15
Quarter-final 1 Winner v Quarter-final 2 Winner (Eden Park, Auckland; 9am)
Wednesday August 16
Quarter-final 3 Winner v Quarter-final 4 Winner (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 11am)
Third-/fourth-place play-off
Saturday August 19
Semi-final 1 Loser v Semi-Final 2 Loser (Lang Park, Brisbane; 9am)
Final
Sunday August 20
Semi-final 1 Winner v Semi-Final 2 Winner (Stadium Australia, Sydney; 11am)
How many teams take part and what is the format?
The tournament format has changed since the last running of the event in 2019, with an expansion now seeing 32 teams take part, divided into eight groups of four.
The top two teams in each group qualify for the round of 16, with four single-legged knockout rounds ultimately deciding the winner.
Which teams qualified for the World Cup and what are the groups?
All 32 spaces were filled following a lengthy qualifying campaign that finished earlier this year, with Australia and New Zealand qualifying automatically as hosts.
Republic of Ireland are among the eight teams taking part for the tournament for the first time. Portugal, Haiti and Panama sealed their tickets to a first World Cup via the intercontinental play-offs in February, while Zambia, Morocco, Philippines and Vietnam the other first-timers.
Mexico, ranked 35th in the world, have missed out on the finals tournament, as have 38th-ranked Chile.
Iceland, Austria and Belgium - all inside the world's top 20 - are the biggest European omissions. North Korea, Asia's highest-ranked team and tenth in the world, are also absent.
- Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland
- Group B: Australia, Republic of Ireland, Nigeria, Canada
- Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan
- Group D: England, Haiti, Denmark, China
- Group E: USA, Vietnam, Netherlands, Portugal
- Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Panama
- Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina
- Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea
Who has won the World Cup previously?
USA are historically the best-performing side at the Women's World Cup, winning on four occasions - including the previous two - and finishing second in 2011.
Germany followed up their first victory in 2003 with a second in 2007, but have not reached a final since, while Japan - who beat USWNT in 2011 - and Norway are the only other teams to claim victory since the inaugural edition in 1991.
Brazil, China, Sweden and 2019 runners-up Netherlands have all made one final apiece.
- 4 - USA (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019)
- 2 - Germany (2003, 2007)
- 1 - Norway (1995) | Japan (2011)
Who are the World Cup host cities and how big are the stadiums?
The tournament's host cities are spread over a vast geographical area, with the Western Australian city of Perth a whole five time zones behind the bases of Wellington and Hamilton, on New Zealand's North Island.
The 64 matches will be spread across ten stadiums, with six in Australia and four in New Zealand.
A total of 13 potential venues were initially mooted, with Newcastle, Launceston and Christchurch all missing out.
Sydney
Stadium: Stadium Australia
Capacity: 83,500
Stadium: Sydney Football Stadium
Capacity: 45,512
Brisbane
Stadium: Lang Park
Capacity: 52,263
Melbourne
Stadium: Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Capacity: 30,052
Adelaide
Stadium: Hindmarsh Stadium
Capacity: 16,600 (expanding to 18,435)
Perth
Stadium: Perth Rectangular Stadium
Capacity: 22,225
Auckland
Stadium: Eden Park
Capacity: 48,276
Wellington
Stadium: Wellington Regional Stadium
Capacity: 39,000
Hamilton
Stadium: Waikato Stadium
Capacity: 25,111
Dunedin
Stadium: Forsyth Barr Stadium
Capacity: 28,744
How can I watch the World Cup on TV?
TV coverage in the UK will be shared between the BBC and ITV.
FIFA are aiming to reach a global audience of 2 billion people - up from 1.12 billion at the last World Cup.
Who are the favourites to win the World Cup?
USA have emerged victorious at the last two Women's World Cups and the USWNT will be well fancied to run to glory again, but with the women's game growing year after year, they are set face stiffer competition than ever before.
A first major tournament win at Euro 2022 is solid proof of England's gold medal credentials; the Lionesses emerged victorious in a Wembley friendly with the USA in October and are the world's form team. Sarina Wiegman's side have not lost a match since an April 2021 friendly with Canada - a run of 29 games.
But make no mistake; this is no two-horse race. Germany - beaten by England in extra time at the Euros - and Spain, who may well have the world's best player Alexia Putellas back in their squad after the Barcelona star suffered a serious knee injury on the eve of last summer's tournament, can also be considered title contenders.
France's national team has been in turmoil in recent months, but the exit of head coach Corinne Diacre and expected hiring of Herve Renard should allow Les Bleues to focus on a solid run in Australia and New Zealand - though they find themselves in a difficult group with Brazil.
Will England win the World Cup?
It's entirely possible.
The draw was a kind one for Wiegman and the Lionesses, who avoided the six best-ranked teams in Pot 2 - including Canada, Netherlands and Brazil - to draw China in Group D.
Denmark, from Pot 3, could be a tricky opponent, boasting Women's Super League talent in their squad such as Arsenal midfielder Kathrine Moeller Kuehl, as well as Real Madrid full-back Sofie Svava.
But the Danes were beaten by both Netherlands and France in the recent Tournoi de France international series and with Haiti ranked outside the world's top 50, progression should be a safe bet.
Should England top the group, they will face the second-best Group B side in Brisbane, namely one of Australia, Nigeria, Canada or Republic of Ireland.
Canada, sixth in the world, would be a formidable opponent at an early stage, while Australia will have a raucous home crowd behind them and an attack spearheaded by Chelsea's Sam Kerr.
Nigeria will be led by Barcelona goal-machine Asisat Oshoala, who jointly topped the Spanish league scoring charts last season and is in the running to do so again this term.
In short, this is where the going gets tough - not least because Germany could follow on in the last eight, with France, Brazil and the Group B winners on the cards for the semi-finals.
If England finish Group D in second, they will be in the same quarter of the tournament tree, but will face the best Group B team straightaway.
The good news, however, is that England cannot face USA or third-ranked Sweden until the final.
World Cup 2022 winner (odds via Sky Bet)
- USA - 3/1
- England - 7/2
- Germany - 7/1
- Spain - 7/1
Odds correct before the tournament
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