This summer, the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be hosted by Australia and New-Zealand. With less than 5 months to go, we are already looking forward to this big event in women’s football!
In this article we look at the qualified teams, dates, the hosting countries, marketing campaigns and present you more interesting facts about the tournament!
Where: Australia and New-Zealand will co-host this ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
When: 20 July until 20 August 2023.
Teams: There will be 32 teams competing in this World Cup tournament.
The Women’s World Cup teams
This is the first FIFA Women’s World Cup with 32 participating teams. In 1991, the tournament started with just 12 countries and was expanded to include 16 teams in 1999 and 24 in 2015.
Many teams have already qualified, but there are still 10 teams who need to qualify through a play-off tournament. The play-offs take place from 18-23 February and the winners of each group will earn their spot to play the group-phase in June.
Women’s World Cup Hosts
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will be hosted by Australia and New-Zealand. It is the first time in FIFA history that a men’s or women’s World Cup is hosted in the Southern Hemisphere and by more than one country.
The five Australian host cities are:
Sydney
Brisbane
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
New-Zealand’s cities will include:
Wellington
Auckland
Hamilton
Dunedin.
Beyond Greatness
In September 2021, FIFA revealed a bold new brand identity and emblem for this Women's World Cup. This emblem represents the vibrant local landscapes and rich colours of the two host countries. The palette is based on the rainforests, earth, mountains, cities and water of the two hosts.
The radial design on the emblem features 32 squares and celebrates the expansion to the 32 participating nations.
The slogan 'Beyond Greatness' is a reference to FIFA's aims for women's football and again the expansion to 32 nations.
OCEAUNZ - The official match ball
Last week, the 24th of Janaury, Adidas and FIFA presented the new match ball.
The launch of the new match ball was done in a very unique and spectacular way. The ball travelled over the iconic Sydney skyline by helicopter.
The ball is named OCEANZ and the design is inspired by the unique characteristics of the landscape of the two host countries. The ball is a celebration of the two cultures and features designs by Aboriginal artist, Chern’ee Sutton, and Māori artist, Fiona Collis.
The name reflects the coming together of Australia and New Zealand as host nations of the tournament. The ball reflects diversity, inclusivity and togetherness.
Women's World Cup facts
The opening match is between New-Zealand and Norway.
There is a big possibility that FIFA will move the match between Australia and The Republic of Ireland to a bigger stadium. The match was originally to take place in the 42,500-capacity Sydney Football Stadium, but will likely be moved to the 83.500-seater Stadium Australia.
FIFA announced that over 500.000 tickets have been sold to fans from more than 120 countries.
Ticket prices are accessible for fans with those for adults starting at $20 and $10 for children.
The qualification tournament involved 169 teams in total.
A total of 64 matches will be played in July-August. (48 in the group stage and 16 in the knock-out stages).
There are 5 countries that have qualified for a World Cup for the first time: Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Zambia, Philippines and Vietnam. There might be up to three more, depending on the qualifiers of the playoffs. Of these teams, only Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Cameroon have qualified for a Women's World Cup before.
The country with the most World Cup wins is the USA (4), followed by Germany (2), Norway (1) and Japan (1).
A tournament of firsts
This tournament is already a tournament of firsts. It's the first time that:
a World Cup is organised by more than one country.
there are 32 nations participating in this tournament.
the tournament will be held in the Southern Hemisphere.
Ireland, Morocco, Zambia, Philippines and Vietnam have qualified for a Women's World Cup.
We are excited for everything that is yet to come!
What about you?
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