2023 Women's World Cup - Australia & New Zealand

Added Australia and Zambia's squad announcements.

Australia, by virtue of being one of the hosts as well as having probably the best pure 9 (Sam Kerr) in the competition are a favorite to win this tournament. They have excellent, experienced players all over the pitch and some good depth on the bench as well. They'll go deep, I believe.

Meanwhile, Zambia, who finished 3rd at WAFCON are absolutely no pushover. They've just beat Germany in 3-2 in a friendly, in Germany. They are led by their captain and top scorer, Barbra Banda, who made a name for herself by almost single-handedly dismantling backlines at the Olympics with her most illustrious victims being the Dutch, whom she got a hat trick against, though her team lost 10-3. Her brace led them over Germany just a couple of days ago. She's only 23 and is probably the best striker not playing in a major women's league. Whoever does eventually entire her from China will have to pay quite a bit and will have an absolute superstar on their hands. One thing to note for Zambia is their coach was accused of sexual abuse and that allegation appears to have a lot of teeth.

#USWNT legend @mPinoe announces she will retire at the end of the 2023 @NWSL season » https://t.co/p4txwE9fdo pic.twitter.com/x92Pv6JhxN

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 8, 2023

So this will be her last WWC.

If I'm being honest, I don't think she should be on this roster. She doesn't have the legs anymore for a full 90 though she does still have the technique to cause problems. That's not enough though. She's there primarily for her experience and leadership abilities as this team is much younger than the 2019 team. Still, I'd give her spot to a younger player like Mia Fishel or even Ashley Hatch.

That said, what Rapinoe has done not just for women's football, but for women's sports in general cannot be understated. She changed the landscape entirely. I've never considered her an arrogant player, just supremely confident in her and her teams' abilities. And they've been able to back up that confidence more often than not.

She'll be missed at NT level for sure.

south korea beat haiti 2-1 but it took this strike and extremely pure celly to do it pic.twitter.com/unrr1Jt2yM

— ugh (@838_carlisle) July 8, 2023

Both of these teams are pretty fun to watch. Don't sleep on Haiti especially.

lol S.Koreans and their politeness will never get old

Canada squad just dropped. Added it to the squad post above.

A strong squad as expected. The glaring absence is Janine Beckie, but there's still plenty of star power and experience. Canada boasts probably the greatest goalscorer in the history of the women's game in Christine Sinclair as well as one of the best center backs on the planet in Kadeisha Buchanan as well as one of the best fullbacks in Ashley Lawrence, both just joined Chelsea from Lyon and PSG respectively.

Very much a favorite this year given they are the reigning Olympic gold medalists.

Republic of Ireland’s last warm up match before the #wwc2023 against Colombia abandoned due to it becoming overly physical. pic.twitter.com/y8HnPPFrbe

— Tom Hamilton (@tomhamiltonespn) July 14, 2023

I have no idea what "overly physical means", but Ireland are known for being pretty physical. It was against them that USA lost star forward Mal Swanson to a pretty bad tackle.

That said, Irish midfielder Denise O'Sullivan did go to the hospital apparently so Colombia appears to have given as good as they got.

That opening game between Australia and Ireland is now must-see imo.

All squads have been announced. They can be found here.

I'm excited for this tournament. This England side is is looking very strong after the Euros win. Even with a few key players missing, I think our squad still has a good chance of winning the tournament. Although, it'll be hard since the USA are looking in top form. Germany, Sweden, and France are some other teams who have a solid chance of winning it too. It looks like it'll be a very wide open tournament.

Yeah this tournament's going to be dope. England are very much in this though losing someone like Beth Mead is just a really tough blow for them up top. They do have plenty of weapons in her stead though.

Germany haven't looked particularly good in their send off friendlies, but I think they'll kick it into gear when it truly matters. France are a straight up X-factor now that they've put their coaching issues behind them and have pretty much every key player other than Katoto and Henry. Sweden's Golden generation are aging and frankly, I don't see too many phenoms coming up behind veterans like Eriksson, Asllani and Rolfo.

So much talent will be missing the World Cup through injury pic.twitter.com/n56h9cLNtS

— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 17, 2023

BR are deeply unserious for leaving the likes of Katoto and Press on the bench of this XI, but the sheer talent of this XI could challenge virtually any team in this tournament.

damn what did Arsenal do to Miedema, Mead and Williamson... all their 3 star players injured at one time

Yeah all 3 tore their ACLs. Same with Katoto, Press, and Beckie.

Well, we got off to a winning start on Saturday. I'm pleased we won. And Mary Earps made a couple of fantastic saves in that match. So lots of credit to her.

Although, in that game, and the previous few friendlies, we seem to be struggling to score goals. Hopefully we can turn that around soon. I still believe this team can win the World Cup.

Haiti are absolute ballers. If I'm honest, England were pretty fortunate to come away with a win. Better finishing and I'd say Haiti win.

Well this is great.

Banyana Banyana always bring the style...and the tunes pic.twitter.com/Aj5yTkdlY5

— COPA90 (@Copa90) July 23, 2023

Cool video!

Well, Germany have started this tournament well so far against Morocco. They're looking like one of the favourites for the tournament with the way they're playing at the moment.

Really tough match for Morocco. They proved in WAFCON they can ball, but this was just a different level. Germany honestly could've had more.

Brazil put on a show against Panama. Ary Borges has been amazing at club level for Racing Louisville here in the US, but scoring a hat trick in her World Cup debut is just wow.

Can see highlights here

Peep that 3rd goal. Absolute filth.

If Brazil keep on performing like that then they could very well go on to at least make the semi-finals of the tournament. Yesterday's matches were very entertaining to watch and full of goals.

BTW, what's everyone's score predictions for the next England match? I predict we'll win 3-1.

Denmark don't give up goals easily and England needed a penalty to beat Haiti. I'm not sure about 3 goals.

I could see them eeking out another 1-0 result, but then again they do have to worry about Pernille Harder.

It's such a shame we've lost yet another one of our best players to injury. Thankfully, Keira Walsh's injury wasn't an ACL injury, and there's still a chance she could recover in time for a later game at the tournament. But it's still a terrible to see her pick up the injury in the Denmark game. Hopefully she'll have a quick recovery.

I was surprised at how well Australia played today in their 4-0 win iver Canada. Now that Sam Kerr is fit and playing again, Australia look a much stronger side. They definitely look like they can make the quater-finals of the tournament.

What a great performance from England today!

If this meme is the only thing to come out of this world cup I will be satisfied

It's a huge shame she did that, since she was having a fantastic tournament up until the last match. She'll most likely get a 3 match ban for that stamp, which will, unfortunately, rule her out of the rest of the World Cup.

Michelle Alozie is an amazing human and a straight up baller. She's one of the biggest reasons I watch the Houston Dash. The very fact that her first words about this were to defend Lauren James really says it all.

Kinda sucks watching Japan bowing out the way the way they did. 2 at the posts may have goals on another day. Congrats to Sweden for holding them the rest of the game tho. Spain looking really strong in this one. Paralluelo is an amazing player. Still a teen and making a big impact in this tournament.