Thirty-two teams are set to play in the upcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be hosted by Australia and New Zealand for the first time ever.
The tournament will get underway in July, with the 32 teams divided into 8 groups. The group stage will see the 4 teams in each group play each other once at stadiums across Australia and New Zealand. A knock-out round of the top 16 teams will then take place, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals matches.
Australia have been placed in Group B, alongside Canada, the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria.
Australia’s first game of the tournament will be held on Thursday, July 20 in Sydney, when the Matildas take on Ireland at Stadium Australia. Tickets went fast for this one, and have already sold out.
In the previous two Women’s World Cups, held in 2015 and 2019, the United States have dominated, winning both tournaments. But over the past four years, women’s football has advanced rapidly worldwide, and it is expected more teams will be competitive this year.
Matildas squad announced
The Matildas, Australia’s national team, has just announced its provision squad for the World Cup, locking in 29 players to participate in the final preparations.
There are, of course, many familar faces in the squad including captain Sam Kerr, Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Katrina Gorry.
Head Coach Tony Gustavsson said the provisional squad reflects a significant commitment and hard work from players over the past two and half years.
“From the first day of our first training session in 2021, we said it would take 23 in 23 for the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ and everyone would have a role to play in that journey,” Gustavsson said.
“What we have seen is that it has actually taken more than 23 players to bring us to this moment and for that reason I am thrilled to work with the players named in this Provisional Squad during the final phase of our preparation.
“I have been impressed by their full commitment at every step, and now we have the chance to fine-tune and solidify our gameplan ahead of a phenomenally exciting couple of weeks.”
If you’d like to get up to speed on the Matildas and their path to the tournament before the World Cup starts, there is an excellent documentary series called Matildas: The World at Our Feet out on Disney +.