FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – Group B: Preview, schedule and how to watch
FIFA Women's World Cup 2023
The start of the 2023 Women’s World Cup – held in Australia and New Zealand – is just around the corner. Ahead of football’s most prestigious competition, here are the key things to know about Group B.
Football’s most prestigious prize is up for grabs this summer as hosts Australia and New Zealand prepare to anchor the biggest tournament in world football.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off on 20 July 2023, as both host nations commence the action.
Australia will battle it out in Group B, with the first game against the Republic of Ireland.
Current Olympic champions Canada, and Nigeria make up the rest of Group B and will get their campaign underway on 21 July 2023.
Ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, here is everything you need to know on Group B including players to watch and their complete schedule.
Women’s Football World Cup 2023: Group B Preview
All eyes will be on Australia as they head into this tournament as co-hosts. The Matildas will be eager to write their wings of the 2019 edition of the competition, when they were knocked out on penalties by Norway in the round of sixteen.
Since 2019, however, Australia have welcomed former USWNT assistant coach Tony Gustavsson as their manager and so far this calendar year, have only suffered one loss which came against Scotland.
Most notably, the Matildas defeated European Champions – and one of the favourites for this year’s World Cup – England 2-0 in April 2023. It was the first time the Lionesses had suffered a defeat in 30 games which reinforced Australia’s determination to prove themselves on the world stage.
Canada are favoured to make it out of Group B, following their Olympic success at the delayed Tokyo games. Prior to their Olympic success, they crashed out of the FIFA 2019 Women’s World Cup to Sweden in the Round of 16.
They also fell short at the 2022 CONCACAF, losing 1-0 to the United States in the final – however, Canadian midfielder Julia Grosso walked away with the Golden Boot and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan picked up the Golden Glove.
The FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup marks the Republic of Ireland’s debut tournament having not qualified for previous editions.
They secured their qualification with a 9-0 win over Georgia, as well as 1-0 wins over Finland, Slovakia and Scotland.
A string of good results in the last year was ended by consecutive defeats to the US in April 2022. As tournament debutants, the Republic of Ireland have their work cut out if they are to make it out of Group B.
Nigeria will be looking to go one step further than they did at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019 when they lost in the round of 16 to Germany.
In preparation for this summer’s tournament, the Super Falcons defeated hosts New Zealand 3-0 in a recent friendly which puts them in good stead heading into Group B.
Women’s World Cup 2023: Group B players to watch
The world will be ready for Aussie captain Sam Kerr to shine in Group B, but there are two other players in particular that you should keep an eye out for.
Jessie Fleming
The Canadian midfielder has just celebrated winning her third consecutive Women’s Super League title with Chelsea and has been an integral member of Emma Hayes’ unbeatable setup over the last three years.
Fleming cemented herself in Canadian football history at the Tokyo games where she held her nerve to score the only goal of the game – a penalty – against the United States to send her country through to their first ever Olympic final.
Since her gold medal performances in Tokyo, she has been voted as Canadian Player of the Year and even captained her country at the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup against England when Christine Sinclair was unavailable.
An extraordinary playmaker, Fleming will prove indispensable to her country if they are to progress further than ever before at this summer’s tournament.
Asisat Oshoala
Fresh from an unbeaten, title-winning season with club Barcelona, Asisat Oshoala will be the key to Nigeria’s success at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The 28 year-old forward has netted 83 goals in 89 appearances for club Barcelona, and has found the back of the net 83 times for Nigeria.
Having won African Women’s Footballer of the Year a record five times, Oshoala is widely regarded as one of the greatest African female football players of all time.
Her success on the pitch stems from her versatility. She has often played as a forward throughout her career, but has recently settled into more of an attacking midfielder when playing for Nigeria.
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This will be Oshoala’s third FIFA Women’s World Cup and there is no doubt that she’ll be hungry for more success.
Women’s World Cup 2023: Group B schedule and how to watch
Here’s how the group stages are shaping up for these four nations: (All times in local timezone of AEST)
20 July 2023: Australia v Republic of Ireland, 20:00 KO at Stadium Australia
21 July 2023: Nigeria v Canada, 12:30 KO at AAMI Park
26 July 2023: Canada v Republic of Ireland, 22:00 KO at Perth Rectangular Stadium
27 July 2023: Australia v Nigeria, 20:00 KO at Lang Park
31 July 2023: Republic of Ireland v Nigeria, 20:00 KO at Lang Park
31 July 2023: Canada v Australia, 20:00 KO at AAMI Park
