The 2023 Women’s World Cup is in full swing, and these daily files will give you the latest reporting from around the 2023 World Cup as well as betting lines, what-to-watch-for information and best reads. Check in with ESPN throughout the tournament as we bring you the latest from Australia and New Zealand.
THE LEAD: Defending champions U.S. take the field
It’s finally here! After much anticipation, coach Vlatko Andonovski’s side will face Vietnam on Friday night (U.S. time) and get its World Cup underway. It’ll be a vastly different team to previous tournaments — fully 14 of this squad are making their first appearances at the World Cup — but the talent, depth and determination is there to put on a show.
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Every elite team knows a strong start is vital at this level, and at the 2019 edition, the U.S. opened proceedings in France with a 13-0 thrashing of Thailand, with Alex Morgan scoring five times. What will Friday night bring? Anything less than a comfortable victory might have fans feeling nervous.
Few who were buffeted by the noise that swelled every time the Super Falcons advanced toward goal Friday afternoon, or who had heard the explosion that greeted Chiamaka Nnadozie’s 50th-minute penalty save to deny Christine Sinclair and keep the game locked at 0-0, would have much disagreed with that segment.
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“I thought that the fan support for Nigeria was great,” coach Randy Waldrum said postgame. “They were vocal; you could hear them even when the penalty kick came. You could hear the chants for a save.
“I got a chance to meet several of them after the game and nothing but positive vibes from the crowd.”
A reported 21,410 fans attended the first game without a host nation of the 2023 World Cup, and while the contest was nominally staged in the middle of business and school hours, some didn’t appear to get that memo. Very quickly, a great number of those neutrals quickly found themselves drawn to supporting the African side.
“We are very contagious,” one Nigerian fan told ESPN. “So we had a lot of other people cheering for us, a lot of school kids, which was very fun.” — Lynch
How do you stop Alex Morgan?
The U.S. forward is seemingly unstoppable on the big stage. We talk to some players who’ve had to defend her in the past about what it’s like going toe-to-toe with the goal-scoring legend.
England’s turbulent World Cup prep
It’s been a difficult year for the Lionesses since winning the Euros at home last summer. Can they rally, shrugging off key injuries and off-field conflict, to make a strong run at the World Cup?
Why are so many Women’s World Cup stars missing due to torn ACLs?
The list of absentees is depressingly long. Why is this long-term injury so much more prevalent in the women’s game?
AND FINALLY…
Here’s a story we missed earlier in the week out of Brazil, where a government minister announced changes to the working day that would allow civil servants to watch the women’s team compete at the 2023 World Cup.
Per Reuters, the decree was quite explicit about wanting that time off, too: “On days when the games are held at 7:30 am, the working hours will start at 11 a.m. Brasilia time. On days when the games are held at 8:00 a.m., the working hours will start at 12:00 p.m. Brasilia time.”
Brazil begin their World Cup campaign on Monday against Panama.
