2023 Women's World Cup

[candrew]

Kicking off tomorrow in Australia & New Zealand, the 2023 Women's World Cup will feature 32 teams competing over the course of the next month with the final scheduled August 20th in Sydney, Australia. With 9 host sites stretching from Auckland, NZ to Perth, AU, this is a first time hosting the World Cup for both Australia & Oceania.

Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia will be making their World Cup debuts thanks in part to FIFA expanding the tournament from 24 to 32 teams.

Here is an interesting team-by-team preview courtesy of ESPN. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37899302/2023-womens-world-cup-32-team-preview-stats

The United States, back-to-back WC winners in 2015 & 2019 are seeking to become the first to achieve a 3-peat. Although ranked #1 by FIFA coming into the tournament, the U.S. are beset by key injuries and a side that has looked to be out of their best form as of late. At least a half dozen other quality teams, including England, Spain, France, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands will also have something to say.

Some matches will be kicking off at the wee hours of the morning here in North America.

WWC tv schedule: https://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/story/2023-07-19/womens-world-cup-2023-schedule-start-times-tv

 

[candrew]

This thread is certainly yielding a yawn thus far!

Our U.S. side did manage to win their match yesterday vs Vietnam. Having watched only the first half, it was an underwhelming performance against a much weaker opponent.

The U.S. often looked sloppy in the build-up, were inconsistent linking up with players in the box and committed too many unforced errors. A better opponent will punish them for those mistakes going forward.

Next up is the Netherlands, considered one of several teams with enough talent to win it all. The U.S. will have to be much better than they were vs Vietnam if they expect to get a result.

 

[skyking1]

Megan Rapinoe is this cool. She let my niece paint her nails the other day.

 

[Philliefan33]

I will be watching the US games, as well as any that happen to be on tv when I feeling like sitting to watch. One of our DD’s played soccer, so of course we watched with her growing up, and I remain a bit of a fan.

 

[Alan]

New Zealand played Norway in their opening fixture, having never won a World Cup finals match, equaling their male counterparts losing record.

Norway is a decent side, having won the competition in 1995 and making the last 8 in the last World Cup (2019). But New Zealand won 1-0.

Newcomers Haiti played very well in their opening game, only losing 1-0 to England.

 

[aaronc879]

I watched most of the match against Vietnam but went to sleep half way thru the second half. I will do the same with the Netherlands match but need to go to sleep early and have no way to record it. Not watching when it is on at 2am local time. I'm a fair weather fan and will watch if we win the first 3 and the next matches are on during a reasonable time in my area.

 

[candrew]

Megan Rapinoe is this cool. She let my niece paint her nails the other day.

That is next level cool!

It's not every day that a 2-time World Cup champion, former Ballon d'Or winner and recipient of the Golden Boot award makes time like that for a young fan.

 

[target2019]

This thread is certainly yielding a yawn thus far!

Our U.S. side did manage to win their match yesterday vs Vietnam. Having watched only the first half, it was an underwhelming performance against a much weaker opponent.

The U.S. often looked sloppy in the build-up, were inconsistent linking up with players in the box and committed too many unforced errors. A better opponent will punish them for those mistakes going forward.

Next up is the Netherlands, considered one of several teams with enough talent to win it all. The U.S. will have to be much better than they were vs Vietnam if they expect to get a result.

I'll have to watch again, as we were in a bar, and then caught last half at home.

If you consider the US game as well as England vs. Haiti, it's apparent that the world of women's soccer is evolving, in surprising ways.

Morgan missed a PK for U.S., and Lavelle hit the corssbar. If those attempts were good, the general fan base would settle down a bit.

About your buildup point, my impression as I watched was that Vietnam was pressing everywhere, slowing down the attack. So that coach's plan and the execution were very good. The U.S. did score twice in the first half, and I think that put to bed some doubts about beating a bunker.

The lineup was different enough from the prep games, that it really got me thinking about tournaments past, and how different this coach happens to be. He doesn't have just 11 players. This is obviously driving fans crazy, as their favorite(s) don't seem to have a lock on a preferred position.

The outcome was not in doubt, so there was a little freedom to experiment.

When Rodman went down I have to admit all the wind went from my sails.

Portugal vs. Netherlands will be interesting.

 

[Texas Proud]

Megan Rapinoe is this cool. She let my niece paint her nails the other day.

Agree this is very cool...

 

[Texas Proud]

I missed this thread at first... but I am watching the games on Fox...


I read an article that said Vietnam came off the field whooping and such as if they won the game.. and in their mind they did.. last time when US played a low level team like this it was 13-0...


Watching today there were more penalty kicks missed... so far only 4 of 8 have gone in and one of those was a rekick as the goalie left the line early...

 

[target2019]

Vietnam's team is ranked as #32 out of 188 teams. So they were the last team for this tournament.

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women?dateId=ranking_20230609

IOW, Vietnam is in the top quintile of all national women's soccer teams.

 

[Alan]

Vietnam's team is ranked as #32 out of 188 teams. So they were the last team for this tournament.

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/women?dateId=ranking_20230609

Not sure what you mean as Vietnam is not the lowest ranked team to make the finals. e.g. Jamaica are ranked 43 and Haiti are ranked 53, plus Costa Rica, Philippines, Zambia, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa and Panama who all rank below Vietnam but made it through the qualifying rounds to make the 32 teams in the finals.

 

[pb4uski]

I watched most of the match against Vietnam but went to sleep half way thru the second half. I will do the same with the Netherlands match but need to go to sleep early and have no way to record it. Not watching when it is on at 2am local time. I'm a fair weather fan and will watch if we win the first 3 and the next matches are on during a reasonable time in my area.

That's soccer... in most cases, a sure cure for insomnia. However, those rare good matches are really good.

 

[Humbooster]

Watching every game I can. I love soccer and played it for years back when I could run fast. It is nice to see a game where the players do not spend a lot of time pretending to be injured to win a free kick. The guys could learn a lot from the honest effort these women put in. They may not be as skillful or fast but it is nice to watch a good game.

 

[Philliefan33]

watching every game i can. I love soccer and played it for years back when i could run fast. It is nice to see a game where the players do not spend a lot of time pretending to be injured to win a free kick. The guys could learn a lot from the honest effort these women put in. They may not be as skillful or fast but it is nice to watch a good game.

 

[aaronc879]

Watching every game I can. I love soccer and played it for years back when I could run fast. It is nice to see a game where the players do not spend a lot of time pretending to be injured to win a free kick. The guys could learn a lot from the honest effort these women put in. They may not be as skillful or fast but it is nice to watch a good game.

I don't know if I would call it "honest effort". There was a awfully lot of intentional tripping and flopping. That is the worst part of the game. If they would just play soccer it would be more fun to watch IMO.

 

[candrew]

I don't know if I would call it "honest effort". There was a awfully lot of intentional tripping and flopping. That is the worst part of the game. If they would just play soccer it would be more fun to watch IMO.

The advent of VAR (video assistant referee) at the professional level has helped to reduce the frequency of players simulating fouls and misconducts (cheating) along with embellishing minor contact for the purpose of winning free kicks and penalties.

Gamesmanship, OTOH, is an accepted part of the sport by its participants. That would include tugging on an opponent's jersey along with some pushing and holding provided an unfair advantage is not gained by either player. Time consuming, in the form of delaying restarts is also accepted provided the referee does not deem the conduct to be wasteful (I can say that as a retired USSF referee, that is purely subjective!!).

Interestingly, regarding the differences between the men's and women's game, a study was done about 8 years ago ahead of the 2015 WWC. Although written largely tongue-in-cheek, there is some merit to @Humbooster's point as to the differences between the men's and women's game.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the...-why-womens-football-is-better-than-mens.html

"A study shows that on average, men stay down 30 seconds longer than women after being fouled. It’s the sporting equivalent of us crying “man flu” the moment we get a slight sniffle.

"The women’s game also features more actual action. The same study found that men take 10 seconds longer to get off the field when substituted and 30 seconds longer celebrating a goal."

 

[Alan]

Interestingly, regarding the differences between the men's and women's game, a study was done about 8 years ago ahead of the 2015 WWC. Although written largely tongue-in-cheek, there is some merit to @Humbooster's point as to the differences between the men's and women's game.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the...-why-womens-football-is-better-than-mens.html

"A study shows that on average, men stay down 30 seconds longer than women after being fouled. It’s the sporting equivalent of us crying “man flu” the moment we get a slight sniffle.

"The women’s game also features more actual action. The same study found that men take 10 seconds longer to get off the field when substituted and 30 seconds longer celebrating a goal."

I love when the statistics show what we seem to see live is correct. Women also argue less than men with the referee because women referees will quickly show a yellow card for dissent, as per the rules, whereas male referees let themselves be surrounded and harassed by players for ages.

 

[candrew]

I love when the statistics show what we seem to see live is correct. Women also argue less than men with the referee because women referees will quickly show a yellow card for dissent, as per the rules, whereas male referees let themselves be surrounded and harassed by players for ages.

Yes! These mass confrontations on the part of players over their disagreement with a referee's decision disrupt the match and serve to bring the game into disrepute.

FIFA's governing body could clean up that part of the game if it wanted to. There's an old saying that goes something like "what you tolerate is what you endorse."

 

[MichaelB]

Congratulations to Spain and England for a hard fought match. Today Spain was the better team and are now the new World Cup champions. The Spanish players also showed they can fake injuries and flop as well as the men.

 

[candrew]

Congratulations to Spain and England for a hard fought match. Today Spain was the better team and are now the new World Cup champions. The Spanish players also showed they can fake injuries and flop as well as the men.

The match was 55' in by the time I woke up this morning (no DVR). Spain did seem to have the better of it. England came into this final as the odds-on favorite.

A certain amount of gamesmanship is accepted by all participants, e.g. delaying restarts in play, keeper holding the ball as long as possible, etc. And, as you have pointed out, the cynicism on display by the Spaniards over the last 30' or so by embellishing minor contact and rolling about on the turf spoils what should be an otherwise be a great final.

 

[Alan]

Congratulations to Spain and England for a hard fought match. Today Spain was the better team and are now the new World Cup champions. The Spanish players also showed they can fake injuries and flop as well as the men.

Yes, very good game, and congratulations to Spain.

 

[Texas Proud]

I love when the statistics show what we seem to see live is correct. Women also argue less than men with the referee because women referees will quickly show a yellow card for dissent, as per the rules, whereas male referees let themselves be surrounded and harassed by players for ages.

If things go like the game I saw this weekend it might not be that way...


It was Tottenham vs Man United... ref called a foul and was running away... Man U guy captain comes running to him complaining and the ref just turned around and showed a yellow...


The announcers said that they were supposed to not allow dissent like we have seen all the time...



I have always been yelling at the TV to give these guys yellow that surround the ref and it would stop.. give 5 guys yellow at the same time and see how much it happens..

 

[Texas Proud]

Congratulations to Spain and England for a hard fought match. Today Spain was the better team and are now the new World Cup champions. The Spanish players also showed they can fake injuries and flop as well as the men.

Yep, was hoping for England but they looked very off from how they played their earlier games.... not sure if it was Spain being better or England being bad...



But, England win Euro 22 over Spain last year so who knows...

 

[Out of Steam]

And, as you have pointed out, the cynicism on display by the Spaniards over the last 30' or so by embellishing minor contact and rolling about on the turf spoils what should be an otherwise be a great final.

It's soccer, when doesn't this happen?

The comparison between soccer and hockey players is quite telling. Half dozen missing teeth? 30 stitches across the face? Back in time for the next period.

The single best player on the field was almost certainly England's goalkeeper. But she couldn't help a team that went 100+ minutes without scoring.