Its start date Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 has become a unknown since in the last days they have emerged reports of possible postponement.
Australia and New Zealand are set to host the 32-team tournament in July next year, but according to a French publication, FIFA is considering changing the date.
The SportingNews breaks down the latest news on women’s football’s big event.
Why could the 2023 Women’s World Cup be postponed?
Leading French sports publication L’Equipe reported that FIFA held informal discussions with European football stakeholders about postponing next year’s Women’s World Cup due to problems securing broadcast deals.
With the tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand during the European summer, FIFA would struggle to secure lucrative rights deals for the tournament, whose revenue would be lower than the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
The report says FIFA would like to move the tournament to the final months of 2023, which would be the Australian and New Zealand summer and the European winter, as it would be easier to secure a more favorable broadcast deal.
his article L’Equipe does not contain any official FIFA commentary.
What did FIFA say about a possible postponement of the Women’s World Cup?
FIFA has denied there will be any changes to the start date of the Women’s World Cup.
“After a successful ‘One Year to Go’ event, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 is scheduled to kick off on 20 July 2023.”a FIFA representative told SMH.
“No changes are expected in the competition dates.”
When does the Women’s World Cup 2023 start?
- First group stage matches: 20 July 2023
- Final group stage matches: 3 August 2023
- Round of 16: 5-8 August 2023
- Quarter-finals: 11-12 August 2023
- Semi-finals: 15-16 August 2023
- Third place match: 19 August 2023
- Women’s World Cup Final: 20 August 2023
Women’s World Cup 2023 will start on July 20, 2023 (local time) and Australia and New Zealand will play their first group matches. Traditionally, the hosts open the tournament and New Zealand have been provisionally drawn in Group A, while Australia are drawn in Group B.
Exactly one month later, the final of the Women’s World Cup will be held on August 20, 2023 at the Australia Stadium in Sydney.
The draw for the 2023 Women’s World Cup will take place on 22 October 2022 in Auckland, New Zealand. The three participants in the intercontinental tie will not be determined until then.
How many countries are playing in the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
In 2019, FIFA voted unanimously expands the Women’s World Cup from 24 to 32 teams starting with the 2023 tournament.
This puts it temporarily on par with the men’s edition, which will go from 32 to 48 teams in 2026.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will consist of a set number of teams from each confederation, which is as follows:
- Asia (AFC): 5 places + 1 host place (Australia)
- Africa (CAF): 4 places
- North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF): 4 places
- CONMEBOL (South America): 3 places
- Oceania (OFC): 0 slots + 1 slot slot (New Zealand)
- Europe (UEFA): 11 seats
- Repechage Tournament: 3 places
More | Which countries qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
A playoff tournament consisting of 10 teams will allow three nations keep their place at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The tournament will take place in February 2023 and will consist of three groups made up of former and unqualified teams, with the following positions:
- Asia (AFC): 2 places
- Africa (CAF): 2 places
- North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF): 2 places
- South America (CONMEBOL): 2 places
- Oceania (OFC): 1 place
- Europe (UEFA): 1 place
