The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 kicks off a month of action on Tuesday with the opening match between co-hosts New Zealand and Norway.
This is the ninth edition of the Women’s World Cup, which was launched in 1991 as a 12-nation tournament, and the first time it has been held on the continent of Oceania.
Until the 2019 edition in France, 24 nations competed, but this time around, the field has grown to 32. The tournament is divided into eight groups of four teams, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the round of 16 to determine the winner.
The United States, a record four-time winner (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019) and FIFA’s No. 1 ranked team, will attempt to win a third consecutive World Cup. If successful, it would be a milestone.
In addition to the United States, Germany won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2007, while Norway (1995) and Japan (2011) have won one.
The U.S. contenders for a fourth straight title include Germany (fourth), England (eighth), Spain (seventh) and France (third).
FIFA has also significantly increased the prize pool for this year’s tournament.
The total prize pool for the tournament is now $152 million (approximately 191.7 billion won). That’s more than triple the amount offered at the previous edition in France in 2019 ($50 million).
Of the total prize money, $110 million will go to the national associations and players, while the remaining $42 million will be used to support training and compensate clubs for losing players during the World Cup.
The winning team will receive $10.5 million.
Colin Bell’s South Korea (17th in the FIFA rankings) will compete in Group H alongside favorites Germany, Colombia (25th) and Morocco (72nd).
Bell’s men will open their campaign in Sydney against Colombia on Sept. 25, before facing Morocco in Adelaide on Sept. 30 and Germany in Brisbane on Sept. 3.
The team left the country on Oct. 10 and will arrive in Australia on Dec. 12 for acclimatization training.
The Taeguks, 토토사이트 who qualified for their first-ever Women’s World Cup in 2003 in the United States, are competing in their third consecutive tournament (2015-2019-2023).
The best result for the Korean Women’s National Team was a round of 16 finish in Canada 2015. At their last tournament, France 2019, they were knocked out in three games and will be looking to make it past the group stage for the first time in eight years.
South Korea will be aiming high, with Ji So-yeon (32-Suwon FC), Cho So-hyun (35-Tottenham), Kim Hye-ri (33-Incheon Hyundai Steel) and Lee Young-joo (31-Madrid CFF) among the so-called ‘golden generation’.
“At last year’s World Cup in Qatar, Morocco caused an upset by reaching the quarterfinals,” said Ji So-yeon, the poster girl for the Korean women’s national soccer team, “and I believe Korea will be the protagonist of a great upset at this year’s Women’s World Cup.”