MIAMI — The Women’s World Cup kicks off Thursday in Australia and New Zealand, which means soccer fans in the United States will be setting early morning alarms, as they did for the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar and as diehard tennis fans do for the Australian Open.
The first match is New Zealand vs. Norway at noon Thursday in Auckland, which is 3 a.m. Eastern time. The second opening day game is Australia vs. Ireland at 8 p.m. in Sydney, which is 6 a.m. ET.
It is the first time the Women’s World Cup will be held in the Southern Hemisphere, in the winter, so don’t be surprised to see players wearing long sleeves and leggings while fans are bundled up in the stands.
Here are storylines to follow.
Can USA three-peat?
The United States is ranked No. 1 in the world and a favorite to raise the trophy a third time in a row after winning back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2015. The Americans are in Group E with Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Team USA opens Friday at 9 p.m. against Vietnam, then plays July 26 at 9 p.m. against Netherlands and the group stage finale is Aug. 1 against Portugal at 3 a.m.
The U.S. team has undergone many changes in the past four years. Jill Ellis stepped down as coach. Carli Lloyd retired. Meanwhile, other teams have emerged as serious contenders, such as England, Germany, Spain and France.
Fourteen of the 23 players on the U.S. roster are going to their first World Cup, making it one of the youngest American squads in recent memory.
Nine players were on the 2019 championship team in France, including co-captains Alex Morgan, 34, and Lindsey Horan, 29, and Megan Rapinoe, the outspoken forward with multi-hued hair.
Rapinoe will be playing in her fourth and final World Cup after announcing that she will retire at the end of this NWSL season. Rapinoe, 38, won the Golden Boot four years ago for most goals and the Golden Ball for top player. She is the oldest player on the team this time around.
Three veteran players will be missing due to injury: Becky Sauerbrunn, Samantha Mewis and Christen Press. Mallory Pugh Swanson, formerly Mallory Pugh was expected to be a key player and scored seven goals in six games this year, but she tore a knee tendon in April and will miss the World Cup.
Among the young players to watch are forwards Trinity Rodman, the 21-year-old daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, Sophia Smith, 21, and Alyssa Thompson, at 18 the youngest on the roster.
Rodman scored two goals in a warmup game against Wales a few weeks ago. Smith was the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2022.
Despite the revamped roster, injuries and intense pressure to three-peat, U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski is confident his team is up to the task.
“Would I be happy with anything short of a third straight win? No, absolutely not,” he told reporters at the team’s media day in late-June. “Our goal is to win the World Cup, there’s no question about it.”
Haiti women make World Cup debut
The Haitian men’s team qualified for the 1974 World Cup, but this is the first time the women’s team made it. “Les Grenadiers" qualified for the 2023 World Cup by beating Chile, 2-1, in New Zealand. They will face England, China and Denmark in the group stage.
Despite the country still dealing with aftereffects of the 2010 earthquake, heightened crime, and, most recently the president’s assassination, the Haitian women’s team was able to overcome immeasurable obstacles to reach the sport’s biggest stage. Training camps were moved to Dominican Republic for safety reasons.
Fort Lauderdale native Milan Pierre-Jerome, a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High and junior defender at George Mason University, is on the team. She was overwhelmed with emotion on Feb. 22 when Haiti’s team qualified.
“I am so emotional because being able to see what we were able to do in the span of a year is incredible,” Pierre-Jerome told the Miami Herald. “To see us go through adversity and being able to put a smile on our country’s face and every little Haitian girl who looks up to us is really special.”
Haiti’s team centers around 19-year-old Melchie “Corventina” Dumornay, who made headlines during the Under-20 World Cup in 2018 when she was 14. She plays for French team Lyon, one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Haiti is among eight teams playing in their first Women’s World Cup. The field expanded from 24 teams to 32, so new teams are making the cut.
Other newcomers are Zambia, the Philippines, Ireland, Vietnam, Portugal, Panama and Morocco.
Zambia, which has never played in a men’s World Cup, is led by star forward Barbra Banda. The “Copper Queens,” as the team is nicknamed, upset powerhouse Germany, 3-2, in a friendly in early July and Banda scored two goals. Zambia is in the group with Spain, Japan and Costa Rica.
Marta’s quest for trophy
Brazilian legend Marta has been world player of the year six times. But she has never won a World Cup, and at 37, this may be her last chance. She is recovering from a knee injury, so it is unknown how much playing time she will get. But her teammates have vowed to win the trophy for her.
2023 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
— When: July 20-Aug. 20
— Where: Australia and New Zealand
— TV: Fox, FS1, Telemundo
— Defending Champion: USA
— Favorites: USA, England, Germany, Spain France
— Players to Watch: Sophia Smith (USA), Alex Morgan (USA), Alexia Putellas (Spain), Lena Oberdorf (Germany), Chloe Kelly (England), Alessia Russo (England), Selma Bacha (France), Wendie Renard (France), Ada Hegerberg (Norway), Sam Kerr (Australia), Melchie Dumornay (Haiti), Christine Sinclair (Canada), Barbra Banda (Zambia).
