On Friday, July 28, sixteen teams will hit the court in Cape Town for the Netball World Cup, but only one country will take home the crown.
The Netball World Cup will be held in South Africa, and the tournament will run until Sunday, August 6. The previous Netball World Cup, which took place in 2019, was hosted by the UK in Liverpool. New Zealand became champions for the fifth time after beating Australia by one goal, while England took home the bronze medal.
The final is at 17:00 BST on Sunday, August 6 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The UK has narrowly missed out on the winning title for several years, but what are their chances this year?
They have finished third six times, including at the last three tournaments, and have never reached the final. They are set to open in Pool B against Barbados on Friday before playing Malawi and then Scotland.
Pool A: Australia, Tonga, Zimbabwe, and Fiji
Pool B: England, Malawi, Scotland and Barbados
Pool C: Jamaica, South Africa, Wales and Sri Lanka
Pool D: New Zealand, Uganda, Trinidad & Tobago and Singapore
If England finish top of their pool and move on to Pool F, they will meet the top three teams from Pool A - Australia, Tonga, Zimbabwe, and Fiji.
The teams’ journeys so far
The Australian netball team has a strong history. Currently ranked number one in the world, they’ll be attempting a record-extending 12th title in Cape Town this year, after missing out to New Zealand four years ago.
So Australia will be a tough team to beat. If the UK and Australia were both to finish top of their initial pools, they would compete on Thursday, August 3 in what would be England’s first major test of the tournament.
Defending champions New Zealand are also a team to watch, despite having a different squad to the one that took home the trophy in 2019.
Jamaica have never reached a World Cup final and have not medalled since 2007, finishing fifth in Liverpool in 2019.
South Africa finished in sixth place at last year’s Commonwealth Games after a fourth-place finish four years ago.
Netball World Cup fixtures
England’s first match kicks off today (Friday, July 28) against Barbados.
Friday, July 28 (BST)
8am: New Zealand vs Trinidad & Tobago / Tonga vs Fiji
10am: Australia vs Zimbabwe / Uganda vs Singapore
5pm: South Africa vs Wales / Jamaica vs Sri Lanka
7pm: England vs Barbados / Malawi vs Scotland
Saturday, July 29
8am: New Zealand vs Uganda / Zimbabwe vs Fiji
10am: Australia vs Tonga / Jamaica vs Wales
3pm: Scotland vs Barbados / South Africa vs Sri Lanka
5pm: England vs Malawi / Trinidad & Tobago vs Singapore
Sunday, July 30
8am: Australia vs Fiji / Wales vs Sri Lanka
10am: New Zealand vs Singapore / Malawi vs Barbados
3pm: England vs Scotland / Uganda vs Trinidad & Tobago
5pm: Jamaica v South Africa / Tonga vs Zimbabwe
We can expect to find out the fixtures for the second two stages after the end of the first phase.
Saturday, August 5
8am: 11th/12th placing match
10am: Semi-Final 1
3pm: Semi-Final 2
5pm: 9th/10th placing match
Sunday, August 6
8am: 7th/8th placing match
10am: 5th/6th placing match
3pm: Bronze medal match
5pm: Netball World Cup final
How to watch the Netball World Cup 2023
Matches will be shown on BBC Two, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website from the second group stage on July 31 up to and including the final on August 6. However, Sky will have television rights for the opening weekend of Pool matches.
BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra will also have selected live commentaries.
Sky Sports customers can live stream the Netball World Cup via the Sky Go app. You can also watch the Netball World Cup on NOW without signing up for a contract.
