The Women's World Cup 2023 will take place between July and August this year, leaving European and American fans confused as to why it is starting so late in the summer months.
Kicking off with the tournament's opening game between New Zealand and Norway at Auckland's Eden Park on July 20, the Women's World Cup 2023 will conclude with the final on August 20 at Sydney's Stadium Australia.
However, there's a significant break between the European season and the World Cup, with a month longer than what is normally experienced in men's World Cups - notwithstanding the most recent 2022 edition in Qatar. The Women's Super League, for example, has been pushed back as a result of the later World Cup, kicking off two weeks later than the 2022/23 campaign on September 29.
So why is the Women's World Cup 2023 starting so late? FourFourTwo takes a closer look and details everything you need to know below.
Why is the Women's World Cup 2023 starting so late?
With Australia and New Zealand such a long distance to travel for the majority of teams, FIFA wanted to ensure players received adequate time to recover from their club seasons before beginning their preparations for the Women's World Cup.
This was further exacerbated for the 12 European nations competing due to an agreement brokered by FIFA, the European Club Association and other leading stakeholders, that stipulated players would not be released by their clubs until June 23.
Several European club sides privately voiced concern about the lack of a break between the end of the domestic season and the beginning of the World Cup, suggesting part of the reason FIFA initially chose the July and August dates was to placate prestigious teams - though the tournament hasn't been pushed back since the dates were first announced in December 2021.
In 2022, French publication L'Equipe claimed that FIFA contacted several European football federations about the possibility of postponing the Women's World Cup for a number of months, in order to ensure the tournament fell in Australia and New Zealand's summertime.
Cities such as Melbourne have up to just 11 hours of sunlight during the winter, hence FIFA's musings about possibly changing the schedule to ensure more games were played in natural light, with more favourable weather a factor, too.
However, that was soon dismissed, with the original July 20 - August 20 dates kept.
Regardless, FIFA have never explicitly released details on why the Women's World Cup is taking place in July and August, though the aforementioned reasons suggest keeping players fit and firing plays into the factors.
