The ninth edition of the World Cup begins in the early hours of Thursday, in Australia and New Zealand, which has several milestones. It will have an unprecedented number of 32 castings and a notorious increase in economic amounts for those selected. The champions will receive $4.29 million.
One of the most important sporting events of the year begins. This Thursday, at Chilean dawn, the first kick of the ninth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Australia and New Zealand together will host the maximum planetary event, at which unfortunately the Chilean team will not be present. In distant February, the Reds led by José Letelier lost their playoff game to Haiti, stumbling in their desire for a second World Cup berth. This fall meant the end of the coach stage. But this is another story.
New Zealand and Norway at 3 a.m. in Chile open a special World Cup, because it places women’s football in a totally different dimension compared to before. It’s a young story, compared to its male counterpart. The first World Cup was held in 1991, in China. On this occasion, only 12 teams participated and the tournament had a total of 26 matches. As the years passed and the activity became widespread, FIFA gave another connotation to this competition, until now In 2023, a competition will take place with several novelties and exponential growth.
Why is this Women’s World Cup considered the greatest in history? One fact is obvious: there are more teams and more matches. In addition to developing in an unprecedented way in two nations, which represent two different confederations (New Zealand is from Oceania, but Australia corresponds to Asia), the World Cup will have a record number of participants: 32 teams. Four years ago, at France 2019, the competition had 24.
The 32 representatives (like the men’s World Cups, until Qatar 2022), are divided into eight groups of four each. The top two from each zone will advance to the Round of 16, to develop the knockout round through to the final, which will take place on August 20 in Sydney. There are eight newcomers: the Philippines, Haiti, Ireland, Morocco, Panama, Portugal, Zambia and Vietnam. South America has three distributions: Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.
More prizes
One of the most profound changes has to do with the prize money awarded by the World Cup. The total comes to $110m (split among the 32 teams), an increase of around 300% from the $30m offered at France 2019. A percentage will be given to the players and another to the associations.
Just for participating in the group stage of the tournament, each team will receive $1.56 million. The number increases as the team progresses through the Cup. For third place, the prize is US$2.61 million. Finalists will receive a prize of US$3,015,000, while the world champion team will receive $4.29 million. Individually, each champion player will be worth $270,000.
It should also be noted that, for the first time, FIFA has marketed the broadcasting and sponsorship rights for the Women’s World Cup separately from those of the Men’s World Cup. This implied noise in the major European countries, given what they were willing to pay for the televising of the matches (offers between 20 and 100 times lower than the men’s World Cup). Gianni Infantino himself, the FIFA coxswain, was adamant: “Broadcasters are paying $100-200m for the Men’s World Cup and only offering $1-10m for the Women’s World Cup… It’s a slap in the face for all the great players and indeed all the women in the world.” . Eventually, the matter was settled and an agreement was reached. In Chile, the World Cup will be broadcast by D Sports.
The figures
A powerhouse in women’s football is UNITED STATES . In fact, they are the most successful team in the World Cup, with four titles: 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019. Their name to highlight is Alex Morgan (34) , San Diego Wave striker, world champion in 2015 and 2019, and gold medalist at the Olympic Games. in London in 2012. Her first achievement as a national was in Chile at the Under-20 World Cup in 2008. Morgan is key, as is Megan Rapinoe (38 years old), who announced his retirement by the end of the season.
Spain His important base is Champions League champions Barcelona. In this direction stands out Alexia Putellas (29) , the best player today. The Hispanic midfielder has won the last two editions of the Ballon d’Or (2021 and 2022) and the FIFA The Best Award (2021 and 2022). Obviously, he is one of the stars of the World Cup.
Australia one of the hostesses, has in mind Samantha Kerr (29 years old) to its pillar. Captain of the Matildas, she was multi-champion with Chelsea, with three league titles in a row between 2020 and 2022. In South America, the presence of Martha (37) glue on. The Brazilian icon will play his sixth World Cup. His best result was second place at China 2007. In addition, he has two silver medals at the Olympic Games (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008).
Although Chile did not qualify, local football will be represented. On the Argentine list, there is a player who plays in the Chilean championship. This is Camila Gómez, from the University of Concepción.
World Cup groups
group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines and Switzerland.
Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria and Canada.
Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia and Japan.
Group D: England, Denmark, China and Haiti.
Group E: United States, Vietnam, Netherlands and Portugal.
Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil and Panama.
Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy and Argentina.
Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia and South Korea.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
