Anticipation Builds as Biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Begins in Australia and New Zealand.
Today marks the kick-off of the much-awaited FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, hosted by Australia and New Zealand. This historic ninth edition features 32 nations, including European champions England and debutants, the Republic of Ireland. Notably, it is the first Women’s World Cup to have two co-hosts.
The opening matches are set to ignite the excitement, with New Zealand taking on Norway at Eden Park (08:00 BST kick-off) and Australia facing the Republic of Ireland at Stadium Australia, Sydney (11:00 kick-off) on the same day. However, the day of celebration for women’s sport was overshadowed by a tragic shooting in Auckland, where two people and the gunman lost their lives, and six others were injured. Despite the incident, FIFA has confirmed that the tournament will proceed as planned.
Organizers are optimistic about attracting a total crowd of 100,000 fans for the opening games, making it the most-watched Women’s World Cup in history. With over 1.3 million tickets already sold in advance for the 64 matches across 10 venues in nine cities, they aim to reach a record two billion television viewers for this edition, doubling the viewership of the 2019 World Cup in France.
Among the participating nations, the Republic of Ireland is one of the eight making their debut in the tournament, joining Vietnam, Zambia, Haiti, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, and Portugal. The defending world champions, the United States, are seeking their fifth title and rank as the top team in the world, while Zambia is placed 77th, making them the lowest-ranked team in the competition.
The highly anticipated final will take place at Stadium Australia on 20th August (11:00 kick-off), promising an exciting and memorable culmination to this groundbreaking event.
