FIFA Women’s World Cup: A team-by-team guide of the 32 nations taking part in Australia and New Zealand

The 2023 Women’s World Cup gets underway on July 20 and for the first time it will feature a record 32 teams as they battle it out to become world champions in Australia and New Zealand.

Four-time World Cup winners USA enter the tournament as favourites, but they will face stiff competition from the likes of England, Spain, Germany, France and co-hosts Australia as a World Cup heads Down Under for the first time ever.

Here is a team-by-team guide ahead of the highly-anticipated tournament.

New Zealand are co-hosts for this year’s Women’s World Cup. The nation does not have its own domestic women’s league, with all their players plying their trade abroad, but they have featured at a Women’s World Cup five times.

New Zealand have never gone beyond the group stages and are the only nation to have made five or more Women’s World Cup appearances without doing so.

Norway are one of seven teams to have qualified for all nine Women’s World Cups and there is an expectation to reach the latter stages this tournament.

Their squad contains the likes of Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona), Guro Reiten (Chelsea), Frida Leonhardsen Maanum (Arsenal) and Ada Hegerberg (Olympique Lyonnais) and they will be looking to win their second World Cup after winning it back in 1995.

A Women’s World Cup debutant, the Philippines will feel confident of making an impact after achieving their best-ever finish at the Asian Cup in 2022, where they reached the semi-finals before losing 2-0 to South Korea.

None of the Philippines squad played in Europe’s top five leagues in 2022-23, but they do have three that did play regularly in Australia’s A-League, with Western United pair Angela Beard and Jaclyn Sawicki joined by Sarina Bolden of Western Sydney Wanderers.

Switzerland are making their second appearance at the Women’s World Cup and head coach Inka Grings has promised attacking football from her side, who are expected to get out of the group stages.

Grings favours an attacking 4-3-3 formation and they will likely look to dominate possession in their opening group game against the Philippines before playing Norway and New Zealand.

Australia will be looking to become the first host not to get knocked out in the group stage of a Women’s World Cup.

The 10th best nation in women’s football – according to the FIFA rankings – will have the crowd on their side and captain Sam Kerr, who has scored 54 goals in 67 matches in the Women’s Super League since her arrival in January 2020, is expected to be one of the stars of the tournament.

World Cup debutants Republic of Ireland only conceded four goals in nine matches in qualifying and scored 27 goals in the nine matches played.

Ireland will likely stick to their 5-4-1 formation while captain Katie McCabe, who plays her club football for Arsenal, is likely to be one of their key players at the tournament.

Nigeria have only qualified for the World Cup knockout stages twice in their eight previous attempts.

They enter the tournament under a cloud, with the team head coach Randy Waldrum at loggerheads with the leadership of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) over unpaid salaries and their players’ rights.

Nevertheless, forward Asisat Oshoala could inspire them to reach new heights at this World Cup. The forward has scored a remarkable 83 goals in 89 games at club side Barcelona.

Canada, ranked seventh in the world, are widely expected to reach the knockout stage, but head coach Bev Priestman has had to deal with injury problems to key players Desiree Scott and forward Nichelle Prince.

Prince has been included in the squad despite suffering an Achilles injury while Scott did not make it as she is recovering from knee surgery. Forward Janine Beckie and Defender Jade Rose are also out.

After defeating Sweden in the 2020 Olympics final via penalty shootout, Canada are looking to add a World Cup winners’ medals to their collection.

Spain will make their third appearance at a World Cup just months after a player revolt that saw 15 women stand down from international football to force changes which began after their Women’s Euro 2022 quarter-final defeat to England.

Only three of the 15 have returned for this World Cup, including double Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, but it remains an unsettled squad.

Nevertheless, Spain should still have enough quality in their squad to progress out of a group featuring Japan, Zambia and Costa Rica. Anything less than a quarter-final would be considered a failure.

Costa Rica return to World Cup action after qualifying for the first time since 2015. Head coach Amelia Valverde has caused controversy by leaving out experienced captain Shirley Cruz, who retired from club football at the end of last season.

Costa Rica have a tough task on their hands, but they boast a selection of players from the world’s top leagues including Mexico’s improving Liga MX Femenil.

Zambia are set for their first World Cup appearance and could cause a few surprises after impressing at times in their Olympics campaign two years ago with an exciting forward line.

Barbra Banda scored a hat-trick against the Netherlands and then followed it up with another treble in a thrilling 4-4 draw with China.

Zambia came third at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations and will be looking to be a surprise package at the World Cup. However, their tournament will be shrouded in controversy with head coach Bruce Mwape under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct.

Japan will be looking to put their disappointing 2019 World Cup campaign behind them when their tournament begins on Saturday.

Head coach Futoshi Ikeda has selected a youthful squad with new Roma signing Saki Kumagai the only player included who is aged over 30.

The 2011 Women’s World Cup winners and 2015 finalists will implement their possession-based brand of football again and have a wealth of central midfield options and a new-look front line.

The European champions are one of the favourites to win the World Cup for the first time after semi-final runs at the previous two tournaments. Head coach Sarina Wiegman will be looking to reach her fourth major tournament final.

The Lionesses have failed to score in two consecutive games – a 2-0 defeat to Australia and a 0-0 draw against Portugal – and will be looking to find the right winning formula with one of the most talented squads at the tournament.

It is remarkable that Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world, are even at the World Cup considering the nation’s troubles over the last decade. The Haiti football federation has also been embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal that saw several high-ranking officials banned by FIFA.

Fifteen of the players named in Haiti’s initial extended squad for the World Cup currently play their football in France and Lyon’s 19-year-old Melchie Dumornay is expected to be one of their star performers after 11 goals in the French top-flight last season.

Dumornay scored both goals in a play-off against Chile to secure World Cup qualification.

Captain and star player Pernille Harder, who has 70 goals for the national team, returned from a long-term injury at the end of last season that will significantly bolster Denmark’s hopes of qualifying out of the group.

Denmark’s squad features Rikke Sevecke, Katrine Veje, Karen Holmgaard and Nicoline Sorensen, as well as Arsenal’s new superstar Kathrine Kuhl. There is plenty of quality in the Euro 2017 finalists’ squad which will make England and China wary.

China are the second-highest ranked team in the group having won the AFC Asia Cup last year for the first time in 16 years.

But with only a handful of their squad playing abroad, such as Wang Shuang who plays for Racing Louisville in the NWSL, it is hard to judge how well they will perform at the World Cup and will likely be battling for second place with Denmark.

The back-to-back World Cup champions are aiming to become the first nation in men’s or women’s football to win the World Cup three times in a row.

USA have never finished outside the top three at a World Cup and a new-look squad packed with NWSL talent will be one of the favourites to win it again this year.

Vietnam will play their first ever World Cup game against FIFA’s No.1 ranked side. They come into the competition having won their fourth consecutive gold at the South East Asian Games and qualified for the World Cup after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup.

Huỳnh Nhu is Vietnam’s all-time leading scorer for the national women’s team. Look out for her.

The 2019 World Cup finalists will face off against USA for the second tournament in a row. The last time they met was at the semi-finals of the Tokyo Olympics where USA beat them on penalties following a 2-2 draw.

A nation on the rise. Portugal are currently ranked 21 in the world and went unbeaten in their three most recent games, including a goalless draw with England in July.

Portugal had to navigate the Inter-Confederation play-offs in New Zealand in February to qualify for the World Cup and should provide healthy competition for Netherlands and USA.

France is expected to dominate possession and quality out of their group. Eugenie Le Sommer will also could overtake Gaethane Thiney as France’s all-time World Cup appearance record holder.

The ‘Reggae Girlz’ have been forced to use crowdfunders to make their trip to Australia possible and lost all three of their World Cup group games back in 2019.

Jamaica’s chances of qualifying out of the group stages are slim, but Manchester City striker Bunny Shaw offers hope. She finished with 20 goals and seven assists last season and will look to form a dangerous partnership with Tottenham’s Drew Spence.

Emotions will be riding high in the Brazil camp with Marta playing in her last ever international tournament. The Brazil legend has scored in every World Cup she has played in and is only one of only three players in football to have scored at five different World Cups.

Brazil have not progressed beyond the quarter-finals since 2007 and the spotlight will be on 23-year-old playmaker Kerolin who plays her club football for NWSL side North Carolina Courage.

Another World Cup debutant, Panama are one of the lowest-ranked nations at the tournament but can take pride in a sturdy defence.

They did not concede a goal in the inter-confederation playoffs and kept clean sheets throughout the competition. However, a 7-0 defeat to Spain in a recent friendly will not help their confidence with their opener against Brazil on the horizon.

Currently ranked third in the world, Sweden will be one of seven nations to have played in every edition of the World Cup.

Sweden, who have never won the World Cup, will be looking to avenge their surprise defeat to hosts England at Euro 2022 by having a successful World Cup campaign at a time when their domestic top-flight league is struggling.

South Africa will be participating in their second Women’s World Cup after making their debut in 2019. Their qualification for this year’s tournament was secured by winning the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations which was their first ever title.

South Africa scored more goals than any other side at AFCON (10) and will be looking to put their pay dispute with the South African football federation to one side when their World Cup kicks off against Sweden on July 23.

Appearing in their fourth Women’s World Cup, Italy are featuring in back-to-back tournaments for the first time.

Italy have reached the quarter-finals in two of their last three World Cup appearances.

Italy finished top of their qualifying group, winning nine games and losing just one, and will feel they can make a deep run at this year’s World Cup with Roma’s players – Manuela Giugliani, Valentina Giavinti, Giada Greggi and Annamaria Serturini – expected to make a significant impact.

The South Americans have never gone beyond the group stages at a World Cup, but perhaps the success of the men’s team in 2022 can inspire them to achieve the unexpected.

Argentina finished third at the 2022 Copa America Femenina and will be hoping Yamila Rodríguez, who scored six goals at that tournament, can prove decisive again while the midfield double pivot of Daiana Falfan and Lorena Benítez will be worth watching closely.

The clear favourites to win the group, the two-time World Cup winners have featured in every single edition of the Women’s World Cup since it began in 1991.

But there is cause for concern as Germany have lost twice and been held to a draw once in their five games this year, including a stoppage-time loss to Zambia.

Nevertheless, Germany finished top of their qualifying group with nine wins and one loss and have formidable strikers Lea Schuller – 16 goals last season – and Alexandra Popp – 14 goals – to pick from.

Morocco are the second lowest-ranked nation (72) at this World Cup but qualified after finishing as runners-up at the Women’s African Cup of Nations last year.

Tottenham forward Rosella Ayane will lead the line. She scored nine in 21 appearances for her adopted country.

Colombia will be making their third appearance at the Women’s World Cup and reached the knockout stages for the first time in their history back in 2015.

The Copa America Femenina finalists can take confidence from their performance at the South American tournament, but this year have only won two of their seven matches played.

Liga F players Manuela Vanegas (Real Sociedad), Mayra Ramirez (Levante), Leicy Santos (Atletico Madrid) and Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid) will be the ones Colombia hope can lead them to a successful run.

South Korea finished as runners-up at the Women’s Asian Cup and are making their fourth appearance at the Women’s World Cup.

Although their World Cup record is poor, South Korea defeated World Cup co-hosts Australia last year en route to their maiden Asian Cup final.

South Korea have won their last three matches and will look to be defensively solid in their 3-4-2-1 formation under head coach Colin Bell before playing on the counter-attack.

South Korea’s all-time leading goalscorer Ji, with 67 goals, will be the focal point of their attack once again. The 32-year-old won six league titles and the Women’s FA Cup four times during her time in England.