The Women’s World Cup is very much underway. And as we head towards the midway point of the group stages, we have already seen plenty of great action.
Australia and New Zealand have already been generous hosts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and while the Republic of Ireland have been eliminated, England’s Lionesses still remain in the tournament after their narrow 1-0 win over Haiti.
England are next in action on Friday morning as they face tricky opposition in the shape of Denmark. The Danes also picked up a 1-0 win in their opening game against China.
A win for either team would almost ensure their progress into the latter stages of the tournament.
You can find plenty of betting on the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup at bet365 Sport. That includes betting on all the individual games, plus outright betting and In Play options.
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However, the tournament has also shown us facts about the women’s game that we were not aware of.
So what have been some of these main takes from the Women’s World Cup so far?
We have outlined ten below:
The Gap Between the Best and Worst Team Has Narrowed Considerably.
In previous Women’s World Cup competitions there have been the occasional landslide win for top teams.
Switzerland beat Ecuador 10-1 in the 2015 World Cup Finals, and in the same tournament Germany defeated Ivory Coast 10-0.
However, the record at the finals came at the tournament four years ago when the United States defeated Thailand 13-0. A game that provoked much debate given how enthusiastically the US celebrated each goal.
In 2023 though, the games have tended to be much closer. The USA this time around, only managed a 3-0 win over Vietnam. There have been a few 5-0 wins and a 6-0 win for Germany against Morocco.
But there have also been very close games too. Canada narrowly beating Ireland 2-1, England ousting Haiti 1-0 thanks to a penalty, Denmark beating China 1-0, Sweden defeating South Africa 2-1.
We have also seen some shock results too with hosts New Zealand losing 1-0 to the Philippines and then a day later the other hosts Australia went down to a 3-2 defeat to Nigeria.
This clearly shows that the game is developing very quickly in emergent nations, who are closing the gap quickly on the top teams.
The Gaps Between the Best and Next Best Teams Has Also Narrowed.
For many years, there has been one team at the top of women’s international football. The United States.
Not only have they secured Olympic Gold time and time again, they are seeking to become the only women’s or men’s team to win the World Cup three times in a row.
But far from sweeping all before them, the USA are finding things tougher. Despite being bet365 Sport’s favourite to win the competition.
They were not hugely impressive in the 3-0 win over Vietnam and laboured to a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. The team they beat comfortably 2-0 in the final in 2019.
With teams like England, Sweden, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Brazil closing the gap on the Americans, this looks like being the most open women’s World Cup in history.
There Have Been Huge Strides In The Quality of Goalkeeping & Defending at All Levels.
For a long time, the qualify of goalkeeping in the women’s game was its Achilles heel.
That is no longer the case.
There has been no position on the field where the improvement in quality has been more noted than goalkeeper. In fact, some of the best players in the world play in that position.
Christiane Endler, the Chilean star who misses the world cup, Merle Frohms of Germany, Adrianna Franch of the United States, Mary Earps of England, Ann-Katrin Berger of Germany, all can be considered amongst the best in the game.
We’ve already seen plenty of outstanding saves in this tournament from the women between the sticks and it’s likely we’ll see plenty more too.
Women Players Are Now Fitter, Stronger, Faster and More Technically Gifted.
Women players always had good skill and technique but because of their amateur status, they lacked strength, fitness and speed.
With so many of the women now playing professionally and able to focus on their physical skills alongside their technical and tactical, the difference has been marked over the last 10-15 years.
Physically, the modern day women’s professional footballer is not just fitter, she’s stronger, more powerful, faster and allied to that, has better technique too.
Goals Are Proving To Be Much Harder To Score.
As we have seen teams develop their abilities and individual players improve, so the number of chances to score goals has fallen.
Games that a team in previous tournaments would have won by five or six goals, are now finishing just 1-0 or 2-0. Chances are at a premium as tactically, teams are far more able defensively.
From A Tournament With Just One Likely Winner, There Are Now Several Teams In Contention.
The World Cup betting used to comprise of a very short odds United States and then the rest of the teams. Now, it is much more evenly contested.
The United States are still favourites of course, but the likes of Germany, Spain, England, France, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands and Brazil are also rated as being likely winners.
That makes for a much more exciting spectacle.
The Quality Of Officiating Has Improved Markedly.
Lauding players and managers is one thing, but another huge area of improvement is in the quality of officiating at the tournament.
In fact, I would argue that the women’s officials in this tournament have been far b etter than their male counterparts were at the 2022 World Cup Finals.
There is fantastic consistency between the officials across the board and the way they explain their VAR decisions is helpful, even if you don’t agree with them!
The Level Of Support For The Women’s Game Is Increasing Quickly.
All these factors mean that women’s football and especially the World Cup Finals are attracting plenty of interest from fans all over the world.
Many games at this tournament are sold out especially in the latter stages and the games featuring the host nations.
From demand for shirts with female players names on, through to players signing sponsorship deals with some of the biggest companies worldwide. Consistent exposure is making the women’s game surge in popularity.
Despite The Many Positives, There Are Some Issues Regarding Finance That Have To Improve.
While all seems rosy for female players, it is not perfect just yet.
We’ve already seen issues with players from squads, such as England, having issues with their Bonus payments allocated by their FA’s.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino had to shame many national broadcasters into offering a fair deal to televise the women’s World Cup, with some offering just a tiny fraction for the rights compared to what the men’s World Cup was sold for.
And there is also the issue of remuneration through the tournament with the women’s World Cup having £122 million in prize money. A 300% increase on 2019. However it is still around a third of the £353 million prize money for the men’s tournament in 2022.
There Are Some Undesirable Aspects Of The Men’s Game Making Their Way Into The Women’s
Finally, we are starting to see some of the less appealing aspects of the mens game starting to appear in the women’s game too.
Diving, calling for yellow cards, pretending to be injured and so forth, there has been more of this at this World Cup than in those past.
That’s a shame as one of the biggest appealing factors for women’s football was its integrity and honesty.
However, it would be wrong to end this article on a low note. The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has been a resounding success so far.
And the rest of the tournament promises to be every bit as good as what has already happened!
