Your guide to the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™

We're just days away from kick-off of the biggest sporting event to hit our shores since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. With an expected global audience of two billion people and on-track to sell 1.5 million tickets, the event will be the largest women's sporting event on the planet and one of the biggest sporting events ever.

Blayne Treadgold takes a look at some of the burning questions ahead of the event.

Event History

The first Women's World Cup was held in Italy in 1970 albeit as a non-sanctioned FIFA tournament. Various forms of the tournament were held following 1970 including women's continental tournaments but it wasn't until the 1988 FIFA Women's Invitation tournament that officials recognised the event as feasible.

Twelve teams took part in the 1988 event which paved the way for the first official FIFA Women's World Cup held in 1991 in Guangdong, China. From there the event has been hosted by Sweden, United States, Germany, Canada and France and is held every four years.

Where is the 2023 World Cup being played?

For the first time ever, the World Cup will be held in the southern hemisphere, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Matches will be played in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, Dunedin, Hamilton and Wellington.

When does it start?

The first match kicks off on Thursday 20 July with New Zealand hosting Norway followed by Australia versus the Republic of Ireland at Stadium Australia. The tournament will conclude with the final to be held in Sydney on Sunday 20 August.

Who is playing?

For the first time in the tournament's history, the 2023 edition will feature 32 nations bringing it equal to the Men's competition.

The tournament will feature six nations from Asia, four from Africa, six from North and Central America, three from South America and twelve from Europe and one from Oceania.

Who will win?

After winning the two previous world cups, the number one ranked United States will go into the tournament as favourites followed closely by England who will look to add a World Cup to their European Championship won in 2022.

Australia will also be tipped to do well on home soil along with European powers France, Germany, Sweden, Spain and Netherlands. Dark horses include Canada, Brazil, Denmark and Japan.

Who are the Matildas' star players?

Unless you've been living under a rock, you'd definitely know world football super-star Sam Kerr, arguably one of Western Australia's most recognisable sporting exports.

While Sam Kerr might be the recognisable face, the team is packed full of stars with many Matildas' playing their club football some of the world's biggest clubs including Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Lyon and Manchester City

Names include Mackenzie Arnold in goals, Clare Polkinghorne; who will play in her fifth FIFA World Cup, full-back Ellie Carpenter, young-gun Mary Fowler, winger Hayley Raso and Kerr's strike partner Caitlin Foord to name a few.

How can you watch?

All 64 matches will be shown live on Optus Sport with all Matildas' matches and finals shown on channel seven. Limited tickets are available for purchase on the FIFA website.

Australia - Group B Matches Australia v Republic of Ireland Date: 20 July 2023 Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney/Wangal Kick-off Time: 6:00pm (WST)Australia v Nigeria Date: 27 July 2023 Venue: Brisbane Stadium, Brisbane/Meanjin Kick-off Time: 6:00pm (WST) Canada v Australia Date: 31 July 2023 Venue:Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne/Naarm Kick-off Time: 6:00pm (WST)

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