Team News

The 2023 Women’s World Cup will be held from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.

Here’s everything you need to know about this tournament

What is special about this year’s tournament?

The 2023 World Cup will be the most watched women’s sporting event in history, with more than 1 million tickets already sold.

How many teams will participate?

The World Cup was born as a 12-team tournament in 1991, before expanding to 16 teams in 1999 and 24 teams in the 2015 championship.

This year’s championship will be the biggest, with 32 teams, compared to 24 in the previous two editions.

Who is the reigning champion?

The United States of America are the defending champions and will aim to win their third title in a row. Germany has won the Cup twice, while Japan and Norway have won once.

How much are the rewards?

The total prize money is 110 million dollars, about 300% more than that made available by FIFA in the 2019 tournament. Each player will be guaranteed at least 30 thousand dollars.

The total price per appearance is significantly lower than that offered at the men’s World Cup last year, where the total price was $440 million.

What are the favorite teams?

The United States of America, the defending champions, are favorites to win a third straight title, something no team has achieved before.

The American team is missing a few players due to injury, but has a good mix of young players and experience in the squad.

England, who won the European Championship last year, are also favourites, although the team is missing some key players such as captain Leah Williamson and Beth Mead due to injuries.

France, with new coach Herve Renard, is another favourite, along with Germany and Spain.

Australia is also the favorite, thanks to the home advantage.

Who are the players to keep an eye on?

Sam Kerr (Australia), Sophia Smith (United States of America), Aitana Bonmati (Spain), Eugenie Le Sommer (France), Alexia Putellas (Spain), Lena Oberdorf (Germany), Barbra Banda (Zambia), Rachel Daly (England), Asisat Oshaola (Nigeria), Yui Hasegawa (Japan), Wang Shuang (China).

Which key players will be missing due to injuries?

Janine Beckie (Canada), Amandine Henry, Delphine Cascarino, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, (France), Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson, Beth Mead (England), Becky Sauerbrunn, Sam Mewis, Catarina Macario, Mallory Swanson, Christen Press (USA), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands).

UEFA confirmed the dates of the new European competition calendar for the 2024/2025 season, which coincides with the reform of the Champions League to 36 teams, and reminded that the leagues must avoid matches during the week that coincide with the challenges of this competition, Europa and the Conference League .

The highest body of European football addresses in particular the Premier League and the English Football Association, which in recent seasons had ignored this call.

Furthermore, last season’s Champions League round of 16 matches Bruges-Benfica and Dortmund-Chelsea coincided with a very high-profile match between Arsenal and Manchester City, which undoubtedly made it more little important the main European competition.

The new Champions League will have four more teams and two more games for everyone in the first stage. The Champions League will start in the week of September 17-19, 2024 and will have as a novelty two additional days in January, on the 21st or 22nd and the 29th.

There will be a round of 16 between 11 and 20 February and then the usual rounds will be played until reaching the Champions League grand final, scheduled for 31 May 2025. The Europa League will be on 21 May and that of the Conference League on May 28.

Cristiano Ronaldo has claimed the Saudi Pro League is better than MLS just a day after Lionel Messi was scouted by American side Inter Miami.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, was one of the first big names to move to Saudi Arabia, joining Al-Nassr following his departure from Manchester United last season in a whopping £175million-a-year deal.

Many other players have now followed him to the Middle Eastern country, including names such as Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and even Steven Gerrard.

While Ronaldo recently confirmed he would be staying in Saudi Arabia next season, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has also been linked with a return to Europe and his former club Real Madrid.

But following a 5-0 pre-season friendly thrashing by Celta Vigo on Monday, Ronaldo has issued a candid assessment of his future, claiming he will not be heading to the US or back to Europe, while also taking credit about the influx of players going to the Middle East.

“The Saudi league is better than MLS,” he said, according to Fabrizio Romano.

“I am 100 percent sure that I will not return to any European club. I paved the way to the Saudi league and now all the players are coming here. I will not return to European football, the door is completely closed. I am 38 years old, even European football has lost a lot of quality. The only league that for me has a lot of quality and is at a higher level than all the others is the Premier League.

The Spanish league does not have that great quality. The Portuguese league is a good league, but it is not the best league. I think the German league has also lost a lot. I’m sure I won’t play in Europe again. I want to play in Saudi Arabia.”

His side Al-Nassr were narrowly beaten to the Saudi Pro League title last season by league rivals Al-Ittihad, but were banned from signing new players by FIFA last week after they failed to pay £390,000 for former Leicester player, Ahmed Musa.

Despite this, the club signed Marcelo Brozovic before the ban came into effect at the start of July and have also been heavily linked with a move for Hakim Ziyech.

“Within a year, more and more top players will come to Saudi,” continued the Portuguese superstar. “In one year, the Saudi league will surpass the Turkish league and the Dutch league. The players who arrived are not what the president of the European Union said. Jota and Neves are young players.”

When asked if he would move to MLS, Ronaldo added: “I think the Saudi league is much better than the United States. My team is Al-Nassr.

100 percent. It’s a fact,” said Ronaldo. “It would take a year, but six months. I was wrong for six months. But I knew it would happen because in the Italian league, when I went there, it was also dead and then it was renewed.

Where Cristiano goes, it arouses more interest and I knew it would be like that. I am sure that next season more stars will go there, to Saudi Arabia,” Ronaldo concluded.