Tag: 2023 Women’s World Cup

2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Day 6 Recap: Philippines makes history

The Philippines stunned host nation New Zealand to notch its first ever World Cup win

Another day, another slate of 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup action to unpack. We had three games on Day 6, all of which came with their fair share of intrigue. Colombia faced off against the Korea Republic, New Zealand took on the Philippines, and Switzerland battled it out against Norway.

But as always, before we get into the games, this is your reminder that you can follow the entirety of the World Cup right here at Pro Soccer Wire! Check out the TV/streaming schedule, the updated list of the group stage standings, and the race for the Golden Boot.

Let’s get into the action.

New Jersey teen Phair makes World Cup history representing South Korea

The Korea-born New Jersey native played against Colombia at age 16 years, 26 days

Casey Phair has become the youngest player in World Cup history, entering South Korea’s match against Colombia at age 16 years, 26 days.

With her team trailing 2-0, Phair came on as a 78th-minute substitute in the match at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. The game would end by that same scoreline, with Catalina Usme and Linda Caicedo giving Colombia an opening-game win.

Phair was born in South Korea to an American father and Korean mother, and moved to the United States when she was one month old. Her family moved around the country before settling in New Jersey in 2020.

The forward broke the previous record held by Ifeanyi Chiejine, who played for Nigeria at the 1999 World Cup at age 16 years, 34 days. On the men’s side, Northern Ireland’s Norman Whiteside holds the record after playing at age 17 years, 41 days at the 1982 World Cup.

Phair and South Korea goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi also set a Women’s World Cup record for the biggest age gap between teammates, with 22 years and 256 days between them.

Speaking to The Athletic about her decision to play for Korea instead of the United States, Phair said: “Whether it’s with the under-17 team or the senior team, I always feel that whenever I am with the Korean national team I am put in the best position to improve and thrive.”

Phair is also the first player of mixed heritage to be selected for a Korean World Cup squad, men’s or women’s.

“I know as the first mixed race player for Korea, men and women, it’s a highlight, it’s something new,” South Korea head coach Colin Bell said when he announced his World Cup roster.

“But as far as I’m concerned she’s still a kid and it’s my duty to protect her so she can blossom and really fulfill her potential. We’re taking care of her; she’s taken very well to the team. She’s in the squad on merit.”

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2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Day 5 Recap: Germany, Brazil earn blowouts

On Day 5 of the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup, Germany and Brazil earned blowout wins.

Another day, another exciting slate of 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup action to break down. There were three games on Day 5 of the event. Italy played Argentina, Germany took on Morocco, and Brazil faced off against Panama. And in the latter two games, there was no shortage of goals.

But before we check out the games, here’s your daily reminder that you can follow the entirety of the World Cup right here at Pro Soccer Wire! Make sure to read up on the TV/streaming schedule, check out the updated list of the group stage standings, and stay up to date with the race for the Golden Boot.

Now, let’s dive into the games from Day 5.

Three things on the USWNT opening the World Cup in completely okay fashion

Vlatko Andonovski made some big calls against Vietnam, with some working better than others

The U.S. women’s national team got off to a winning start — if not an imperious one — at the World Cup.

A 3-0 victory over Vietnam didn’t quite live up to some outsized expectations, but when you consider that Alyssa Naeher barely even touched the ball with her feet, much less her hands, it was also a functional, easing-into-it kind of performance. Vietnam was more physical and more organized than Thailand (who infamously fell to the USWNT 13-0 at the last World Cup), and they recently gave Germany a more difficult time than they did the U.S.

In other words, while it wasn’t amazing, it also wasn’t bad. The USWNT got valuable World Cup debuts in for six starters and two substitutes, they didn’t have to run themselves into the ground to take the three points, and they showed no signs of weakness at the back. No one got hurt (though a couple of players probably have some bruises, because Vietnam got stuck the heck in), and potential knockout round opponents probably still don’t know exactly what they’re going to be facing in a couple of weeks.

With all of that glass half-full thinking in mind, here are some points worth digging deeper into from what the U.S. hopes is the first of seven straight wins.

2023 Germany Women’s World Cup roster

See Germany’s full squad of 23 players for the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is finally here. The United States women’s national team will look to capture a third consecutive World Cup, this time in Australia and New Zealand.

The World Cup will begin with both host countries playing on Thursday, July 20th. The knockout stages will begin on August 5th, with the final scheduled for August 20th in Sydney at Stadium Australia.

We’ll be listing the rosters of the top contenders in the 2023 World Cup. Germany was drawn to Group H, along with Morocco, Colombia and South Korea.

Germany schedule:

vs. Morocco (July 24th)

vs. Colombia (July 30th)

vs. South Korea (August 3rd)

You can scroll through the full roster below:

2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Day 4 Recap: Jamaica earns shocking draw

Jamaica’s surprising draw against mighty France highlighed the fourth day of action

On Day 4 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, there was plenty to get excited about. From marquee matchups to surprising finishes, there was a lot of intrigue. In the opening match, Sweden took on South Africa. That was followed by Netherlands against Portugal, while France and Jamaica wrapped up the day.

But before we get into the games, here is a quick reminder that you can keep up with the entirety of the World Cup right here at Pro Soccer Wire. Make sure to check out the TV/streaming schedule, an updated list of the group stage standings, and a look at the race for the Golden Boot.

Now, let’s see how Day 4 went down.

USWNT World Cup opener vs. Vietnam gets big TV ratings

Turns out people like the USWNT

The U.S. women’s national team was on the big stage Friday night, and they drew a huge crowd.

According to Fox Sports, the USWNT’s World Cup-opening 3-0 win over Vietnam drew in 5,261,000 viewers.

That marks the second-highest figure to ever tune into an English-language USWNT group stage match, only bettered by the 5.3 million viewers who watched their 3-0 win over Chile in 2019.

Drawing on metrics from Nielsen Research and Adobe Analytics, Fox said that viewership spiked to just over 6.5 million during the game’s final 15 minutes. Additionally, the match averaged 155,821 streaming viewers, the network’s biggest figure ever for a women’s World Cup group stage match.

That’s big growth from the first U.S. game in the 2019 tournament against Thailand. That match drew a TV audience of 2,649,000, with Friday’s game representing a 99% improvement.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Telemundo, between TV and streaming, drew in around 1,000,000 viewers, a new all-time high among Spanish-language broadcasts of a women’s World Cup group-stage game in the United States.

Those figures bode well for the USWNT’s next game, a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final against the Netherlands. Like the Vietnam win, that game is set for a 9:00 p.m. Eastern kickoff on Fox (and, in Spanish, on Telemundo).

The top markets in terms of viewership share were:

  • Kansas City (5.0 rating/16 share)
  • Washington, D.C. (4.3/15)
  • Hartford, Conn. (3.9/11)
  • Austin, Texas (3.7/13)
  • San Francisco (3.6/15)

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2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Day 3 Recap: USA, Japan pick up big wins

Japan made a statement, while the USWNT started with a solid win

The biggest day of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup thus far, Day 3 saw four games played, and there were some big names out and about, too. The United States took on Vietnam, Japan played Zambia, England faced off against Haiti, and Denmark battled it out with China PR.

But before we check out the action from Day 3, here’s your daily reminder that you can follow the entire World Cup right here at Pro Soccer Wire! We’ve got it all: the TV/streaming schedule, an updated list of the group stage standings, and the race for the Golden Boot.

Now, let’s see what happened on Day 3.

USWNT player ratings: Smith stands out as U.S. eases past Vietnam in World Cup opener

Smith was at the center of most of the USWNT’s best in their win

It may not have been the blowout some expected, but the U.S. women’s national team started the World Cup off with a 3-0 win over Vietnam.

A first-half brace from Sophia Smith — one goal was clinical, the other needed a fairly hefty slice of luck — set the USWNT on their way. After some missed chances, including an Alex Morgan penalty kick that was saved by Vietnam’s Tran Thi Kim Thanh, Lindsey Horan added the third on an assist from Smith.

In the context of Vietnam’s recent results, including only falling to Germany 2-1, it’s a decent result. It’s also not the rout that fans may have thought was coming, though on another day the goals may have been flowing with just a touch more sharpness from the attacking players.

As a reminder, here’s the Pro Soccer Wire player rating scale:

Our scale:

  • 1: Abysmal. Literally any member of our staff would have been been able to play at this level.
  • 6: Adequate. This is our base score.
  • 10: Transcendent, era-defining performance. This is Carli Lloyd vs. Japan in the 2015 final.