Tag: Women’s World Cup

Key USWNT players missing from the 2023 World Cup roster

Don’t expect to see these USWNT stars play in the World Cup this year.

The 2023 World Cup is set to begin this week, as the United States Women’s National Team prepares for its tournament debut against Vietnam on July 21.

However, there will be some key members of previous USWNT teams not present in New Zealand for this year’s World Cup. A lot of names you probably recognize if you’re a casual soccer fan.

A good number of the women on this list are struggling with various ailments, while one all-time talent retired in 2021.

Before you spend too much time wondering where somebody is, let’s run down some of athletes who won’t be competing in the World Cup this year for the United States.

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Q&A: World Cup champ Tobin Heath on USWNT’s 3-peat expectations, Megan Rapinoe’s retirement

For The Win spoke with 2-time World Cup champion Tobin Heath about the USWNT in the 2023 tournament.

During the 2023 World Cup, Tobin Heath is doing something a little different.

For the first time in more than a decade, she’ll be watching the competition from afar after winning World Cup titles with Team USA in 2015 and 2019. Heath hasn’t played in a game since undergoing knee surgery in September.

So instead, she and Christen Press — a fellow two-time World Cup champ recovering from a knee injury — will break it down on their new digital series, The RE—CAP Show, which is produced by the lifestyle brand RE—INC, founded by Heath, Press, Megan Rapinoe and Meghan Klingenberg in 2019. Through the content arm of RE—INC, Heath hopes to provide the kind of analysis she’d want to see and “reimagine the way women are seen and experienced in sports.” The first episode dropped Thursday.

“We say we live at the intersection of sports progress and equity,” 35-year-old Heath said. “It’s always kind of cool to see how with just a single platform — which essentially was the legacy of the founders and all of our fights both on and off the field — how we’ve used that to create a vehicle that could far outlast any of our own individual playing careers.”

Ahead of the USWNT’s first game in the 2023 World Cup — its matchup against Vietnam is set for 9 p.m. ET on Friday on FOX — For The Win spoke with Heath about her expectations for the team, its biggest competition, equity in women’s soccer and the upcoming retirement of star Megan Rapinoe.

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This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

World Cup team previews: Get to know 10 of the 2023 contenders (including USWNT, of course)

Three former or current Ohio State players taking part in Women’s World Cup

Cheer these ladies on in the Women’s World Cup. #GoBucks

In case you’ve lost sight of some of the world sports affairs going on with all the news of wildfires, heat waves, and political nonsense, we’re here to remind you that the Women’s World Cup gets underway on this week.

And since we’re all about the colors of scarlet and gray (no nations I know of have that combination), then we thought we’d let you know that there are three former or current Ohio State players taking part in this year’s tournament.

Tiffany Cameron and Peyton McNamara will be running up and down the pitch for Team Jamaica, while Nichelle Prince will again be starring for Team Canada.

Cameron is a former All-American at Ohio State. She left the program after playing from 2009 to 2012 as the all-time leading scorer. She is Canadian-born and has had a long and distinguished career with several professional clubs before debuting with the Jamaican team in 2019.

McNamara is a rising senior who patrols the pitch as a midfielder at OSU. She played for the U20 Jamaican Team in 2020 despite being born in the U.S. because of her mother’s Jamaican heritage. She got the opportunity to play for the senior team in 2021.

If you watch women’s soccer at all, then we don’t have to introduce you to Nichelle Prince. After starring for the Buckeyes from 2013 to 2016, she was drafted by the Houston Dash of the NWSL. She is Canadian-born and has been a staple as a forward for Team Canada for years. She has already won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in her home country.

Enjoy watching the Women’s World Cup and remember to root these three players on unless and until they go up against the Stars and Stripes.

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2023 FIFA World Cup: How yellow card suspensions work in the World Cup

Here’s everything you need to know about yellow card suspensions for the World Cup.

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. 

The penalty system in FIFA can be somewhat confusing. We know what a foul looks like. But some fouls are deemed worse than others. Some can also result in just more than a penalty kick for the other team — some leave players with yellow and red cards.

And that’s where things can get a bit confusing. FIFA’s card penalty system can be a bit much for someone who might be new to the game and the way things work. If that’s you, here’s a quick explainer that breaks it down.

Let’s start with the basics. A yellow card is a card an official hands off to a player when they commit a foul of some sort.

The yellow card is basically a caution sign. Here’s a quick breakdown from Olympics.com:

The referee shows a yellow card to indicate a player or a team official has been officially cautioned. The referee notes the offender’s details, time, and the nature of the foul committed in a small notebook which is also called a booking.

Think of a yellow card as a warning. A player normally gets one when they delay the restart of the game or there’s some sort of unsportsmanlike foul committed.

That player is then warned with the card. And if they collect another card because of a similar action, they’ll be ejected from the game.

It doesn’t just stop there, though. Section 15, rule 2 of the FIFA 2022 World Cup rule book states that if a player gets two yellow cards in two different matches during World Cup play, that player will automatically be suspended from the next game.

To make a long story short, players definitely have to be careful when dealing with yellow cards. No, they aren’t the same as red cards — where a player is ejected from the game and cannot be replaced — and won’t automatically remove you from play. But if a player accrues too many they’ll be removed from the action.

Nobody wants to see that. So let’s just hope everyone plays a good, clean game that we can all enjoy.

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How substitutions work in the 2023 FIFA World Cup, explained

Here’s how substitutions work for the 2023 World Cup.

The World Cup is here, folks. And that means it’s officially time for Americans everywhere to, once again, start caring about soccer.

Let’s be honest here. Most of you are just checking from four years ago during the last USWNT run. Maybe last year if you’d watched the 2022 World Cup. Regardless, you’re probably not super familiar with what’s going on.

Some of the concepts and rules within the game of soccer can be kind of confusing. One of the more confusing aspects is almost certainly how substitutions work. In most sports, you can make as many subs as you want per game. But that’s not the case here in the World Cup.

If you’re a bit confused, though, don’t worry. We’ve got you. Here’s a quick rundown on how substitutions work.

What is VAR and why do soccer fans hate it?

VAR makes everything so much more complicated than it has to be.

For the first time, referees at the 2023 World Cup will explain their video assistance referee (VAR) decisions to live audiences in the mold of NFL officials. Though, given the inherent imperfections of VAR, it’s created a notable controversy.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, let’s explain exactly what VAR is and why it’s become an item of derision for soccer fans.

If you watch any other sports with an instant replay element, that is, in essence, what VAR is. Except in soccer, it allows an officiating crew to review and attempt to make the right call on things like a close goal or pivotal offsides decision.

Sounds simple and vital at the highest levels of the game, right? Well, the issue is that VAR technology hasn’t always been up to snuff.

RELATED: A terrible VAR decision eliminated Scotland from the 2019 World Cup

In the past, it’s proven to be slow to follow the on-field action, and, in turn, muddying matters up on the replay. What’s more, it’s kind of against the spirit of the game. The entire point of soccer is that play is never supposed to stop save for one halftime break. But when a VAR review occurs, it delays play and hampers a nonstop pace.

Never mind that it’s not exactly fun to watch a review for seemingly trivial sequences like a player being an inch offside. Sure, they were technically breaking the rules — but where’s the human element to nitpick any sport like that?

The core idea behind VAR — ensuring pivotal calls are made correctly — is a noble one. But it needs a lot of fine-tuning before it becomes something soccer fans embrace with open arms.

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Every 2023 World Cup team nickname, from The Stars and Stripes to Copper Queens

Let’s dive into each team’s nickname as we get set for the 2023 World Cup.

You know by now all of the 32 teams participating in the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which of course includes the United States after the team won the last world title.

But do you know each of those team’s nicknames?

Maybe you didn’t even know that these national teams have nicknames to begin with. But they do, just like other sports franchises around the world, and many of them have intriguing backstories, with some matching the uniforms worn by the teams.

So we’ve collected each of those nicknames to present to you as we get set for the 2023 World Cup to begin:

World Cup team previews: Get to know 10 of the 2023 contenders (including USWNT, of course)

Meet some of the 2023 World Cup teams.

Ahead of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, we here at For The Win are previewing some key teams to watch in this tournament.

It’s officially World Cup time, and ahead of the biggest soccer stage in the world, we’re taking a deeper look at a large handful of the 32 teams — a record number in 2023 — competing this summer.

To help you get to know them better, we’re breaking down their schedules for the group stage, key players to watch from veterans to newcomers and what the expectations are for the 2023 World Cup.

The 2023 World Cup begins July 20 with the group stage, followed by the knockout stage starting August 5 with the final on August 20.

MORE WORLD CUP:

2023 World Cup: Getting to know Team Germany

Alexandra Popp could bring Germany back to the top of the soccer world — and take home 2023’s Golden Boot.

Ahead of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, we here at For The Win are previewing some key teams to watch in this tournament. Next up is the Japan women’s national team. You can see the full list of team previews and read about the USWNT here.

The German women’s national team heads to Australia and New Zealand as FIFA’s second-ranked team in the world — even if it’s only got the fourth-best odds to lift the cup at the end of the tournament. That leaves the two-time former champions looking for a breakthrough after a string of merely good performances over their last three World Cups. With a stacked lineup of veteran talent, 2023 could be the year the DFB-Frauenteam returns to glory.

Here’s what you’ll need to know about the German national squad ahead of the 2023 FIFA World Cup.

World Cup team previews: Get to know 10 of the 2023 contenders (including USWNT, of course)

2023 World Cup: Getting to know Team Japan

Meet Japan’s women’s national team.

Ahead of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, we here at For The Win are previewing some key teams to watch in this tournament. Next up is the Japan women’s national team. You can see the full list of team previews and read about the USWNT here.

Japan’s women’s national team is now a decade removed from winning the FIFA World Cup.

But it isn’t unreasonable to think it could potentially return to glory with a triumphant run during the upcoming tournament. While this is a younger team, it still has players with experience winning at the biggest stages on the roster.

Japan is currently considered a sneaky choice to potentially win the whole tournament. It has the 11th-highest ranking among all teams to qualify, and the second-best odds (behind Spain) to win Group C.

So as the tournament kicks off, here’s a look at what you need to know about Japan in the 2023 World Cup.

World Cup team previews: Get to know 10 of the 2023 contenders (including USWNT, of course)