But will the scene of Thailand's 0-13 disastrous defeat be repeated?, Approaching the Women's Football World Cup: Expanding the Army to Benefit Asian and African Teams from South Korea | Opponents | Teams
Editor's note: On July 20th, 2023, the FIFA Women's World Cup will be held in Australia and New Zealand. The Chinese women's football team will debut against Denmark in the group stage on the 22nd, followed by matches against Haiti and England. This Chinese women's football team has a strong "Shanghai color": head coach Shui Qingxia has long coached the Shanghai women's football team, and five international players including Zhang Xin, Zhu Yu, Wang Linlin, Tang Jiali, and Xiao Yuyi are from the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank women's football team. In addition, overseas Chinese players Yang Lina and Shen Mengyu are also trained by Shanghai.
On the occasion of the "Steel Rose" competing in the World Cup, the Liberation Daily's Shangguan News City Channel and the School of Journalism and Communication at Shanghai Sport University jointly launched the "Approaching the Women's Football World Cup" column, approaching the women's football World Cup with 32 participating teams for the first time, exploring the strength of Shanghai in the "Steel Rose", witnessing the spirit of women's football soldiers facing world strong teams, and experiencing the development trends and latest trends of global women's football.
The 2023 Women's World Cup is the first World Cup to expand to 32 teams. According to the quota allocation of FIFA, member units of football associations from all continents are delighted and the quota has increased. Among them, the number of participating teams in AFC has increased from 5 to 6, and the number of participating teams in AFC has also increased from 3 to 4. Vietnam, Zambia, the Philippines, and Morocco, who participated in the Women's World Cup for the first time in history, are considered the biggest beneficiaries. How far can Asian and African women's football go on the World Cup stage after more teams participate?
East Asian teams: South Korea is not easy to advance, and Japan's quarterfinals are expected
The South Korean team is currently ranked 17th in the world and has advanced to the main stage of the Women's World Cup as the runner up of last year's Asian Women's Cup. In this World Cup, the South Korean team was placed in Group H, with opponents from Germany, Colombia, and Morocco in the same group.
In the last World Cup, the South Korean team had a poor record. They lost all three group stage matches and only scored one goal, ranking last and being eliminated, facing fierce criticism from the South Korean media. In recent years, although the strength of South Korean women's football has improved, the disadvantage of not being able to play easy balls in major competitions still exists. In this regard, the Chinese women's football team seems to be the beneficiary with the most say: in the second leg of the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers, the South Korean team was dragged into extra time with a 2-goal lead, ultimately losing and bidding farewell to the Olympics; In the Asian Cup of the Indian Women's Football Association, the South Korean team also led the Chinese women's football team by 2 goals. In the last 30 minutes of the game, they were chased by the Steel Rose for 3 goals in a row, completing a comeback.
From a personnel perspective, several core members of the South Korean team have already reached the golden age of their careers: Zhao Zhaoxian is 35 years old and Chi Xiaoran is 32 years old. Li Wen'e, who has gained widespread attention due to her high appearance, was not included in the squad due to her recent comeback from injury. To avoid the embarrassing performance of the previous season and advance to the group stage, the South Korean team needs to compete against Colombia and be cautious of a comeback against Morocco. After advancing to Group H, the team will face opponents from Group F, most likely France or Brazil, and it will be difficult for the South Korean team to go any further.
The Japanese team achieved the best result in the history of Asian teams in the Women's World Cup. They defeated the United States in the 2011 Women's World Cup final and won the championship. They also reached the final in 2015 and ultimately won the runner up. In the previous French Women's World Cup, Japan was eliminated from the round of 16 and lost to the Netherlands in the knockout stage.
In this World Cup, the group situation of the Japanese women's football team is relatively ideal, with opponents in the same group being Spain, Costa Rica, and Zambia. Coincidentally, Costa Rica and Spain are also group opponents of Japan in the 2022 Qatar Men's World Cup. Apart from the Spanish women's football team, it is not a big problem for the Japanese team to win the other two opponents. The biggest characteristic of the Japanese team is their relatively stable form.
In the past two years, the Japanese women's football team has never conceded against teams from other continents with world rankings lower than themselves. If they advance smoothly, the Japanese team will face a team from Group A in the round of 16, most likely one of the Norwegian or Swiss women's football teams. These two teams can only be considered second tier strong teams in Europe, and Japan has a chance to reach the quarter finals.
Host: With a home advantage, stability needs to be improved
Although the Australian team is located in Oceania, their football level has a significant advantage within Oceania. In 2006, they joined the Asian Football Confederation and the national team participated in the Asian Cup and World Cup Asian qualifiers. The club also participated in the AFC Champions League.
Australia is one of the joint hosts of this World Cup, and automatically falls into Group B as the first team in the group draw. The opponents in the same group include Canadian women's football, Nigerian women's football, and Irish women's football, with the strongest opponent undoubtedly being the Tokyo Olympics champion Canadian women's football. The Australian women's football team has a good advantage in the schedule, with three group stage matches held in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne, all located in the southeast of Australia, so there is no need to expend too much energy.
The Australian women's football team is not lacking in football stars. Except for a few players who play in the Australian domestic league, the majority of them play in English, American, and French leagues, which have high competitiveness. The authoritative sports media ESPN recently selected the top 25 football stars for this year's Women's World Cup, with Australian team's Kerr ranking first. Kerr is not only the top star of Australian women's football, but also one of the best players in the English Premier League. She has scored a total of 72 goals and contributed 20 assists for Chelsea women's football in the past three seasons.
The world ranking of Australian women's football is 10th, which is the highest among AFC teams and may also be the best AFC team to play against strong European and American teams, but its weakness lies in its lack of stability. Two years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, they were able to defeat the British team and compete against the American team until the last minute, but ultimately lost 3-4 and finished fourth; Last year's women's football Asian Cup, the Australian team dominated and ultimately lost to South Korea, even failing to reach the semi-finals. They also lost to the Philippines in friendly matches afterwards. As the host country this time, if Australia wants to go further, it needs to avoid the habit of being careless again.
African New Army: With limited opportunities to advance and the ability to disrupt the situation
In women's football matches, there is often a significant gap in strength between opponents. In the previous Women's World Cup, the Thai women's football team from Asia scored 1 goal and conceded 20 goals. They lost the game against the US team 0-13, a double-digit score that has never been seen in the history of the men's World Cup. For the new players in this World Cup, it is difficult to expect them to have too many breakthroughs in their performance. Being able to stand on the stage of the World Cup is itself a victory.
The Moroccan and Zambian teams from Africa are the two lowest ranked teams in the world, ranking 72nd and 77th respectively. They face teams such as Spain, Japan, Germany, and South Korea, and it is too difficult for them to advance, but they may become disruptors in the group.
Last year, the Moroccan men's football team became the biggest dark horse in the World Cup, ultimately defeating the Portuguese team led by Cristiano Ronaldo and advancing to the semi-finals, creating the best result in the history of African teams in the World Cup; In this Women's World Cup, the Moroccan women's football team seems to want to replicate the magic of men's football. Similar to men's football, many women's football players from Morocco also play in Ligue 1, and their greatest source of confidence comes from coach Pedros. Pedros coached Lyon women's football from 2017 to 2019, winning two consecutive league and Champions League titles, and was awarded the FIFA Best Women's Football Coach of 2018.
Chinese fans are not too unfamiliar with the Zambia team. At the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese women's football team and the Zambian women's football team were placed in the same group, but ultimately lost to the Brazilian women's football team and the Dutch women's football team, failing to advance. The direct dialogue between the two teams ended in a 4-4 draw. Wang Shuang, who played for the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank women's football team and played for foreign player Barbara Banda, also scored a hat trick for Zambia. At present, Barbara Banda remains the top striker of the Zambian women's football team. She has played in 6 friendly matches for the Zambian team this year, scoring 5 goals and providing 1 assist. Facing the Costa Rican women's football team in the same group, the Zambian women's football team may have a chance to score by putting in a fight.
