FIFA Women's World Cup preview - Group E
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TSN.ca's lookahead to the FIFA 2023 Women's World Cup continues with a preview of Group E that features the two-time defending champion powerhouse United States, 2019 runner-up Netherlands and two teams making their Women’s World Cup debut: Vietnam and Portugal.
Sophia Smith USA UNITED STATES
Confederation: CONCACAF
FIFA ranking: No. 1
Manager: Vlatko Andonovski
Captain: Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan
Previous World Cup appearances: Eight
Major honours: FIFA Women’s World Cup (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019), CONCACAF W Championship/Women's Gold Cup (1991, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022), Olympic Games (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012)
The history of the FIFA Women’s World Cup has been written by some of the greatest players in American soccer history. Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd are just a few of the superstars that have led the United States to their record four titles at the tournament. However, the one thing the 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019 champions have yet to achieve is the three-peat, a goal that this year’s squad has firmly placed in their sights. The clear favourites to capture the World Cup title at Stadium Australia in the ninth Women’s World Cup Final enter the tournament with a squad made up of young emerging stars as well as a few more of those big names from the past. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski will have at his disposal such players as forwards Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe as well as defender Kelley O’Hara, all playing in their fourth World Cup. The team also includes third-time squad members – goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and midfielder Julie Ertz. Alongside those impressive names are 22-year old Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith, who last year became the youngest-ever winner of the NWSL MVP Award, Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman and San Diego Wave’s Noami Girma, the NWSL’s reigning Defender and Rookie of the Year. There is no question that the other teams in the game are narrowing the gap to catch up to the talented Americans, but this reloaded squad of youth and veteran talent is more than ready to turn back any challenge.
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Vietnam Huynh Nhu Vietnam
Confederation: AFC
FIFA ranking: No. 32
Manager: Mai Duc Chung
Captain: Huỳnh Như (Länk FC Vilaverdense)
Previous World Cup appearances: None
Major honours: AFF Women’s Championship (2006, 2012, 2019)
Vietnam will be making their World Cup debut at the 2023 tournament and they will be going straight into the deep end courtesy of an opening match against the two-time defending champion USA. The Vietnamese side qualified for the tournament thanks to a victory over Chinese Taipei in the 2022 Asian Cup playoff round. They followed that up with a fourth consecutive triumph at the Southeast Asian Games, defeating Myanmar 2-0 in the gold medal game. Captain Huỳnh Như has been a prolific scorer for her country, netting 67 goals in 72 appearances and has been named player of the year five times. The 31-year old plays for Länk FC Vilaverdense in Portugal and is the only member of the squad that does not play domestically in Vietnam. Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung made headlines in 2015 when she scored directly from corners twice in the same game against Malaysia at the AFF Women’s Championship and has 54 international tallies on her ledger overall. It will be an uphill climb for Vietnam in this group and the tournament overall, but they enter with an experienced squad that has seen success on smaller scales, hoping to translate that to the world stage.
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Netherlands Lieke Martens Netherlands
Confederation: UEFA
FIFA ranking: No. 9
Manager: Andries Jonker
Captain: Sherida Spitse (Ajax)
Previous World Cup appearances: Two
Major honours: UEFA Women's EURO (2019)
The Netherlands arrive at the FIFA Women’s World Cup looking to regain the major tournament momentum they have been building and perhaps spring a major upset in the group stage along the way. The Dutch qualified for the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2015 and made it into the knockout stage before capturing the EURO title in 2017. They then advanced to the final of the 2019 WWC in France where they fell to the United States 2-0. Poised to once again prove their place at the top of European soccer, Netherlands were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 continental championship by France. With all-time leading scorer Vivianne Miedema out of the lineup after suffering an ACL injury last year, Paris Saint-Germain's Lieke Martens will lead the charge on offence. The 30-year-old former UEFA Player of the Year will be making her third World Cup appearance and also has a Champions League title to her name as a member of Barcelona. Manchester City's Jill Roord will be an important attacking threat in the midfield, as she already has a World Cup goal to her name, scoring a stoppage time winner against New Zealand in 2019. Daniëlle van de Donk also has a Champions League trophy in the locker with Lyon last season and has already appeared for the Netherlands at the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, bringing much needed high-level experience to the squad. The Americans aren’t the only team the Dutch are familiar with in recent major tournament play – they also defeated Portugal in the group stage at the 2022 Euros. Along with USA, Netherlands will be favoured to escape Group E and advance to the knockout stage, and the matchup between the two will be one of the early must-watch games of the tournament. If they can spring the upset, the momentum might immediately be back in their favour
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Jessica Silva Portugal Portugal
Confederation: UEFA
FIFA ranking: No. 21
Manager: Francisco Neto
Captain: Dolores Silva (Braga Feminino)
Previous World Cup appearances: None
Major honours: None
Along with Vietnam, Portugal will be making their Women’s World Cup debut in Group E at the 2023 tournament. The Portuguese side qualified for their first tournament by defeating Cameroon in an Inter-Confederation playoff final 2-1 courtesy of a dramatic 94th-minute penalty by Carole Costa. Two Benfica players will have a major role to play in Portugal’s first foray into the Women’s World Cup. Midfielder Kika Nazareth is a skilled passer who also accumulated 26 goals in 36 games this season in the Portuguese league, while Jessica Silva is a dynamic forward who has already been capped 100 times with the national team. Ana Borges, Portugal’s most-capped women’s player, will also bring experience to the squad. After going out in the group stage of the 2022 Euro tournament, including a loss to the Netherlands, who they will face in their opening match in New Zealand, Portugal will be in tough to advance at their first Women’s World Cup. Success for the debutantes will more likely come down to the result of their second contest against fellow first-timers Vietnam. Leaving with a victory would provide them with something to build on ahead of the next tournament