2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Futures
July is right around the corner meaning the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is less than a month away so it is time to see which teams have the best chance at lifting the trophy in August. The FIFA Women’s World Cup started in 1991 with 8 tournaments being held since then, USA winning the most trophies with 4, followed by Germany next with 2, then both Japan and Norway with 1 each. USA is the current defending champion of the competition, winning the last 2 World Cups. To Win Outright USA +250: USA is coming into this World Cup as the biggest favorite on the board and for very good reason as they have won the competition the most of any nation and they are the back to back defending champions as well. USA has been in great form coming into this competition, they have 1 more friendly match against Wales before the tournament starts but they have won 8 straight matches in all competitions, including all 3 of their meaningful matches in the SheBelieves Cup back in February. They also rolled every team they played in their tournament prior, winning the CONCACAF Women’s Championship without allowing a single goal in any of their matches. USA has some of the best players in the world on their squad and they will surely be one of the toughest teams to take out of the competition this World Cup. England +450: England is coming into this competition as the next likely to win the competition according to the books and England is also a team that has been in very good form recently. They are the champions of Europe after winning the last Women’s Euro Cup and they also won the CONMEBOL UEFA Cup of Champions this past April, beating Brasil is penalties after a 1-1 draw. England does have a very impressive resume coming into the tournament and they also have some of the best players on their squad from the best teams of the English Women’s Super League, but England definitely has not been as dominant against some of the better teams in the World and there was not even an English team in the Women’s Champions League finals either. On their way to winning the Euro Cup, they needed extra time to get past Spain and also in the finals to beat Germany. Even in their win of the CONMEBOL UEFA Cup of Champions, they drew 1-1 with Brasil and needed penalties to win that one. At some point the luck will run out for this English squad and they will get bested by a better side. Spain +600: Spain is coming into this competition as the next likely to win it according to the books and although their resume is definitely not as impressive as the 2 teams more favored, they still have a very good squad with some of the best players in Europe on their team. Spain definitely disappointed at the Women’s Euro Cup, losing to both Germany and England in the tournament, but they have been in very good form since then. They still have 2 more friendlies scheduled against Panama and Denmark before the World Cup starts but they have won 7 of their last 8 matches and their starting players have also been performing very well at the club level. A good majority of this Spanish starting XI is from FC Barcelona and Barcelona not only dominated their domestic league winning 27 straight league matches before finally losing 1 and drawing 1 in their last 3 of the season, but they also won the Women’s Champions League back on June 3rd, beating Wolfsburg 3-2 in the final. Spain may not have done as well as they wanted to in the last Euro Cup but their players have been in great form recently and will be hungry to perform well at the World Cup. Germany +700: Germany is coming into this competition as the next likely to win it according to the books and they are also a team with a very good squad that has players who have been performing very well at the club level. Just like Spain, a good majority of the players on Germany come from their 2 best teams in the German domestic league, Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg. Both of these teams had very good domestic seasons only separated by 2 points with Bayern winning the title while Wolfsburg finished 2nd in the league and went all the way to the finals of the Women’s Champions League, losing to Barcelona in that match. Their players have been playing well but the team has not been playing well together recently. They have been winning a lot of their friendlies but they have struggled against the better teams they have to face, losing to USA and Brasil as well as drawing with Sweden in their last 5 matches. They also performed very well in the last Euro Cup, until they ran into England where they were once again beaten by a better team. Germany does have a very good squad with good quality players but they have struggled in the past against stronger teams and that will be a problem for them in this tournament. France +1000, Sweden +1600, Netherlands +2500: There are some very good European sides that come next on the list but like a few of the other teams already talked about, these 3 teams do not have a very good chance as they will eventually run into a much stronger team that they will struggle to get by. England, Spain, and Germany are the 3 strongest teams from Europe and it is hard to see any other European nation that is not them making a deep run in this tournament. Dark Horses Australia +1200: Australia comes in at +1200 to win the competition and they do have a very good team that is ranked 10th overall in the World in the FIFA rankings. Australia also has home advantage as they are one of the host nations but they are a team that has recently struggled against teams in their own AFC competitions and they do not have the talent to compete with some of the stronger teams in the tournament. Japan +2500: Japan is coming into this competition at +2500 to win it all and they are a team that has struggled in recent AFC competitions as well as losing 2 of their 3 matches in the SheBelieves Cup back in February. They have even slipped outside the top 10 of the FIFA World rankings but the one thing they do have going for them is that they have won the competition before and they were the last team to do so before USA won the last 2 World Cups. They were also in the 2015 final which they lost to USA so they always have that experience with them. Brasil +2500: Brasil is coming into this competition at +2500 to win it all but they have not been in good form recently, losing their last 3 matches in meaningful competitions. They were awful in the SheBelieves Cup back in February, beating Japan but losing to USA and Canada, and then they followed up in April by losing the CONMEBOL UEFA Cup of Champions. They were not awful in that loss though as they drew 1-1 losing in penalties and they did win the Copa America to get there, winning all 6 of their matches in Copa America and allowing no goals in the whole competition. RecommendationsThere are quite a few teams in this tournament that have good quality players that will be trying to make a deep run but when push comes to shove there can only be one winner. USA and Spain are the 2 best choices to win the World Cup, USA at +250 being the favorite to win it and rightly so as they are the most decorated team and have been in the best form, but also Spain at +600 has some value due to the performance of their players at the club level recently. As for dark horses, Brasil is the best team to take as a longshot at the +2500 as there is a lot of value there for the best team in South America.
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