(VOVWORLD) -The 2023 Women's World Cup began Thursday and will run through August 2 in Australia and New Zealand. Here are some interesting facts about the tournament and the participating teams.
 (Photo: funfactsabout.com) |
This year the World Cup is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, neither of which has ever organized a World Cup tournament before, either for men or for women. This is the first Women's World Cup with two co-hosts. There are 32 teams competing. In 2019, in France only 24 teams competed.
The expansion of the tournament goes along with FIFA’s pledge to raise the compensation for the players. This year’s prize pot will increase to 110 million USD and every player will receive monetary compensation from FIFA.
Each player will receive 30,000 USD for qualifying for the group stage. The amount will increase at every level, and the winners of the World Cup will take home 270,000 USD each.
There will be 64 matches at World Cup 2023, which will take place in 5 cities in Australia and 4 in New Zealand. The final match will be played at Stadium Australia in Sydney, on August 20.
The youngest player this year is Casey Phair of Colombia, who will turn 16 years old the day Columbia meets the Republic of Korea on July 25.
The US, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Japan, Brazil, and Nigeria are seven countries that have participated in all nine editions of the Women’s World Cup.
Mai Duc Chung of Vietnam's national women's football team, now 72 years old, will be the oldest coach at the tournament.
The US team has won the championship title 4 times and has won 40 matches, the most of any team. The US women's team has played 50 matches, also a record.
No football team, either men’s or women’s, has ever won three consecutive World Cups. If the US team, after winning championships in 2015 and 2019, wins the championship again this year, it will become the first team to claim that achievement.
'Beyond Greatness' is the official slogan of this year’s World Cup, which, according to UN Women, offers an opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements in sports and move the needle for gender equality.
UN Women is partnering with FIFA on two calls to action – “Unite for Gender Equality” and “Unite to End Violence Against Women” – which will be promoted via the team captains’ armbands, pitchside digital LED boards, large flags presented on the pitch, giant screens in the stadiums, and via social media.