Let’s kick things off with the Women’s FIFA World Cup Group A, where one of the hosts, New Zealand will play the first game of the tournament. In this blog we are going to investigate who are the teams in Group A and what are their chances of advancing towards the knockout stage.
The Women’s FIFA World Cup will star New Zealand, the unbeaten side in the qualifiers of Norway, Philippines and Switzerland, who managed to seal their place in this tournament thanks to Fabienne Humm, 120th-minute winner.
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Who exactly are the participants of Group A?
NEW ZEALAND
The co-hosts will be attending their sixth FIFA World Cup. They are currently ranked 25th in the FIFA World rankings, but in the build-up to the tournament, they have suffered six defeats out of their last seven friendly matches. Something has to be done in order to avoid an embarrassing showing in front of their home crowd.
Their first game is up against Norway, who are the highest-ranked team in the group and on a win streak. Jitka Klimkova, who will lead the New Zealand national team out, has a relatively experienced squad at her disposal but might lack the quality in depth to counter their opponents.
NORWAY
A very strong showing from the Norwegian side as they comfortably paved their way to another FIFA World Cup. During the Euro, Norway suffered one of the biggest defeats to England and did not recover well as they lost their following game, which confirmed their exit from the tournament.
Hega Riise, who is the head coach of the national team, will hope that they can kick-off in style, making a statement and pushing towards the knockout stages. In theory, Norway is the highest-ranked team in this group and thus are seen as the favourites to win the group.
PHILIPPINES
The Philippines are currently ranked 49th in the world rankings, which is the highest that they have ever been. In their last six competitive matches in the 2024 AFC Olympic qualifiers and 2023 Southeast Asian games, they won five out of their six games. During those games, they only conceded twice and scored an incredible 20 goals.
The South East Asian country could prove to be a tough opponent, having a resilient backline and a prolific attacking force.
SWITZERLAND
The Swiss Women’s national team will appear for the second time in a FIFA World Cup, the first appearance was back in 2015. They are currently sitting 20th in the World rankings, which is slightly up from their previous rankings. During their last appearance, they managed to reach the knockout stages, and hopefully, this time around, they can improve their record in major tournaments.
Switzerland are making great progress in their Women’s national team, and one must remain cautious when it comes to their chances of progression, they managed to qualify for the first Euro tournament in 2017, and this will be their second time at a FIFA World Cup finals. Lia Waiti, the captain of the national team will, hope to introduce confidence and motivation into this team and steer them to a positive showing in New Zealand and Australia.
BETTING TIPS AND ODDS ON YOUR GROUP A FAVOURITES
New Zealand to reach the semi-finals is priced at 7.75, whilst Switzerland are at 14.00. The least favourite to reach the semi-finals are the Philippines at 47 and Norway are at 6.50.
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