Happy Friday, everyone! A quick question for you – do we care about soccer as a country? More importantly, do you care about soccer being played at its highest level? If your answers to both those questions are “yes”, then this is the perfect time to get sucked into the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which is being held simultaneously in Australia/New Zealand.
There are eight groups of four in the Women’s World Cup (32 teams total) and odds on favorites have been selected for each mini-league. So far, pre-tournament favorites haven’t yet ignited, but here are the updated odds as a percentage as of yesterday:
| Team | Chance of winning the 2023 World Cup |
|---|---|
| United States | 27% |
| Spain | 25% |
| Germany | 13% |
| England | 13% |
| Brazil | 6% |
| Australia | 5% |
| France | 5% |
After opening with a 3-0 win over Vietnam, the USWNT’s odds were at +240 to win it all. A 1-1 draw with the Netherlands lengthened USA’s odds slightly to +250. Team USA was at +275 earlier this summer, and remains the favorite, but have widened to 11/4 after struggling in the second round of group stages.
After a lackluster 1-0 victory against Haiti in its opening game, defending European champions England’s odds dropped to 7/1 and are now positioned behind Germany (13/2) and Spain (3/1). The Netherlands, the defeated 2019 finalists, held the United States to a 1-1 draw in the second Group E match, despite remaining the tournament favorites at 11/4.
In place of England as the second favorite, Spain is now favored to win the World Cup at 3/1 odds. La Roja has never made it to the quarterfinals before. The Spanish have eight goals and have won the opening two Group C games, securing a spot in the round of 16. Germany, who lost to the Lionesses in the 2017 European Championship final, is now 13/2 favorites over Sarina Weigman’s team. In the opening Group H match, Germany defeated Morocco 6-0.
The odds of England winning the championship for the first time have increased from 7/2 to 7/1 after they defeated the underdog Haiti in the opening Group D match with the help of a retaken penalty. The outcome against Denmark on Friday will determine whether the team goes to the knockout rounds.
After beating Panama in the opening match, Brazil is next in the betting, although it remains a long shot at 15/1. Australia and France, who are both in Group F, are both 20/1. The Matildas (Australia), who were defeated 3-2 by Nigeria in their second match, are depending on other outcomes to advance to the round of 16. In the opening game, the French were shockingly held to a draw by Jamaica.
So that’s where we are at this point in the tournament, but there is a lot more soccer to be played. The Women’s World Cup field narrows to 16 in a few short days, and this weekend’s games will be crucial in identifying which teams are going to make a run at the WWC title.
Photo credit: USWNT‘s Instagram
