Date Published 02 August 2023
The competition has started extremely well for the Lionesses in this year's World Cup which is jointly hosted by Australia & New Zealand. They have accumulated 9 points from a possible 9, and have won Group D with wins over Haiti, Denmark and China. Yesterday, Lauren James became the first English player to be directly involved in 5 goals in a single game at a Men's or Women's World Cup.
After finishing top of Group D, we enter the knockout phase and the Round of 16. The Lionesses will face the runners-up of Group B, Nigeria on Monday 7th August. They must surely fancy their chances against the 40th ranked nation in the world.
If England beat Nigeria, they will be through to the Quarter Final which will be played on Saturday 12th August. This will be against the winner of Group H or the runner-up of Group F and will be played in Sydney. France and Brazil will be the most likely to progress through Group F, while Germany are expected to win Group H.
England will be looking to reach the semi-finals of the tournament for the third time in a row. Should they reach the last four after heading through as group winners, they could face the runner-up of their group, Denmark, or one of Germany, France or Brazil. Australia could also face England in the last four, providing they defeat Denmark and then win the quarter-final match on Monday 7th August.
The Lionesses will be looking to reach the final for the first time ever at this year's tournament. Their best achievement was in 2015 when they finished third in Canada. It's a possibility that England could face USA, who are the favourites and chasing their fourth World Cup title in a row.
