World Cup Football

The men’s World Cup is held every four years and it is hugely popular in Indonesia, the rest of Asia and the rest of the world.

The women’s World Cup has also gained worlwide popularity in recent years and it is about to kick off in Australia and New Zealand.

When is the Women’s World Cup?

The tournament runs from July 20 through Aug. 20. It will kick off with games featuring the co-hosts Australia (against Ireland in Sydney) and New Zealand (against Norway in Auckland) on July 20.

Where is the tournament?

Matches will be held at 10 stadiums in nine cities: five in Australia and four in New Zealand. (Sydney will do double duty, with the smaller Sydney Football Stadium hosting group-stage games before being replaced in the rotation by the much larger Stadium Australia.)

The latest: Rosters are out, and teams are landing.

FIFA released the final rosters for the Women’s World Cup this week.

Team have begun arriving, too. The United States flew to Auckland directly after beating Wales in its send-off game on Sunday. England was already in Australia by then. Other teams are arriving and getting settled as you read this sentence.

Injuries are taking a toll.

An uncomfortable number of the world’s best players are either out with or recovering from serious knee injuries, and as roster deadlines near, several stars have confirmed that they will not be able to play in the World Cup. The latest was the United States captain Becky Sauerbrunn, who said a foot injury meant that she would not be ready in time. “Heartbroken isn’t even the half of it,” she wrote on Twitter.

Among the most prominent teams affected are:

• United States: In addition to Sauerbrunn, Mallory Swanson tore the patella tendon in her knee in a friendly in April and Catarina Macario announced in late May that her recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament had not progressed far enough that she felt she could participate. “The desire to return to play for my country has driven my training and fueled my everyday life,” Macario announced on social media. “However, what’s most important right now is my health and getting fit and ready for my next club season.” Another U.S. mainstay fighting (and losing) a long-term rehab battle is Sam Mewis, who has not played for the team since the Tokyo Olympics. She is no longer in the team’s plans.

• England: The only team that can credibly argue that it’s worse off than the United States when it comes to knees is England, which has lost its star striker (Beth Mead), one of its midfield engines (Fran Kirby) and its captain (Leah Williamson) to the long road of injury, surgery and rehab. “I’m working on it,” Mead said in an interview ahead of the final week of the English season in May. But she acknowledged she almost certainly would miss out. “It may be a little too soon for me,” she said.
• Netherlands: Vivianne Miedema said in April that the knee injury she sustained while playing for Arsenal means she “definitely” will miss the World Cup.
• France: Wing Delphine Cascarino was ruled out of the World Cup after she sustained a serious knee injury while playing for her French club, Lyon. Another French forward, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, is also unlikely to make the roster; she tore a knee ligament last summer.
• Canada: Forward Janine Beckie tore her A.C.L. in a preseason game in March, ruling her out of the Canadians’ squad for their first global championship since winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Games.

Any other drama to worry about?

How much can you handle?

• FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, briefly threatened a television blackout the tournament’s matches in much of Europe in an escalating fight over the value of broadcast rights. Infantino, who said last year that initial offers for those rights were far too low, raised the stakes significantly in an appearance at the World Trade Organization when he said FIFA would not allow the games to be aired in Europe if broadcasters did not ante up. “It’s not right to undervalue or undersell the Women’s World Cup, because it is a top, top property and it has a value,” Infantino said. “Those who want to acquire it, based on the viewing figures they get, well, they should pay the value it is worth.” The good news? FIFA and the European Broadcasting Union cut a deal in June that ensures the games will be on the air, for free, in 34 European countries and territories.

Who has qualified?

• Most of the favorites and usual suspects advanced easily in the original round of qualification, creating an entry list that included both soccer names fans should recognize and a few that might raise eyebrows:
• Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Haiti, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, the Philippines, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, Vietnam, Zambia.

Who are the tournament favorites?

• The United States, a four-time winner and the two-time defending champion, and Canada, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, headline the North American contingent, but they will share top billing (or perhaps surrender it) in the face of a handful of European powers.
• England is the current European champion, but it has a worrying number of injured starters and has several worthy rivals eager to seize its mantle as the continent’s best team. Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden all might make a strong case that they can win this summer.

Can the Americans win a third straight title?

Of course they can. But while it’s never easy, this year it’s going to be harder than ever. The Americans still have decorated veterans like Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Crystal Dunn. But in the wake of a disappointing trip to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when they had to scramble to take home the bronze, Coach Vlatko Andonovski has continued his efforts to refashion his team for a new generation.

That has seen the emergence of promising new talents like Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Sofia Huerta, but also some uncharacteristic (OK, worrying might be a better word) results against top teams. Consecutive defeats against England, Spain and Germany last fall — the Americans’ first three-game losing streak in 29 years — were a signal that the team’s transformation still has a way to go.

Time, however, is running short, even though the expectations — inside and outside the team — never change.