The defending Women’s World Cup champions, United States W, begin the defence of their trophy on the 22nd of July as they meet Vietnam in Group E.
The match will be played at Eden Park and the other two teams in the group are Netherlands W and Portugal W.
It’s almost here. #USWNT x @Visa pic.twitter.com/s3QPNiHLH7— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 19, 2023
It’s almost here. #USWNT x @Visa pic.twitter.com/s3QPNiHLH7
USA W come into the game having beat Wales 2-0 at home in a friendly match on the 9th of July. USA W were forced to work hard for the win and it took them until the 76th minute to break down the visitors. USA W doubled their advantage in the closing minutes to seal the victory.
The win over Wales W means USA W have won each of their last 9 fixtures in all competitions. There have been friendly wins over Republic of Ireland W (twice), New Zealand W (twice), and Germany W.
USA W have also beat Canada W, Japan W, and Brazil W in the SheBelieves Cup. Having won all 3 games, USA W were crowned champions.
Trends show USA W have not been beaten in 31 of their 33 most recent matches in all competitions. They are undefeated in their last 14 Women’s World Cup games and their most recent defeat in the tournament was via penalties against Japan in 2011.
USA W have scored 2 or more goals in each of their 9 most recent Women’s World Cup matches.
Vietnam W come into the game on the back of a hugely disappointing 9-0 loss at the hands of Spain W in a friendly.
The match was played at Venue McLennan Park 1 in New Zealand and will have been a dent to the confidence of the Vietnam W team ahead of this big game.
The loss to Spain W means Vietnam W have lost each of their last 3 fixtures, all of which have been friendlies.
There was a 2-1 defeat against Germany W and a 2-0 loss to New Zealand W. However, Vietnam W have tasted success recently and they won the 2023 Southeast Asian Games. Vietnam W beat Myanmar W 2-0 in the final and won 4 of their 5 matches in the competition.
This will be the first time Vietnam have played at the Women’s World Cup and they qualified via a three team round-robin playoff against Chinese Taipei and Thailand.
Looking ahead to the team news and USA W look strong. They can call upon some very experienced players, including Kelley O'Hara, Julie Ertz, Lindsey Horan, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Crystal Dunn. There are also some exciting young players, including Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith.
Vietnam W have some experienced internationals of their own, including Nguyễn Thị Tuyết Dung, Huỳnh Như, and Chương Thị Kiều but this will be the biggest game of their careers.
There can be only one winner from this match and the real question is how many goals will USA W score?
If they want to place down a marker for the tournament, USA W could easily score 5 or 6 goals in a comfortable victory.