Australia, Europe challenge to end US World Cup streak

Anna Harrington | July 18, 2023

The United States are hunting an unprecedented third consecutive Women’s World Cup title, while holding Europe’s chasing pack at bay.

All the while, Australia, Brazil, Canada and Japan await their chance to pounce in what shapes as the most open edition of the tournament yet.

The women’s game appears destined to follow the path of the men’s, with greater investment and opportunity in Europe fast-tracking those national teams.

Six of the top 10 teams in the FIFA rankings, led by world No.2 Germany, No.3 Sweden and No.4 England, are in UEFA.

The US (No.1), Canada (No.7), Brazil (No.8) and Australia (No.10) lead the charge from elsewhere.

The competition, which kicks off on Thursday, has also been expanded from 24 to 32 teams, which US star Alex Morgan believes will make it “the best one yet”.

Teammate Kristie Mewis, part of the side that had to settle for Olympic bronze behind Canada and Sweden in 2021, welcomed the chasing pack.

“It’s always tough being at the top because everyone’s kind of chasing you and everyone will give you their best game, but there’s no other place you’d rather be,” Mewis told reporters on Monday.

“We want all women’s teams to get better and better and we want to get better and better.

“We encourage it, but we obviously want to still be the best. So we’re going to keep pushing the limit and everybody else can try and follow us.”

Plenty of the Matildas have experience in America’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and top European leagues like the Women’s Super League (WSL).

“You can see how much women’s football has increased over the last five years,” midfielder Emily van Egmond said. 

“Not just the USA, but obviously Europe’s closing the gap now, England just won the Euros. 

“Obviously, Asia too, they’re a very competitive area in women’s football and you can’t count anyone out.”

Australia have reeled off victories over Sweden, Spain, England and France to burst into contention.

But Caitlin Foord is aware of the threats the champions and the European contenders pose.

“The US is just always gonna be a tough competitor, regardless of transition going on,” Foord said.

“It’s just built within them. They’re there to win and anything less is a failure for them. So they’re always going to be tough. 

“But I think Europe and European teams are on another level just because they play so many competitive games with qualifications and stuff like that, it’s just more regular. 

“Ireland’s going to be a great example, they’re heading to their first World Cup, but they’ve done great results against big teams and they’re gonna be a tough team to play against. 

“Compared to, I don’t want to diss Asian teams or anything like that but, teams that have been smashed at World Cups 10-0, that just wouldn’t happen against a European team. 

“It shows us how much football is appreciated there and how far the game is going in that direction.”