The Women’s World Cup in 2023 could yet go down as the greatest of all time thanks to all the drama and unexpected results keeping viewers utterly gripped.
At the end of the group stage, only Japan have put together three convincing results across all of their group matches, although England and Sweden still each racked up nine points as well.
Australia and France have found their groove, while Spain have faltered slightly after a blistering start and Brazil, Canada and Germany have been knocked out altogether. Even the United States were within the width of a post of being eliminated by Portugal.
Colombia were usurped as the surprise package of the tournament as soon as South Africa, Jamaica and Morocco managed to make it into the knockouts. South Africa and Jamaica both went home in 2019 without a point, while Morocco are competing at a World Cup for the very first time.
These are 90min’s player power rankings following round three of the group stage…
Sophia Smith is the leading talent in a new generation of American players making their World Cup bow in 2023. But having been one of the top performers on matchday one and still impressing in the next game, she ended up being completely muted in the final group match.
Teresa Abelleira’s rise at this level has been a silver lining of the concerning situation that continues to surround the Spain squad. She picked out more key passes (10) in La Roja’s opening win over Costa Rica than co-hosts Australia (8) did as a whole team in their respective first match, before later scoring an outstanding strike from distance against Zambia.
The sky is the limit for Linda Caicedo, who is already smashing it at her first senior World Cup, having set the Under-17 World Cup alight just last year. The 18-year-old found the net against South Korea in the first round of games and then scoed an absolute belter against Germany.
New Arsenal signing Amanda Ilestedt isn’t known for scoring goals, but three in the group stage has put the centre-back in bizarre contention for the Golden Boot. She scored the late winner against South Africa and then twice more against Italy, before a defensive show against Argentina.
Kadidiatou Diani is the premier goalscorer in France’s squad, although it looked as she might have a World Cup to forget when several chances went begging against Jamaica. But she has upped her game and a hat-trick against Panama has moved her into Golden Boot contention.
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Allyson Swaby has been central to Jamaica’s outstanding tournament so far, with the Reggae Girlz yet to concede a goal three games in and now preparing for a knockout clash with Colombia. The defender even scored her country’s only goal of the World Cupin the win over Panama.
Alexandra Popp has nothing left to prove but remains as determined as ever. She netted twice in Germany’s 6-0 opening win over Morocco and has since ended up carrying her team, scoring against both Colombia and South Korea. But her efforts ended up not being enough.
Jill Roord is a reason that a Netherlands team resurgent from a poor 2022 hasn’t missed Vivianne Miedema as much as might have been expected. She found the net against the United States in a performance that helped the Dutch eventually top their group, and twice more against Vietnam.
Hinata Miyazawa got the ball rolling for Japan in their win over Zambia, netting the first goal and later also contributing the third. As one of a pair of number 10s, she provides a crucial link between the midfield and the main striker, taking her goal tally to four with a brace against Spain.
Lauren James scored England’s stunning winner against Denmark in their second group stage game, before breaking out in epic proportion when the Lionesses faced China. The Chelsea forward scored two and assisted three, with a direct hand in all but one of the goals her team scored.
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Former Italy international Arianna Criscione, Dulwich Hamlet’s Brittany Saylor and Football for Future founder Elliot Arthur-Worsop join Katie Cross to have football’s climate conversation about the Women’s World Cup and tournament football’s carbon footprint. Pledgeball’s Heather Ashworth also gives an update on the Pledgeball’s new Women’s World Cup initiative.
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