2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Predictions: Can Australia Lift the Trophy on Home Soil?
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Australia’s first home senior team FIFA World Cup of any kind is set to kickstart a resurgence for the sport of football in the country, which in recent years has faltered in part due to dwindling interest in the A-Leagues and some underwhelming performances from the men.
The ‘Matildas’ were once one of the world’s female football powerhouses in the last decade, climbing to as high as fourth in FIFA’s world rankings during 2017, but have since failed to show their best on the world stage, hence why they can be backed at 11.0 with betting sites to lift the trophy.
A surreptitious but controversial sacking of Alen Stajcic in 2019 preceded Australia’s worst Women’s World Cup (WWC) performance in 16 years, a failure to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and their earliest ever exit from an Asian Cup in 2022.
Head coach Tony Gustavsson was an assistant to Jill Ellis during the USA’s WWC victories in 2015 and 2019 and, having learned from one of the best, has developed into an erudite and astute manager himself.
Whether packed stadia full of passionate Australians will be a boost or a burden will become relevant during the knockout stages, but before then we’re expecting Australia to get off to a strong start.
Can the Tillies Get Off To A T(Eire)iffic Start?
There’s a little known curse looming over the Matildas that has perhaps contributed significantly to their recent struggles at WWCs.
Australia have lost the opening game of each of their last three WWCs, although with those three defeats coming at the hands of Italy, the USA and Brazil, it’s fair to say they’ve got a far easier assignment to get things started in Sydney this time around.
They come into this tournament with nine wins from their last 10 matches and an outstanding defensive record that saw them concede just five goals in that period - two of them in a 3-2 win over sixth-ranked Spain - whilst they piled on 26 goals across those nine victories.
More recently, there was a 2-0 win away in England with a squad that was missing the likes of Katrina Gorry and Steph Catley to injury, whilst a 1-0 friendly win against France earlier this month in front of more than 50,000 spectators was just reward for their disciplined defending.
All but one of their last seven wins were accompanied by clean sheets, many against stronger opposition than the Irish, who are making their WWC finals debut at this event and have found the back of the net in just one of their five games in 2023.
Tip: Australia to Defeat Ireland ‘To Nil’ - 1.95 With Bet365
Is Australia a ‘Sure Thing’ to Win the Group?
Barring one of the largest miracles and/or failures in WWC history, Australia and Canada are jostling for the top of the group and their clash in Melbourne on the 31st is likely to be decisive on that front.
Unless they have an horrific start to their group stage, just as their male compatriots did recently in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, Canada should be on an even keel with the Australians when they meet in the third round of group stage action.
Not only is the 3.25 price that Ladbrokes are offering for Australia to finish second in the group much better than the price they and their competitors have for Canada to win the group, it’s probably going to be a lot better than Canada’s head-to-head price against Australia on July 31; which, all going to plan, will be the game that decides who tops the group.
So if you indeed fancy Canada to take out Group B, this is probably your most profitable option.
As the current Olympic champions, Canada should approach their game against Australia with no fear, having defeated them twice in four days last year as part of a five-game winning streak. They’ve also upset the Brazilians as outsiders twice from three clashes since last meeting the Aussies.
Tip: Australia to Finish 2nd in Group B - 3.25 with Ladbrokes
Can Anyone Challenge Kerr in Front of Goal?
Sam Kerr’s honours list is becoming longer than a library catalogue after she was voted as Chelsea’s 2022/23 Player of the Year as well as the Women’s Super League MVP by England’s Football Writers Association at the end of a season in which her club did the WSL-FA Cup double.
She’s understandably a very short priced favourite to top Australia’s goal count at this World Cup, having done so in 2019 with five of their nine goals scored at the tournament.
But head coach Tony Gustavsson has made no secret of his desire to wean Australia off their dependence on Kerr in case she sustains an injury or is heavily marked during the WWC, and this has been particularly evident in 2023 where Kerr has scored just two of her country’s 13 goals despite starting in all five wins.
This is in no part due to poor form on the field but instead the result of a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formation that has encouraged attacking midfielders Hayley Raso and Caitlin Foord to get amongst the goals more often.
Foord was narrowly behind Ireland captain Katie McCabe in Arsenal’s Player of the Year award at the end of 2022/23 after more than 20 goal contributions (including nine goals) across all competitions.
With seven goals to her name from seven international appearances since the start of October 2022, Foord is going to be just as integral to how far Australia can go in this tournament, and looks an appealing prospect as their top scorer for punters wanting to play around the favourite.
Tip: Caitlin Foord Top Australia Goalscorer - 6.0 With Bet365
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