The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current, July 03, 2023, Page 11, Image 11

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    WORLD CUP
July 3, 2023
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 11
FIFA Women’s World Cup Guide:
How to watch, schedule, and betting favorites
By The Associated Press
The United States will be playing for an
unprecedented three-peat at the Women’s
World Cup this summer. It won’t be easy
for the world’s No. 1 team.
Co-hosted by Australia and New
Zealand, the quadrennial tournament for
international soccer’s most coveted trophy
kicks off July 20 and features an expanded
field of 32 teams, up from 24. There are 64
total matches during the tournament.
That means more competition for the
two-time defending World Cup champion
U.S., which won the 2015 event in Canada
and the 2019 tournament in France. The
Americans have won four titles overall, the
most of any nation.
How to watch the
FIFA Women’s World Cup
Fox holds the English-language media
rights in the United States for the
Women’s World Cup. Telemundo holds the
Spanish-language rights.
Fox will broadcast a record 29
matches over the air on its main network
and the rest of the games will air on FS1.
All matches will be streamed on the Fox
app.
What’s the schedule?
The 32 teams are divided into eight
groups of four teams each. Each team
plays a three-game, round-robin group
stage, running from July 20 to August 3.
The top finishers advance to the Round
of 16 held August 5 to 8. The quarterfinals
are set for August 11 and 12 and the two
semifinal matches will be played August
15 and 16. A third-place game is set for
August 19 in Brisbane ahead of the final,
which will air at 3:00am (west coast time)
on Sunday, August 20 in the United
States.
The broadcast schedule is complicated
by the time difference. The United States
is playing in Group E with Vietnam, the
Netherlands, and Portugal. The opening
match is against Vietnam on July 22 in
Auckland, which, because of the time
difference, will air in the U.S. on July 21 at
6:00pm (west coast time).
A rematch of the 2019 final against the
Netherlands is set for July 27 in
Wellington, airing at 6:00pm (west coast
time) on July 26 in the U.S. The last group
game against Portugal is set for August 1,
airing at midnight (west coast time), that
same day.
Players to watch
There are two distinct groups of players
to watch at this World Cup: Veteran
superstars and talented youngsters.
Canada’s Christine Sinclair leads a
group of veterans that includes Brazil’s
Marta, Australia’s Sam Kerr, France’s
Wendie Renard, and American Alex
Morgan.
WORLD CUP WATCHING. Australia forward
Sam Kerr, left, who plays for Chelsea, shoots on goal
during a Women’s Super League soccer match in
Kingsmeadow, London, in this May 3, 2023 file photo.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the quadrennial
tournament for international soccer’s most coveted
trophy, kicks off July 20. Co-hosted by Australia and
New Zealand, the tournament features an expanded
field of 32 teams, up from 24. There are 64 total
matches during the tournament. (John Walton/
PA via AP, File)
Sinclair, who is 38 and likely playing in
her final World Cup, is international
soccer’s all-time leading scorer, among
women or men, with 190 career goals.
Young stars include 22-year-old U.S.
forward Sophia Smith, 21-year-old Jody
Brown of Jamaica, and 19-year-old
Melchie Dumornay of Haiti.
Smith doubled up last year as both the
U.S. Soccer Player of the Year and the
National Women’s Soccer League’s Most
Valuable Player.
Betting guide
The United States is a +240 favorite to
win the World Cup, according to FanDuel
Sportsbook. England is next at +410,
followed by Spain at +650.
There’s also a big group of teams the
oddsmakers say have little chance of
lifting the trophy, including Jamaica,
Vietnam, Argentina, Zambia, Nigeria,
Costa Rica, Morocco, the Philippines,
South Africa, Haiti, and Panama. All are
at +43,000 — but if one of those happens to
emerge as a Cinderella winner, the payoff
would be sweet.
To view the tournament schedule, visit
<www.fifa.com>.