Soccer - Women's World Cup 2023: Shivers, no prime time, long distance

AUCKLAND (DPA) – Everyone is talking about the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, but football will also be played in the next World Cup under very special conditions – women’s.

Ahead of this Saturday’s group draw, the DFB has been busy with a long, organizationally demanding tournament that will take place in Australia and New Zealand in the winter of 2023 and can run under the motto Miles & More: For most teams The long journeys and distances between team venues virtually do not allow for permanent means of transport.

large distance between places

“We have examined train and bus options. Unfortunately, this cannot be implemented,” says team manager Maika Fischer of the German national team about the tournament. It is not yet clear whether the DFB selection of the two host countries will be contested in its preliminary round. In group games, teams do not have to leave New Zealand or Australia, but this does not mean much: for example, the distance between Australian venues Perth and Brisbane is over 3,600 km.

The ninth Women’s World Cup will be held from 20 July to 20 August 2023 with 32 teams for the first time. USA are the defending champions. The two-time world champion and current runner-up in Europe, Germany, is one of the eight heads of the group in the draw in Auckland.

The DFB also expects a high-level, but difficult World Cup. “Fans can expect a sensational competition, in terms of sport – I just believe in it – will take EM to the top again,” said Joti Chatzialexiu, sports director of national teams at the German press agency DFB. “But whether the crowd and the atmosphere that we experienced in England will top that, it is difficult to assess.”

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Don’t Play German TV Prime Time

After the European Championships in England in July, with record viewership and ratings, Australia and New Zealand have a major disadvantage, mainly for the European teams: due to the time difference of up to eleven hours, the games can be watched on German. May night or early morning and not in promising TV prime time.

The climate will also present players with special challenges. Appropriately, a “football-crazy young lady penguin” (FIFA) with a tuft of blue hair named Tzuni is the mascot of the World Cup. “You also must not forget the temperature there, a different weather awaits us: it quickly gets dark and wet. This will affect our processes as well,” Chatzialexiu said. The 46-year-old said, “The circumstances will be different and hence there will be a challenge for the audience as well.” National coach Martina Vos-Tecklenburg’s team will probably have to arrive twelve days early to be in the biorhythm.

“There will be a different level for which we have to prepare – especially physically,” Chatzialexiu predicted. It is clear that Germany has high goals, despite the difficult conditions. “We want to play for the title again. We cannot and do not want to set any other goals. We will be favorites again after the European Championships, which will be even bigger with USA, Brazil and Olympic champions. Canada,” said Britta Carlson, Vos-Tecklenburg’s assistant and acquaintance. German women won the title in 2003 and 2007 and lost to Sweden in the quarter-finals at the 2019 World Cup in France.

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