The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup began with all the necessary buzz, seeing as it is the biggest edition of the Mundial yet, and after 126 goals scored from 48 matches across eight groups in the first phase, the tournament has taken much-needed shape.
From tournament debutants to unexpectedly shocking results that left the whole world stupefied to record breakers like Nigeria, Morocco, and South Africa—who ensured three African teams made it to the competition’s knockout phase for the first time in history, the Mundial in Australia and New Zealand hasn’t been devoid of top-tier action and breathtaking moments.
With the second phase of the tournament set to begin, Afrosport takes a look at some of the personnel and numbers behind the historic group phase.
Ticket Sales
The world football governing body announced on Friday that a whopping 1,715,000 tickets had been sold, a number that severely surpassed the pre-tournament ticket sales target, which was initially 1.3 million sales before being upgraded to 1.5 million sales.
First of its kind
For the first time in the competition’s history, three African teams (Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco) qualified from the group stage to the knockout phases.
Also, for the first time, teams from all six (6) confederations won a match at the tournament, while co-hosts New Zealand became the first team from Oceania to register a win at the Mundial.
Additionally, co-hosts Australia, Colombia, and Switzerland won their groups for the first time. New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Jamaica, and the African trio of South Africa, Morocco, and Zambia each registered their first win (or wins) at a FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Atlas Lionesses continued the journey of “many firsts” as they became the first African team to win two successive matches and the first to keep successive clean sheets in the competition’s history.
Also, along with Jamaica and South Africa, they qualified for the knockout stage for the first time.
Unshaken Falcons
The Super Falcons of Nigeria became the first African team in the tournament’s history to complete the group stage without losing a single game. The nine-time African champions played out two draws and recorded one win.
One-thousandth hero
With her strike against Costa Rica, Zambia’s influential captain, Barbra Banda, scored the 1000th goal in the history of the competition.
Defensive shut-out
The trio of Japan, Switzerland, and the Reggae Girlz of Jamaica, went through the group stage without conceding a single goal.
All the teams know their opponents and potential opponents.#FIFAWWC #BeyondGreatness #AfrosportTV pic.twitter.com/a7j1XiV8Mb
— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) August 4, 2023
A globally equal game
The script writers for the competition have done an excellent job, if there were any, as teams representing all the participating continents are present in the knockout phase, a true testament to the improvement of the women’s game.
Golden Boot Race
As at the end of all the group matches, Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa and Germany’s skipper Alexandra Popp lead the rest of the pack as the top scorers so far with four goals, but the German’s race for the Golden Boot is over following her side’s shocking exit in the group stage.
Assist Queen
As we all know, there are no goals without a provider. The leaders in assists so far after the group phase are Japanese maestro Mina Tanaka and England’s emerging superstar Lauren James, who are tied on three apiece.
17 – Spain's Salma Paralluelo has completed 17 dribbles at this year's #FIFAWWC (7.5 per 90 minutes), the most of any player. Mazy. pic.twitter.com/my5QuVZ8yO
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 4, 2023
Most successful dribbles
Spain and FC Barcelona’s winger Salma Paralluelo has shown her trickery in the tournament; she has completed the most dribbles so far, beating her opponents 17 times across the first three matches.
Most Saves
Despite their early exit and the fact that they shipped in eight goals across the three games, Costa Rica’s goalkeeper Daniela Solera held her own, taking home the crown for the most saves in the group stage with 25.
Most Tackles
Nigeria’s energetic midfielder Christy Ucheibe, who has starred for the Super Falcons across their first three matches, picks up the honor of being the best tackler in the group stage, as her 18 successful tackles were second to none.
305 – Alex Greenwood has completed 305 passes at the 2023 #FIFAWWC, the most of any player; this includes 56 line-breaking passes, which is also the most of any player. Incisive. pic.twitter.com/bMyWu3MCCZ
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 4, 2023
Most Successful Passes
In modern football, the ability to move the ball from one spot to the other without opposition interference is key, and no one has done it better than England’s Alex Greenwood, who holds the crown for the most touches (410) and most successful passes (305).
