Reigning European champions England and 2022 Asian champions China, along with Denmark and debutants Haiti, make up group D of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The matches in this group will be played across four venues in Australia, with England and China the outright favourites in the group.
England (4th in world ranking)
The Lionesses of England are one of the major pre-tournament favourites following their historic triumph at the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO tournament, which they hosted.
England will be playing in their sixth World Cup, with their best finish coming in 2015 in Canada, when they needed a penalty in extra time to see off Germany in the third-place match.
Sarina Weigman’s side have been in impeccable form leading up to the tournament but recently suffered a setback when Australia defeated them 2-0 to end their 30-game unbeaten streak.
They qualified with an unblemished record in the UEFA qualifying rounds, winning all of their ten games in the process, and although injuries to key players like Beth Mead and Leah Williamson might deter them a little, England are still tipped to go all the way when the competition kicks off.
Haiti (53rd in world ranking)
Haiti is the lowest-ranked team in Group D, but they are obviously no pushovers after their historic run through the CONCACAF qualifying rounds.
The competition debutants finished third in Group A of their qualifiers and needed the inter-continental playoffs, where they defeated Senegal and Chile to reach their first ever World Cup.
Les Grenadiers have not enjoyed much success in their recent performances, with three defeats in their last four games, including a 4-1 loss to Venezuela.
Denmark (13th in world ranking)
The Red and White of Denmark are marking a long-awaited return to the biggest stage of women’s football after missing out on the last three edition of the tournament due to failure to qualify.
Denmark’s best outing at the tournament came in consecutive editions of the World Cup when they got to the quarterfinal stage in both 1991 and 1995. However, since then, they have found it hard to progress from the group stages.
Like the group D counterpart England, De rod-hvide finished with a 100% record in the UEFA qualification round. Winning all of their eight games from the group.
They are currently on a four-game unbeaten run in 2023 with recent victories against heavyweights Sweden and Japan and with former Chelsea forward Pernille Harder leading the line, the Danish women are one to watch out for.
China (14th in world ranking)
The Steel Roses of China are the most experienced side in the group, as they will be making their eighth appearance at the tournament.
The reigning Asian champions came very close to winning the World Cup in the 1999 edition but lost to the host and eventual winners, the United States, on penalties, for their best outing at the World Cup till date.
They qualified for the 2023 tournament as one of the six teams from the Asian Football Confederation. China’s preparation for the Mundial has not gone as smoothly as it should, with just one win in five games this year. They defeated Russia 1-0 in a friendly game on July 1.
FULL GROUP B FIXTURES
22 July 2023: England v Haiti – 10:30 a.m. (WAT)
22 July 2023: Denmark v China – 1 p.m. (WAT)
28 July 2023: England v Denmark – 9:30 a.m. (WAT)
28 July 2023: China v Haiti – 12 p.m. (WAT)
1 August 2023: China v England – 12 p.m. (WAT)
1 August 2023: Haiti v Denmark – 12 p.m. (WAT)
