2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Group B
Group B of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was one of eight groups that formed the opening round of the tournament with the matches played from 20 to 31 July 2023.[1] The group consisted of hosts Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Nigeria and Canada. The top two teams, Australia and Nigeria, advanced to the round of 16.[2]
Canada became the first reigning Olympic champions to be eliminated in the subsequent Women's World Cup group stage. A win against Canada ensured Australia avoided a first group stage elimination since 2003, and following the elimination of fellow hosts New Zealand, assured every Women's World Cup up to 2023 had a host country participating in the knockouts. Nigeria progressed to the knockout stage for only the third time in their ninth Women's World Cup.
Teams[edit]
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2022[nb 1] | June 2023 | |||||||||
| B1 |  Australia |
1 | AFC | Hosts | 25 June 2020 | 8th | 2019 | Quarter-finals (2007, 2011, 2015) | 13 | 10 |
| B2 |  Republic of Ireland |
3 | UEFA | UEFA play-offs second-best ranked winners | 11 October 2022 | 1st | — | Debut | 24 | 22 |
| B3 |  Nigeria |
4 | CAF | 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations fourth place | 14 July 2022 | 9th | 2019 | Quarter-finals (1999) | 45 | 40 |
| B4 |  Canada |
2 | CONCACAF | 2022 CONCACAF W Championship runners-up | 8 July 2022 | 8th | 2019 | Fourth place (2003) | 7 | 7 |
Notes
- ^ The rankings of October 2022 were used for seeding for the final draw.
Standings[edit]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia (H)
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Nigeria
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | Canada
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Republic of Ireland
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 1 |
In the round of 16:
- The winners of Group B, Australia, advanced to play the runners-up of Group D, Denmark.
- The runners-up of Group B, Nigeria, advanced to play the winners of Group D, England.
Matches[edit]
All times listed are local.
Australia vs Republic of Ireland[edit]
The match was originally scheduled to take place at Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney. However, FIFA confirmed in late January 2023 that the match would be moved to Stadium Australia, Sydney, due to significant interest in tickets.[3]
| Australia | 1–0 | Republic of Ireland |
|---|---|---|
Catley  52' (pen.) |
Report |
        Australia
|
     Republic of Ireland
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Nigeria vs Canada[edit]
     Nigeria
|
    Canada
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Canada vs Republic of Ireland[edit]
| Canada | 2–1 | Republic of Ireland |
|---|---|---|
| Report | McCabe 4' |
     Canada
|
Republic of Ireland
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Australia vs Nigeria[edit]
| Australia | 2–3 | Nigeria |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Australia
|
Nigeria
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Canada vs Australia[edit]
Canada
|
    Australia
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Republic of Ireland vs Nigeria[edit]
    Republic of Ireland
|
Nigeria
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
|
Discipline[edit]
Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers in the group should the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:[2]
- first yellow card: minus 1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points;
- direct red card: minus 4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points;
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||
| Australia
|
1 | 2 | –3 | ||||||||||
| Republic of Ireland
|
1 | 1 | 1 | –3 | |||||||||
| Canada
|
2 | 2 | –4 | ||||||||||
| Nigeria
|
1 | 1 | 2 | –7 | |||||||||
See also[edit]
- Australia at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- Canada at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- Republic of Ireland at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- Nigeria at the FIFA Women's World Cup
References[edit]
- ^ "Match schedule: FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023" (PDF). FIFA. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Regulations: FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ "FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 targets over 100,000 fans for epic opening matchday". FIFA. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ "Australia defeat gutsy Republic of Ireland". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 20 July 2023.