Women’s World Cup 2023: Winning Predictions

by S. Ferguson

The World Cup kicks off this Thursday and while there are many intelligent experts making predictions, the Scoop is looking at who the bookies are picking to win, and how they think Canada will fare. Obviously, you have to play the games.  There are always upsets and surprises in any tournament, but the oddsmakers usually have a pretty good handle on which teams have the best shot. 

So I analyzed the odds on three different sites (I’m not showing my work here, the sites can buy ads if they want a mention!)

THE HEAVY FAVOURITE:

U.S.A.

All 3 sites have the United States picked at the favourite to win. They won the last two World Cups and hold the number one spot.  Netflix even announced they are making a behind the scenes documentary about the Americans quest for the cup.  

The US Women's World Cup Team will be the subject of our next sports docuseries!

The series will follow the most decorated team in international soccer history (Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Alyssa Thompson & more) as they strive to capture their third World Cup title in a row. pic.twitter.com/SPwEZeRNDN

— Netflix (@netflix) July 17, 2023

THE NEXT 3:

All 3 sites have England ranked second, Spain third, and Germany fourth.   England has had some injuries but are the defending European Champions even though they are technically ranked lower than Germany who they beat in the final of that tournament. 

THE NEXT 5:

Ok there is some variation here in the order, but here’s who make up rankings 5-9th.

France, Sweden, Netherlands, Brazil, and the hosts Australia. 

According to the FIFA rankings Sweden are actually third, and while the hosts Australia (along with New Zealand) aren’t the favourites to win, they will have the home field advantage with a lot of support from their fans. 

The Matildas as they are known, also called out FIFA for not offering the Women’s World Cup winners anything close to what the men make. 

Australia's Matildas released a video statement calling out gender disparity in World Cup prize money. The total prize pool for the 2023 Women's World Cup is $110 million compared to $440 million offered to the men's teams at the World Cup in Qatar https://t.co/zSEHFzSqgo pic.twitter.com/DWUkdA0LSC

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 17, 2023

WE’RE NUMBER 10:

Ok so Canada appears to be ranked either 10th or 11th depending on whether you think we are better than Japan.  

First session in Melbourne = ✅#WeCAN pic.twitter.com/HBa7tYegcD

— CAN Soccer’s WNT (@CANWNT) July 17, 2023

The betting sites also seem to have us going out most likely in the round of 16.  This is pretty disrespectful for the defending Olympic Gold Medal Champions who currently sit at 7th overall in the FIFA rankings.  Canada has some injuries as well to key players, but they have a deep squad with many returning players.  A lot of them from the Greater Toronto Area as well.

Go Canada!