2023 Women's World Cup previews, odds: Aussies, Brits among the challengers

But it’s not just home field advantage helping Australia challenge the world’s best. The team is stacked with attacking talent. Forward Sam Kerr is perhaps the greatest women’s soccer player in the world; her goals lifted Chelsea to Premier League and Champions League victories in the 2022/3 season. At 29 years old, Kerr has the perfect balance of energy and experience ... and she’s never been better.

Australia must survive a difficult group stage featuring Canada, Ireland and Nigeria to advance. But if it does, the knockout rounds look rosy. China or Denmark awaits in the Round of 16; Brazil or South Korea comes next in the quarterfinals. All are winnable matches for a home team that’s cresting at precisely the right moment.

England

Coach: Sarina Wiegman

Player to Watch: Lucy Bronze

Biggest Honor: European Champions (2022)

Odds to Win: +430

England is the team with all the buzz heading into the 2023 World Cup. It won its elusive first European Championship last summer on the back of stellar performances, all while English domestic teams tore through European competition in the Champions League. The odds say it all: they’re considered one of the most likely teams to take home the World Cup trophy. So why do we have them all the way down here, outside the favorites and looking in?

The answer is availability. England’s top-strength squad is nigh unbeatable, but it’s not bringing anything close to its top team to the Cup. Captain Leah Williamson, Golden Boot winner Beth Mead and attacking star Fran Kirby are all injured. Experienced stars Ellen White and Jill Scott have retired. And Steph Houghton, one of the best English players last season, has fallen out of favor with coach Sarina Wiegman and won’t partake in the competition. No team at this World Cup is arriving in messier shape than England.

Still, the Lionesses are a capable squad and Wiegman is a capable tournament coach. The team should win its group without trouble, but drama lurks in the Round of 16: a clash of titans with either Australia or Canada. Nothing is impossible, but it’s tough to see this weakened England squad beating either.

Spain

Coach: Jorge Vilda

Player to Watch: Alexia Putellas

Biggest Honor: Runners-Up, SheBelieves Cup (2020)

Odds to Win: +550

Few teams at this World Cup had a more dramatic World Cup journey than Spain. Coach Jorge Vilda took over in 2015 and implemented controversial new training methods; last year, in protest of his style, 15 of Spain’s regular players boycotted Vilda and walked away from the Spanish national team for good. Incredibly, Vilda kept his job despite the boycott. Even more incredibly, Vilda’s new-look Spain team-- filled with young, hungry players intent on seizing their unlikely opportunity--started winning.

These undeniable results convinced several of the boycotters to return to the Spain squad for a shot at glory, and while things still aren’t perfect behind the scenes in the Spanish camp, they’re much better than they were. Midfielder Alexis Putellas is a big part of why; as Spain’s biggest star, her attitude towards Vilda and commitment to the Spanish cause is uniting the side in a big way. While her presence matters, especially considering that she was part of the initial boycott, Putellas has one big problem: she’s not quite ready to play. She missed last summer’s European championships with an ACL tear and is still working her way toward fitness.

Still, Spain should win their group with or without Putellas. From there, Spain will face one of Norway or Switzerland—a winnable game, but not an easy one. If Spain survive, true heavy hitters await in the quarterfinals. This team, still fractured and healing in many ways, will be pushed to its limit there.

Brazil

Coach: Pia Sundhage

Player to Watch: Marta

Biggest Honor: Copa America Champions (2022)

Odds to Win: +3200

This Brazil team is a treat for neutrals; it’s full of familiar faces, from former USWNT coach Pia Sundhage to legendary forward Marta. After several years of continental dominance in South America coupled with disappointing performances on the World Cup stage, Brazil hopes to finally bring everything together for a deep World Cup run in 2023.

There’s plenty of reason to believe they’ll make it happen. Sundhage is a proven tournament coach known for her wily strategy. She’ll ensure Brazil always has the tactical advantage, no matter who it’s facing. Brazil’s youth prospects are strong and their motivation is high; many see this tournament as their best opportunity to secure big-money contracts in Europe and North America. And to top it all off, Marta is arguably the greatest player in women’s soccer history, with a record-setting 17 World Cup goals to her name. Like Messi before her, Marta will see her final World Cup as her best opportunity for victory.

Brazil’s biggest problem at the World Cup isn’t even its own problem; it’s the accelerated development of several squads around it. Brazil has made huge strides in the past twenty years but local investment simply hasn’t kept pace with nations like Canada, Norway and Spain. Brazil is a talented team, but it’s not a team that can go toe-to-toe with global heavy hitters just yet. If it’s going to be successful at the World Cup, it’s going to have to push hard against opponents and play defensively…something Brazilian teams of all stripes and genders have historically rejected.

France

Coach: Herve Renard

Player to Watch: Wendie Renard

Biggest Honor: SheBelieves Cup Champions (2017)

Odds to Win: +1300

There’s a running joke about French soccer players craving drama before big international tournaments. (Fans will remember the French men getting into a fight about breakfast during the 2010 World Cup and getting sent home in an unmarked cargo plane after an embarrassing group stage exit. If that sounds ludicrous, let me assure you: it is business as usual for les bleus.) The French women are no different; this year, the team boycotted the World Cup en masse in protest of national team coach Corinne Diacre. In Spain, a similar boycott failed and only served to strengthen the coach in charge. In France, however, it led to Diacre’s dismissal and the arrival of an unexpected legend: Herve Renard.

Renard is a true "journeyman" coach, someone who has worked all over the globe in a variety of stressful situations. He won the men’s African Cup of Nations with both Zambia and the Ivory Coast. He took Saudi Arabia to the 2022 World Cup — you’ll remember that squad as the only one to beat eventual champions Argentina. Renard is a thoughtful, fair and empathetic leader, and his arrival at the French women’s team did wonders to ease its drama.

On its day, this French team can do incredible things; defender Wendie Renard (no relation) is perhaps the most dangerous set-piece target at the tournament. But several key French players will miss this World Cup due to injury, including forwards Delphine Cascarino and Marie-Antoinette Katoto. And the team has only played two games under Renard since his appointment. While progress has been made—and France is certainly still capable of pulling itself together to win—it’d be incorrect to call them favorites this time around.