Women’s World Cup draw.
For the first time in 21 years, a World Cup draw will take place with Ireland fans being fully invested in the outcome.
On a historic night in Glasgow last week, Ireland booked their spot at a first-ever Women’s World Cup, thanks to Amber Barrett‘s goal in a 1-0 win against Scotland.
It is the first time that any senior Ireland team has qualified for a World Cup since the men’s side reached Japan and South Korea in 2002 and focus will now turn to Saturday’s draw in Auckland.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Women’s World Cup draw.
When and where is the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will take place in Australia and New Zealand from July 20th until August 20th next year.
The nine host cities are as follows: Sydney (two stadia), Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Hamilton.
What is the format?
This will be the first Women’s World Cup with 32 teams, after previous edition in 2019 featured 24 countries.
The 32 nations will be divided into eight groups of four, with the top two in each group progressing to the knockout stage.
When is the Women’s World Cup draw?
The draw takes place on Saturday October 22nd at the Aotea Centre in Auckland. It will get underway at 7.30am Irish time.
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Who does the draw work and who can Ireland get?
There will be four pots containing eight teams each, and every group in the tournament will include a team from each pot.
Pot 1 will consist of Australia and New Zealand as co-hosts, as well as the six highest-ranked nations – United States, Germany, Sweden, England, France and the Netherlands.
Canada, Spain, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Italy, China and Denmark will be in pot 2.
Ireland will be in pot 3 alongside South Korea, Switzerland, Colombia, Argentina, Vietnam, Costa Rica and Jamaica, meaning Vera Pauw’s side won’t be coming up against any of these countries in the group stage.
The fourth and final pot will contain Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Morocco, Zambia and the three inter-continental play-off winners that will be determined in February.
The worst case scenario for Ireland with probably be a group that contains the United States, Brazil/Spain and Nigeria.
The best we could hope for would probably be New Zealand, Denmark and a play-off winner.
🇮🇪 @FAIreland are heading to the #FIFAWWC!
A historic FIRST-EVER appearance for The Girls in Green! 💚#BeyondGreatness pic.twitter.com/2D6WJAQAkW
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) October 11, 2022
Will the draw be on TV?
The draw will be available to watch on Fifa’s website and social channels. RTE 2 will also be screening the draw live from 7.30am.
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