The 2023 FIFA women’s World Cup is upon us as it gets underway on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand. Group F’s favorites are France and Brazil no doubt, while Jamaica and WWC first-timers Panama will hope to stay competitive throughout the group stage.
Brazil
The Brazilians, No. 8 in the FIFA rankings, are certainly one of the favorites to make it out of the group as they’ll be led by legendary midfielder Marta. The 37-year-old has scored 115 goals through 174 caps for Brazil since 2002, and currently plays in the NWSL for the Orlando Pride where she’s notched 29 goals through 89 matches. Unlike the men’s side, the Brazilian women have never won a World Cup, though they finished as runners up in 2007 when they lost 2-0 to Germany in the final.
Coach Pia Sundhage will hope to help deliver a WWC trophy to her side in what is likely to be Marta’s last run on the world’s biggest stage.
France
No. 5-ranked France will bring Brazil some fierce competition under newly-appointed coach Herve Renard. Fresh off his run in charge of the Saudi Arabian men’s team in Qatar, Renard signed with the France women’s team at the end of March. Like Brazil, the French side has never won a WWC title, with their best finish coming in 2011 when they ended in fourth place after losing to Sweden 2-1 in the third-place match.
The French team is packed with talent including defender Wendie Renard, who has made 145 appearances for the national team, scoring an impressive 34 goals in the process. Amandine Henry and Eugenie Le Sommer have been called up to the national team under Herve Renard’s tenure as well, as their experience and leadership skills are expected to help France make a deep run this time around.
Jamaica
Ranked No. 43, the Jamaicans are making their second-ever appearance in the World Cup, with their first entry coming in 2019 when they lost all three matches in the group stage and went home early. The Reggae Girlz will be led by forward Khadija Shaw, who has played 38 matches for the national team while tallying a staggering 55 goals for her side. She currently plays for WSL side Manchester City and is coming off a 20-goal season while she’ll look to help Jamaica pull off an upset or two over the heavy hitters in Group F.
Panama
The Panamanians are making their debut at the Women’s World Cup with Nacho Quintana at the helm. They’ll be led by the likes of Marta Cox and Riley Tanner, the latter of which has only played two matches for Panama but has already scored a goal. The Panamanians are a young hungry team who defied the odds to win the final of their inter-confederation tournament in Group C with a 1-0 win over Paraguay, booking their first-ever trip to the Women’s World Cup. While the odds are again stacked against them, Quintana will hope to lead his No. 52-ranked team to some impressive results especially through the group stage.
DraftKings Sportsbook odds to win Group F
France: -200
Brazil: +150
Jamaica: +4000
Panama: +25000
Group F Schedule
July 23 – France vs. Jamaica (6 a.m. ET)
July 24 – Brazil vs. Panama (7 a.m. ET)
July 29 – France vs. Brazil (6 a.m. ET)
July 29 – Panama vs. Jamaica (8:30 a.m. ET)
August 2 – Jamaica vs. Brazil (6 a.m. ET)
August 2 – Panama vs. France (6 a.m. ET)