Ranking every group in the 2023 women’s World Cup

The 2023 women’s World Cup is set to get underway in Australia and New Zealand July 20, with 32 teams competing for the game’s ultimate prize. USA enter as the favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook, with England, Spain and Germany following close behind. The group stage features all 32 teams across eight cohorts. We’re going to rank all of them based on quality of teams, difficulty of advancing out and the FIFA rankings.

2023 World Cup group rankings

8. Group H: Germany, South Korea, Colombia, Morocco

This group is actually ahead of Group C on average FIFA rank, but there’s no true challenger to Germany here. South Korea and Colombia will likely determine the second team to qualify through to the knockout round when they play each other, and Morocco is just hoping to make some noise in their debut showing.

7. Group C: Spain, Japan, Zambia, Costa Rica

Spain is among the top contenders to win this tournament. Japan made the final in the 2015 World Cup and has historically performed well at World Cups. However, there isn’t much competition beyond those two sides in this group. Zambia and Costa Rica are not expected to do much in this competition.

6. Group A: Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, Philippines

This is going to be one of the most interesting groups in the World Cup. Norway and Switzerland should theoretically be in, but New Zealand have the crowd support and Philippines will have the element of surprise. The top teams in this group don’t stack up to their counterparts in other groups, so that’s why Group A gets knocked down in terms of overall quality.

5. Group G: Sweden, Italy, Argentina, South Africa

A lot of the knocks on Group A apply to Group G as well, but Sweden are a much superior outfit compared to Norway. The battle for the second spot in this group should be interesting as Italy, Argentina and South Africa all stack up fairly evenly against each other.

4. Group B: Australia, Canada, Ireland, Nigeria

This is where things really start to get fun. Australia are the odds-on favorites to win this group, but Canada have the higher FIFA ranking. Ireland are also in the top 25, which makes this a competitive group that also has high quality. Group B is certainly in consideration to be the “Group of Death” at this World Cup.

3. Group D: England, China, Denmark, Haiti

England is only behind USA in championship odds, and have a bit of revenge on their minds after losing to USWNT in 2019. China has historically performed well in World Cups, and Denmark is a solid unit that doesn’t break easily. There might be less intrigue than Group B, but England’s quality alone makes Group D the better cohort.

2. Group F: France, Brazil, Panama, Jamaica

If Group B isn’t your “Group of Death”, then Group F probably takes that designation. France and Brazil are both legitimate title contenders ranked in the top 10, while Jamaica may have the best overall player in the group in Khadija Shaw. Panama might be fodder here but the top three teams are all capable of making deep runs.

1. Group E: United States, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam

Three of these teams rank in the top 25 in the FIFA rankings, and two of them played in the 2019 World Cup final. One of them is the favorite to win the tournament. It’s hard to argue against Group E being the best overall group, with USA and Netherlands likely being the best 1-2 pairing across all the groups. We’ll see if the two heavyweights take care of business with ease, or if Portugal or Vietnam can sneak past one of them.