The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Australia/New Zealand will begin on July 20. The tournament will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and the number of participating teams will be expanded from 24 to 32.
Representatives from each country are now beginning to arrive in New Zealand.
Official mascot "Tazuni" welcomes you
The first team to arrive in New Zealand were Vietnam, followed by Norway on the same day.
The arrival lobby in Auckland has been completely transformed into World Cup specs.
The official mascot, Tazuni, also welcomed the players.
The mascot for this tournament is a "soccer-loving penguin" inspired by the little penguin that lives in New Zealand and Australia.
Rapinoe and Dazn have matching hairstyles
Megan Rapinoe, a leading figure in women's soccer for the United States, also made an appearance at Bay City Park in Oakland.
Her hairstyle is the same as Dazni's! Dazni looks very happy.
This will be the fourth World Cup for the 38-year-old Rapinoe, who has announced her retirement at the end of this season.
The US national team lost to Japan in the finals of the 2011 Germany tournament on penalties. However, they defeated Japan in the 2015 Canada tournament and the Netherlands in the 2019 France tournament, and are currently on a two-time winning streak. They have won the tournament a total of four times, the most of any team, and are aiming to extend that streak and win the tournament for a third time in a row.
Nadeshiko Japan also heads to New Zealand
Nadeshiko Japan held a send-off party on July 6th, and then on July 12th, those involved gathered at Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine in Wakayama Prefecture to pray for victory.
Nadeshiko Japan will play against Panama in the MS&AD Cup 2023 at Yurtec Stadium Sendai on Friday, July 14th, before heading to New Zealand.
The first match will be against Zambia on the 22nd at Waikato Stadium in Hamilton, North Island.
Next, they will play against Costa Rica at Dunedin Stadium, commonly known as "The Glasshouse" in Dunedin on the South Island, and against Spain at Wellington Stadium in the capital, Wellington, with all of their group stage matches taking place in New Zealand.
If they advance to the round of 16, they will play in Auckland or Wellington. Depending on the results, they may even face New Zealand.
It seems that there are still no plans to broadcast the show on terrestrial television in Japan, but I hope that the environment will be created so that many people can support the show!
