This article is part of the Guardian’s Women’s World Cup 2023 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 July.
Overview
With the expansion of the tournament to accommodate 32 teams, China found their path to qualification smoothed considerably thanks to the availability of at least five places in the Asian Football Confederation (especially with Australia qualifying as hosts). After triumphing 3-1 over Vietnam in the quarter-final of the 2022 AFC Asian Cup, the Steel Roses secured their place.
Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman s side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.
A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj.
But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic s defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly.
Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.
Bos…
Istanbul will finally get to stage the Champions League final in 2023, UEFA has announced.
The Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Turkey was originally due to put on Europe s biggest club match in 2020, only for the coronavirus pandemic to mean the closing stages of the tournament were shifted to Lisbon.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were all played in Portugal s capital, with Istanbul awarded the 2021 final instead.
However, that too was taken away when UEFA moved the match between Chelsea and Manchester City to Porto, this time because Turkey was on the United Kingdom s travel red list amid the continuing COVID-19 health crisis.
Supporters of the two English clubs would have been unable to make the trip to Istanbul, but restrictions on travel to P…
Germany coach Joachim Low described his team s 1-0 win over Spain on Tuesday as the perfect end to the year.
The World Cup winners edged to their victory thanks to an 89th-minute goal from Toni Kroos at the Estadio de Balaidos.
Low said it was the ideal way to finish 2014, a year which saw Germany win the World Cup for a fourth time.
I don t think you can ask for a better end to the year than that, he said.
As for his team s performance, Low said there were plenty of areas for his side to work on.
I was very pleased in the second half with the attacking play. We had better action than in the first, he said.
We must continue to develop and improve in some things further. That was a very good start today.
Low was most pleased wit…
Domenico Tedesco says Belgium are still hurting after their Euro 2024 exit to France as they prepare to meet them in the Nations League on Monday.
Belgium suffered a 1-0 defeat to France in the round of 16 at the Euros, conceding an 85th-minute Jan Vertonghen own goal to send them crashing out after a poor tournament.
It was a tight affair when the sides met in July, with both only managing two shots on target, though France s came from 19 overall attempts compared to Belgium s five.
And Tedesco would rather forget about that meeting as he targets a more positive result this time around.
At the European Championship, it was a close one against France. We could have won too,” Tedesco told reporters.
France were a bit better, they deserved to wi…
One of the best games on the Week 17 NFL betting slate will take place on the Ohio River at Paul Brown Stadium, where the Kansas City Chiefs will travel to face the Cincinnati Bengals.
Kansas City extended its win streak to eight games last week and can secure the top seed and a bye in the AFC on Sunday, while the hosts remain on top of a bizarrely competitive AFC North.
Here are our NFL picks and predictions for Chiefs vs. Bengals, with kickoff on January 2.
…
The New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals will wrap up Week 14 at State Farm Stadium on Monday Night Football.
If the Cardinals want to play spoiler against the playoff-eligible Patriots, they’ll need a big effort from running back James Conner. With that in mind, here are my three favorite James Conner props for Monday, December 12.
Be sure to also check out Josh Inglis’ three favorite MNF player prop bets as well as Jason Logan’s MNF full-game betting preview!
…
The Cleveland Browns head to the Lone Star State on Sunday to face off against the Houston Texans. Despite dealing with injuries, both teams are on a path to the playoffs, with the 9-5 Browns looking to keep their momentum going for the Week 16 odds with veteran Joe Flacco now at quarterback.
Meanwhile, the Texans look like they’ll miss star QB C.J. Stroud for the second straight game. With that in mind, NFL odds opened with the Browns as 2.5-point road favorites for this contest, with the Over/Under at 40.5. Here are my best free NFL picks and predictions for Browns vs. Texans on December 24.
Browns vs Texans odds
Browns vs Texans predictions
One of the weirdest stats this season …
Whether you’re new to survivor pools or you’re a regular “Rick Grimes” when it comes to staying alive, you can make a run at $10,000 with Covers free-to-play Pro Football Survivor contest this NFL season.
The name of the game is just that: Survive.
Each week, contestants select one NFL team to win their respective matchup and advance to the next week if correct. Should they lose, their fun in the pool is over. Sounds simple enough, right? Here’s the rub: you can only pick a team once throughout a season, so you need to strategize.
You don’t want to unload the clip on the stronger teams too early or else you’ll be counting on crappy ones to get the…
It was inevitable but Ellen White couldn’t quite believe it: arms outstretched, fists pumping, face etched with joy. It had taken just three minutes for her to match then surpass the England goalscoring record of 46 set by Kelly Smith.
So overcome with the emotion of the occasion the Manchester City forward, making her 101st appearance, almost forgot her trademark goggle celebration, as she skidded on to her back to be engulfed by her teammates nine minutes into their record 20-0 victory, surpassing the previous best, the 13-0 defeat of Hungary in 2005, in this World Cup qualifier in Doncaster.
England 20-0 Latvia: Women’s World Cup qualifier – live reaction!Read more
“We don’t need to talk about it any mor…