The England women’s national football team are looking to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history when the competition gets underway in Australia and New Zealand this month.
England has never won the Women’s World Cup before. The best they’ve managed was a third-place finish in 2015, which they nearly repeated four years later when they lost 2-1 to Sweden in the 3rd place playoff.
But after winning the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 under the leadership of Sarina Wiegman just over 12 months ago, has England ever had a better chance of lifting the FIFA Women’s World Cup? Well if the bookmakers are correct, it would appear England is in with a real shout this year.
Betting to win the FIFA Women’s World Cup
The USWNT are the 5/2-betting favourites to win the 2023 World Cup. Then it’s England at 4/1. A Women’s World Cup Paddy Power bet on Spain is 5/1, and on Germany, it’s 7/1. They are the four clear favourites with the bookmakers. Anyone looking to place a bet on football will want to know the favourites are Australia at 10/1, and France at 11/1.
Who can stop England?
The bookmakers are saying that England has a real chance of lifting the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history. But to do this, either Sarina Wiegman’s England team or another team will have to stop the US Women’s team.
Vlatko Andonovski’s USWNT is the obvious team standing in England’s way. They are the favourite to win the competition for the fifth time in their history and for the third time in succession.
Another nation that is a real threat is Spain. The Spanish have had a few internal problems between players and the head coach over recent months. This resulted in a so-called mutiny. Even though this has now been resolved, there could still be factions in the Spanish camp. But if the Spanish are harmonious and on song, they will be a match for anybody.
Reasons England fans can be positive
Sarina Wiegman is named UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year 🏆 pic.twitter.com/kmculKTkZO
— GOAL (@goal) August 25, 2022
For a start, in Sarina Wiegman, England have the UEFA Women’s Coach of the Year. Who better to lead the team to a World Cup?
And on top of that, it could be argued that the women’s game in England has never been in a better place. The Women’s Super League is now an established competition with clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea throwing plenty of resources at it.
Also getting on board and investing in their women’s teams are Manchester City and Manchester United. The standard of the WSL is rising every year, and this is helping the England team.
The women’s game as a whole is developing across Europe as well. This means nations like Spain, Germany and France are also improving. But England can take heart from the fact that Europe’s elite clubs are signing their players to play in their leagues.
𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑 @LucyBronze 🏴💫
The 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 English player to win the #UWCLfinal with 𝐓𝐖𝐎 different clubs (Lyon, Barcelona) pic.twitter.com/i2lqUvkKEv
— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) June 4, 2023
Fullback Lucy Bronze is a prime example. The former Manchester City player is a part of the successful Futbol Club Barcelona Femení side that has just won the 2022/23 Champions League. If Europe’s elite are signing England’s players, it proves they must be doing right. And that can only be seen as a positive for England’s World Cup chances.
