FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 - Group C: Preview, schedule and how to watch
The wait for the 2023 Women's World Cup is almost over. Ahead of football's most prestigious competition Australia and New Zealand, here are the key things to know about Group C.
Football
As the football world’s attention turns to Australia and New Zealand for this summer’s 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, some national teams - including Group C’s Spain - are still unsure as to which players will be available for selection.
Back in September 2022, 15 Spanish national team players announced their withdrawal from national team duty in response to occurrences in the national team that have “significantly” impacted on players’ “emotional state”.
The ongoing battle between Spain’s players, federation and staff leaves fans in the dark as to whether some star players will feature this summer.
Nevertheless, Spain will kick-off their World Cup campaign on 21 July, 2023 against Costa Rica in Wellington.
They will be joined in Group C by 2011 champions Japan and tournament debutants Zambia who face each other one day later on 22 July 2023.
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Women’s Football World Cup 2023: Group C Preview
Despite unrest within the national team setup, Spain have achieved some notable victories over the past calendar year since their 2022 European Championship quarter final loss to England.
The Spaniards overcame World Champions United States with a 2-0 friendly win followed by another friendly victory against Japan.
It was 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosts Australia who brought their brief run of wins to an end at the 2023 Cup of Nations. The Aussies beat Spain 3-2 in Sydney.
Spain have two more friendlies before their World Cup campaign kicks off, against Denmark and Vietnam.
Alongside the number of players withdrawing from national team duty, Spain at laeast have their superstar Alexia Putellas back in action.
Putellas missed out on the 2022 European Champions with an ACL injury and has spent the past year recovering. She featured in Barcelona's Champions League win over Wolfsburg.
Japan have experienced a mixed bag of performances in preparation for this summer.
Finishing as runners up at this year’s SheBelieves Cup, they successfully beat Olympic champions Canada 3-0 but fell short to both the US and Brazil.
Despite being crowned world champions in 2011 and making the final in 2015, Japan crashed out of the most recent FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019 failing to make it past the group stages.
Head coach Futoshi Ikeda will be keen to write himself into Japanese history. The manager took over from Asako Takakura in 2021, meaning this will be his first FIFA Women’s World Cup in charge of the side.
Costa Rica kick off their campaign against Group C favourites Spain in what will be just their second FIFA Women’s World Cup.
They didn’t qualify for 2019, but made their debut four years earlier in 2015 where they failed to win a game.
The Costa Ricans main aim will be to claim their first World Cup win, a feat they should feel confident in given their performance at the 2022 CONCACAF.
La Tricolor finished fourth in the competition, managing two out of three wins in the group stages. Progressing to the semi-finals, they met the US and suffered a 3-0 defeat.
Their fourth place finish bettered that of 2018 when they failed to move past the group stage.
This summer, attention will be on Portland Thorns midfielder Raquel Rodriguez who has 55 goals to her name in 100 appearances for her country.
Zambia are the only tournament debutants in Group C, and will draw on their experience from Tokyo 2020 - when they appeared in their first Olympic Games.
More recently, the Copper Queens finished third at the 2022 Women’s AFCON - beating Nigeria 1-0 in the third place play-off match. Zambia narrowly missed out on a chance at the final, losing 1-0 to South Africa in the semi-finals.
Women’s World Cup 2023: Group C players to watch
Athenea del Castillo
With some Spanish veterans taking a step back from national duty in protest, space emerges for younger talent to experience life on the world stage.
Real Madrid forward Athenea del Castillo was named in Jorge Vilda’s Cup of Nations squad earlier this year, and scored in their 3-0 win over the Czech Republic.
The 22 year old also found the back of the net for Spain in their FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification game over Hungary, and again in friendlies against Morocco, Argentina and China.
Del Castillo first received her senior Spain call up in 2020 when she was playing for Deportivo, making her the first serving Deportivo to receive a full national team cap.
The forward will strengthen Spain’s attacking ability should they miss out on some of their more distinguished stars this summer.
Barbra Banda
Zambia’s captain Barbra Banda has scored an incredible 22 goals in just 10 appearances for her nation.
At only 23 years of age, Banda is surpassing all expectations and is also an amateur boxer alongside her football career.
The forward currently plays for Shanhai Shengli in the Chinese Women’s Super League and scored 18 goals in 13 appearances in her debut season, making her the 2020 Chinese Women’s Super League top scorer.
She began her career at Spanish first division side EDF Logrono where she managed 16 goals in 28 appearances. Her experience with the European side will prove vital when Zambia come up against Spain in the group stages at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Women’s World Cup 2023: Group C schedule and how to watch
Here are the complete fixtures for Group C: (All times in local timezone of AEST)
21 July 2023: Spain v Costa Rica, 17:30 KO at Wellington Regional Stadium
22 July 2023: Zambia v Japan, 17:00 KO at Waikato Stadium
26 July 2023: Japan v Costa Rica, 15:00 KO at Forsyth Barr Stadium
26 July 2023: Spain v Zambia, 17:30 KO at Eden Park
31 July 2023: Costa Rica v Zambia, 17:00 KO at Waikato Stadium
31 July 2023: Japan v Spain, 17:00 KO at Wellington Regional Stadium
You can discover how to watch live and find the full list of confirmed broadcasters so far here.