WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
England-Spain final to round off record-breaking Women’s World Cup
England and Spain go head-to-head in the final of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday, capping off a tournament that has broken attendance and TV records and raised hopes of a surge in interest for the women’s game.
Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the ninth edition of the global showpiece event was the first to be held in the southern hemisphere and has already broken attendance records.
While local interest ebbed when Australia exited in the semi-finals, some 2 million fans will have passed through the gates in nine host cities by the time Sunday’s final kicks off at Stadium Australia in Sydney at 8 p.m. (1000 GMT).
FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 – Spain Training – Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia – August 19, 2023 Spain players during training REUTERS/Hannah Mckay Acquire Licensing Rights
Australia’s semi-final loss to England on Wednesday drew an average of 7.13 million viewers on the channels of local broadcaster Seven Network, the highest viewership ever recorded by research firm OzTAM, which launched in 2001.
Matildas matches sold out months in advance, and organisers expect the average attendance to overtake 30,000 once all 64 matches are completed.
The last Women’s World Cup in France four years ago attracted more than 1.1. million fans to 52 matches with an average crowd of 21,756.
Demand was weaker in New Zealand, whose team went out in the group stages. FIFA gave away thousands of tickets and some games attracted as few as 7,000 fans, although White Ferns matches broke records for a soccer crowd in the country.
FUNDING GAP
Australia’s players, who lost 2-0 in a third-place playoff match to Sweden on Saturday, will earn $165,000 each in prize money for this tournament, more than 300 times the A$750 ($480) they received for a quarter-final appearance in 2015.
But at the grassroots level, the sport needs more resources, Matildas striker Sam Kerr said after the loss to England on Wednesday.
“We need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots,” she said.
“We need funding, you know, we need funding everywhere.”
The Matildas’ standout World Cup campaign has led to calls for more support to women’s soccer in Australia, where it lags more popular football codes like rugby league and Australian rules.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded on Saturday by promising A$200 million for women’s sport in the wake of the Matildas’ run to the semi-finals.
Albanese said the money would be used to improve sports facilities for women and girls, with soccer tipped to receive “significant resourcing”.
The government also wants to ensure women’s sporting events are available on free-to-air television, after criticism that most World Cup games not involving Australia were behind a paywall.
Women’s soccer has also confronted a variety of challenges involving finalists England and Spain, who will both be chasing a first world title in Sydney on Sunday.
Women were banned from official facilities in England, the home of the game, until 1970, and have long lagged the men’s team in interest and funding, although that began to change after the Lionesses won the European championship last year.
The Spanish team, meanwhile, has been rocked by a locker room dispute with coach Jorge Vilda and the Spanish football federation, with some of their best players absent from the tournament as a result.
-Reuters
Despite wintry conditions in Blida, on the outskirts of the Algerian capital, Algiers, Nigeria’s U17 girls dug their feet into the ground on Friday night.
They achieved a scoreless draw that qualified them for this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals.
Holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage, the 2002 bronze medallists adopted a calm and collected pattern that easily soaked up the expected pressure from the hosts and then relied on fast breaks to try and pull the trigger on their opponents.
Although they created better chances on the night, the Flamingos failed to make dominance in possession pay, but swiftly collected the ticket to Morocco on a 4-0 aggregate win.
The difference over two legs of the final round was a remarkable display in the opening leg by the Flamingos, during which a brace by Queen Joseph and one each by Zainab Raji and substitute Aisha Animashaun ensured a 4-0 win.
The Flamingos will now be one of Africa’s five representatives (including hosts Morocco) at this year’s FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup finals taking place from 17th October – 5th November. The final competition will entertain 24 teams for the very first time.
Since the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup competition was launched in New Zealand in 2008, Nigeria have failed to make the finals only once – the 2018 tournament hosted by Uruguay.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Despite heavy first leg loss, Algeria hopeful of a turnaround in Nigeria’s Flamingos clash
The Algeria U17 women’s national team still hope for a possible turnaround in this Friday night clash with Nigeria’s Flamingos.
Algeria lost 4-0 in the first leg match in Ikenne last Saturday.
The Algerians completed their preparations on Thursday at the Sidi Moussa National Technical Centre, the eve of the return match against Nigeria.
The return match is scheduled for this Friday at 8 p.m. at the Mustapha Tchaker Stadium in Blida. Aggregate winners will pick a ticket to the FIFA U-17 Women’s 2025 World Cup.
According to sources in Algeria, all the players took part in the final session, during which coach Abdenour Mira finalised the tactical details for the make or mar encounter.
Despite the heavy defeat conceded in the first leg (4-0), the young Algerians approach this match with the desire to finish well and deliver an honourable performance against a formidable Nigerian team.
During the technical meeting held early in the afternoon at the FAF headquarters, in the presence of representatives of the two teams and the organisers, it was decided that Algeria will play in green, while Nigeria will wear white.
The match will be officiated by Cameroonian Aline Marie Noelle Guimbang, assisted by her compatriot Laurie Marcelle Tsafack Teikeu and Chadian Victorine Ngarassoum.
The fourth official will also be Cameroonian, Innoncentia Njang Ntangti.
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WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Under possible cold weather in Blida, Nigeria’s Flamingos set to grab World Cup ticket
The weather is most likely to be cold, but Nigeria’s U17 girls, Flamingos, are set to continue a tradition of qualifying for every edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, which has had eight editions, out of which the Flamingos featured in seven.
Only Japan, with 100 per cent attendance, has featured in more competitions than Nigeria’s Flamingos.
They look poised to feature again after a 4-0 defeat of Algeria in the first leg of the final qualifying series.
Apart from their opponents, Algeria, they have the expected cold weather to battle with at the Stade Mustapha Tchaker in Blida (outside Algiers), on Friday night.
Friday’s encounter against their Algerian counterparts is the final leg of a final qualifying round fixture, with the Flamingos, bronze-medallists from the 2022 finals in India and quarterfinalists from the last edition in the Dominican Republic, holding on to a 4-0 first-leg advantage.
The Federation Algerienne de Football (FAF) has scheduled the match to kick off at 8 pm, at a time when the winds will begin to blow in stronger from the Mediterranean Sea.
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