Luck of the draw could land USA in NZ for Football World Cup

USA’s players including forward Megan Rapinoe (C) celebrate with the trophy after the France 2019 Women’s World Cup football final match between USA and the Netherlands.
Photo: AFP

The head of women’s football for FIFA, New Zealander Sarai Bareman hopes some of the sport’s biggest names are based in Aotearoa for the 2023 Women’s Football World Cup.

The 29 teams that had already booked a world cup berth would find out during Saturday’s draw, to be held in Auckland, what their pathway to the trophy looked like.

Three more teams were yet to qualify.

New Zealand and Australia are co-hosts for the world cup which kicks on in July and Bareman believed if the likes of world champions USA or Euro 2022 winners England played in New Zealand it would be a boost for the game locally.

There was a 50/50 chance of getting such a side in New Zealand – with 16 teams based in each host country.

Teams drawn in Group A, Group C Group E, Group G would play the early part of the tournament in Aotearoa – with games in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin.

“For me, having teams based within local communities is really important in terms of young girls and women who are playing the game being able to see and interact with those teams,” Bareman said.

FIFA Chief Women’s Football Officer Sarai Bareman wanted Football World Cup teams to inspire the next generation of footballers.
Photo: Shane Wenzlick / www.phototek.nz

Bareman was confident the world cup opener at Eden Park on 20 July between the Football Ferns and a yet to be decided opponent would sellout – and all ticket holders would show up.

“Even if you’re not a football fan this is going to be a moment in time for New Zealand and you will regret it if you’re not part of it and you don’t come and you don’t want to be that person looking back in five or 10 years time wishing that you were part of it, that you were at a stadium or that you were somehow involved in it.”

Women’s World Cup 2023 chief executive officer Dave Beeche said kick off times for the tournament would be confirmed after the draw was completed.

“We try to schedule them at a time that is both appealing for the local market to come out and be able to attend, particularly given it’s a winter tournament, but also we look at the individual teams that are playing in that game and try and maximise the broadcast auidence for the fans back home so it’s always that trade off between those two [factors].

Beeche had an ambitious target for the tournament and hoped to attract more than one million fans in the stands across the 64 games across the two countries.

Tickets were priced with the aim of getting stadiums filled, Beeche said, and ticket sales were tracking ahead of the same sales period for the last world cup in France.

For the first time in the history of the tournament, base camps that included accommodation and training facilities would be used as headquarters for each team.

Representives from each of the qualified teams were in New Zealand and would run the rule over the different facilities in New Zealand and Australia next week to nominate their preferred base camp location.

Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin, Rotorua, Napier, Palmerston North, Tauranga and Christchurch would be base camps options for different teams throughout the tournament.

Beeche said teams would weigh up a number of factors before lodging their choice with FIFA.

“In choosing a team base camp teams will look at a range of items including the quality of the hotel, the quality of the pitch, but also the way the community engages with them and welcomes them. A lot of them want to have a home away from home, they want to feel like they’ve got a good supporter base around them.”

Beeche said the difference in quality between facilities on both sides of the Tasman would not be significant.

“The nature of a co-hosted tournament is that there is always going to be some variance and I think there will be some overs and unders on both sides of the Tasman but really heartening to see the [New Zealand] governement step up and invest the $19 million in stadium and training site upgrades.”