The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off on Thursday with host nations New Zealand and Australia both winning their opening matches, and the U.S. won its first match Friday.
The U.S. is looking to win a third-consecutive World Cup. A three-peat has never been done before in either the men’s or women’s World Cups. Despite this, the U.S. is still the favorite.
FIFA has the team ranked as the No. 1 team in the world, but with tougher competition this year and over half the U.S. team making their World Cup debuts, another championship is far from a guarantee for the U.S.
Who will be hoisting the trophy on Aug. 20?
Here’s who experts predict to win the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup:
Fox Sports
A panel of nine analysts, including former men’s and women’s national team players, leaned toward the U.S. as the winner of the tournament.
- Carli Lloyd: Spain.
- Alexi Lalas: France.
- Stu Holden: U.S.
- Jimmy Conrad: U.S.
- Leslie Osborne: U.S.
- David Mosse: Sweden.
- Laken Litman: U.S.
- Doug McIntyre: U.S.
- Martin Rogers: Spain.
Sports Illustrated
A panel of three journalists from Sports Illustrated unanimously predicted the U.S. winning. Two of the journalists picked the U.S. to face England in the final, and the other predicted the U.S. beating France.
- Andrew Gastelum: U.S.
- Clare Brennan: U.S.
- Kristen Nelson: U.S.
The Athletic
In a panel of seven writers for The Athletic, Germany received the majority of the votes to hoist the World Cup trophy on Aug. 20.
- Flo Lloyd-Hughes: Germany.
- Chloe Morgan: England.
- Michael Cox: Germany.
- Steph Yang: U.S.
- Meg Linehan: Germany.
- Jeff Rueter: U.S.
- Charlotte Harpur: Germany
USA Today
A panel of three USA Today journalists were unanimous in their predictions of the U.S. winning.
- Nancy Armour: U.S.
- Lindsay Schnell: U.S.
- Jim Reineking: U.S.
EA Sports
EA Sports ran a simulation of the World Cup through the Tournament mode in its FIFA 23 game. The simulation ended with the U.S. beating Germany 4-2 in the final.
The video game has successfully predicted the last four men’s World Cup winners: Argentina in 2022, France in 2018, Germany in 2014 and Spain in 2010, according to ESPN.
