2023 FIFA Women's World Cup - Finals Quiz

Answer: USA and Germany

USA, ranked 1, were knocked out in the Round of 16 by third ranked Sweden on penalty shootout. Germany, rank 2, were eliminated one step earlier, as they failed to progress out of the group stage.

For the US the damage was done in the group stage where it could only manage five points (one win and two draws) and finished second in its group guaranteeing them tough team in the next part of the draw. For Germany they only had four points at the end of their group matches. Morocco and Columbia both had six so both qualified with Germany getting an earlier than expected flight home.

Answer: Spain

Whilst England managed a 6-1 scoreline against China and Sweden scored 5-0 against Italy, both in the Group Stage, Spain bagged five in two matches: five against Zambia in a group match and five against Switzerland in the KO Round. Australia's best score was 4-0 against Canada which was emphatic as it not only gained Australia top spot in its group but eliminated Canada from the tournament.
The photo depicts Paella, the National Food of Spain.

Answer: Australia

Australia was the only team that had not conceded a goal in the two playoff games (KO Round and quarter-final) and only conceded any goal in the one group stage match against Nigeria, where they lost 3-2.

Sweden conceded one goal in its very first match which they won 2-1 against South Africa and another in their 2-1 quarter-final over Japan. England conceded one in its 6-1 drubbing of China and another in its 2-1 win over Colombia in the quarter-final. Spain conceded six mainly due to its heavy 4-0 loss to Japan in the Group Stage.
The photo depicts Bondi Beach, Australia's most famous beach.

Answer: Spain 2-1

In a tense match where Spain dominated possession 57%/43% and had more shots at goal 14-5, there was no score until Spain's Ayingono found the back of the net in the 81st minute. Blomqvist equalised for Sweden in the 88th minute which gave Carmona enough time to slot the winner for Spain with a minute to spare.
The photo depicts national flags in the order the goals scored were scored.

Answer: Australia's Sam Kerr, from a counterattack, scored a long range goal in the 63rd minute

Toone scored a goal before half-time for England. In the second half, it was clear that Australia was going to throw everything at England. In the 63rd minute, a counterattack started from near the Australian goal, and quickly turned into an attacking raid with Sam Ker gunning down the field as a lone striker.

She unleashed a long-range kick over 20 yards out and it hit the back of the net with force. The equaliser caused an eruption of the 80,000 people within Sydney's Stadium Australia as the home crowd thought Australia could go on with it.

But this was not the case. England scored again in the 71st minute and then one more in the 86th minute. The photo depicts the home ground of Chelsea, the English (ironic!) professional team Sam Kerr joined in 2020.

Answer: Whoever won the World Cup would win it for the first time.

Neither Sweden nor England had won the cup before. In fact, none of the four semi-finalists had won the cup prior to this tournament. In the previous eight tournaments, USA had won it four times and were the defending champions. Germany had won it twice, Japan and Norway, once apiece.
The picture depicts the Uruguayan Men's team from 1930, the first time any country has won the World Cup.

Answer: Sweden 2 Australia 0

The playoff for third place is a difficult match as both teams that play can no longer win the competition so enthusiasm is sometimes a problem. Australia was playing at home in Brisbane though and they desperately wanted to win a bronze medal. Though ranked 10th at the start of the tournament, the Australian girls believed they could win the tournament and with a packed stadium of 50,000 people behind them, the Australian public had embraced the Matildas and screamed for them to win.

The Swedes, as the highest-ranked team of the four semi-finalists, were also out to prove something as they were expecting to play in the final. In a match that produced 26 fouls and 3 yellow cards, the Swedes potted a goal in each half to win 2-0. The photo shows two iconic images of Sweden (Stockholm and the Oresund Bridge), hinting at the scoreline.

Answer: Spain 1-0

England started the game full throttle but Spain was more patient. When an England defender moved the ball away from her goal in the 29th minute, she was dispossessed and the ball was sent out to Carmona who shot a low, very tight-angled shot into the right corner to score the only goal of the match. After the break England changed formation from the 3-5-2 which had served them well in this competition, returning to the 4-3-3 they used before the cup. This improved their defence and created more attacking opportunities but the Spaniards managed the game very well and hung onto their lead to the end to win the World Cup.

The photo depicts the Plaza de Catalunya in Barcelona, one of Spain's most famous urban landmarks.

Answer: Whilst the prize money was increased dramatically for this tournament, it was still much less than for the men's competition in 2022

The prize money offered to teams at the 2023 FIFA World Cup was $US110 million (£91m) which was double what was originally on offer ($60m) (due to external pressures perhaps?) but a significant increase over the $30m seen at the 2019 Women's World Cup.

The 2023 winner won $10.5 million, with each team receiving a minimum of 1.56m for reaching the Group Stage. Additionally, for the first time, a payment was made to each player ranging from $30 000 for any player who played in the Group stage incrementing to $270 000 for a player in the team that won the final. FIFA allocated $440 million in prize money for the 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar. with the winning team pocketing $42 million. Equity is still a long way off.

Answer: Most matches were played to a full stadium

A total of 1.978 million people attended the games with almost 700,000 from New Zealand. This was over 600,000 more than the previous record (the 2019 edition was watched by 1.131 million supporters in France but the previous record was set in Canada in 2015 with 1.353 million attendees).

Stadium Australia (the Sydney Olympic Stadium), Sydney Football Stadium, Lang Park (Brisbane Stadium), and Eden Park, Auckland had capacities of 75,784, 40,583, 49,461 and 43,217 respectively, with six other cities having venues with smaller capacities. The average attendance per game was 31,000 but would have been higher if some cities had had bigger stadiums. The five matches held at Sydney's Stadium Stadium and Brisbane's Lang Park (the two biggest stadiums) were sell-outs with all other matches being close to capacity. Initial sales targets set by FIFA were 1.3 million, which was revised upwards to 1.5m.

At the conclusion of the tournament, FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated "Over the past few weeks we have witnessed record-breaking crowds, significant global broadcast audiences and staggering digital metrics, highlighting the truly global impact of this ground-breaking event."