On Sunday, France Women will play Jamaica Women in the opening match of Group F in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Jamaica is competing in the Women’s World Cup for the second time in its history. France is making their sixth participation in the competition. France has been in the knockout stages of the previous three championships. They experienced group-stage elimination in their first World Cup debut in 2003. Their finest World Cup showing came in 2011 when they advanced to the semifinals before losing to the USA 3-1. France will be trying to advance this time around after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2015 and 2019.
France has only lost one of their past eight international matches. That loss did come against Australia earlier this month in their final official warm-up game. Les Bleues will want to build on their great run against Jamaica in Sydney after winning their last three World Cup openers. Jamaica, on the other hand, will be looking to build on their sole World Cup appearance in 2019. They finished last in their group after dropping all three games. They lost badly to both Italy and Australia after opening their inaugural World Cup with a 3-0 loss to Brazil.
The Reggae Girlz put on a strong showing at the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship. They reached the semifinals to ensure their participation in Australia and New Zealand. This performance earned them a spot in the 2023 tournament. In a group that also includes Panama, France and Brazil are heavy favourites to advance. So the Reggae Girlz will need to pull off a surprise or two to get to the knockout stages. Jamaica will be confident against France after they defeated Morocco 1-0 in their final official FIFA Women’s World Cup warm-up game. It was their first victory since November 2022 and their first victory in an international competition.
Team News
Marie-Antoinette Katoto will not be representing France at the competition since she was unable to fully recover from an anterior cruciate ligament injury. Injuries have also prevented Oriane Jean-Francois, Amandine Henry, and Delphine Cascarino from competing in the World Cup. Selma Bacha is unlikely to play in France’s first game after being forced to leave the loss to Australia earlier this month due to an ankle injury.
Rebecca Spencer of Tottenham Hotspur is scheduled to start in goal for Jamaica, but she may be protected by the central defence tandem of Allyson Swaby and Chantelle Swaby, Chantelle’s younger sister. The leader of Jamaica, Lorne Donaldson, may decide to cram Drew Spence, Havana Solaun, and Vyan Sampson into the centre of the park. Khadija Shaw, a forward for Manchester City, will be seeking to extend her club form into the World Cup after scoring 29 goals in 28 competitive games during the 2022–23 season.
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