The teams playing in Group D in the 2023 World Cup are England, Haiti, Denmark, and China.
England
England will be a team to look out for in the 2023 Women’s World Cup. England qualified for the World Cup by winning UEFA Group D, on September 3rd, 2022. In the 2019 Women’s World Cup, England placed fourth overall, after losing in the semi-finals to the United States and losing to Sweden in the third place play-off. In the past, England has also made the quarter-finals in the 1995, 2007, and 2011 World Cups, and placed third in the 2015 World Cup. A huge factor in England’s recent successes in the Women’s UEFA Euro 2022 and the 2023 Arnold Clark Cup has been the hiring of former Netherlands National Team Head Coach, Sarina Wiegman. Wiegman as head coach with the Netherlands, led the Netherlands to a UEFA Euro 2017 win, six months after she was hired as the permanent head coach for the team, and led the Netherlands to a runner-up finish in the 2019 World Cup. As head coach for England, she has brought success over from the Netherlands team, leading England to a record of 25-5-1 and wins in the Women’s UEFA Euro 2022 and the 2023 Arnold Clark Cup. Notable players that will be missing the World Cup for England are Captain Leah Williamson and Beth Mead. Both Williamson and Mead are both out with ACL injuries.
Player to Watch:
Lucy Bronze
Bronze has been a staple for England’s National Team since 2013 when she was first called up to the senior National Team for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2013. Since that first call-up, Bronze has been named to every major tournament team for England. In the 2019 World Cup, Bronze became Silver, as she won the Silver Ball being named the second most outstanding player in the tournament. As a proven player for England, she should make a huge impact on the squad in the tournament. She helped FC Barcelona secure the Champions League title after surgery mid-season, showing her resilience and experience.
Haiti
Haiti has qualified for their first-ever World Cup by winning the Inter-confederation play-off Group B on February 22nd, 2023. Qualifying for the World Cup is huge for Haiti as this is the first big international tournament the team has ever qualified for. Going into this World Cup, in the past two years Haiti has played against multiple federations, and has even won a match against another team that qualified for the World Cup. This victory occurred on June 28th, 2022 against Costa Rica, who is in Group C.
*Roster to come*
Player to Watch:
Nérilia Mondésir
Mondésir is an up-and-coming player for Haiti. She has appeared for her country in the U-15, U-17, and U-20 age groups. She helped Haiti qualify for the U-20 World Cup, making it their first World Cup qualification for any age group. In 12 appearances for the Haitian Senior National Team, the 24-year-old has scored 18 goals, with the most recent goal occurring during the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup qualification match against Senegal. If Mondésir can bring these goals to the World Cup, she will be a threat for other teams to look out for.
Denmark
This World Cup is the first World Cup that Denmark has qualified for since 2007. They qualified to the 2023 Women’s World Cup by winning UEFA Group E, on May 2, 2022. Even though this is Denmark's first World Cup since 2007, Denmark has had some previous success in the World Cup, making it to the quarter-finals in 1991 and 1995 and Demark is looking at equalling that success or going even further in this World Cup. In 2022 and 2023, Denmark defeated multiple qualified World Cup teams including Norway (Group A), Switzerland (Group A), Japan (Group C), Brazil (Group F), and Sweden (Group G). Denmark has a huge possibility to advance past the Group Stage and pull off a potential upset. Notable players that will be missing the World Cup for Denmark include Nadia Nadim and Stine Larsen both with ACL injuries.
Player to Watch:
Pernille Harder
Even with Harder returning from an injury, she is definitely a player to look out for when watching Denmark. At 16 years old in 2009 she debuted for the Senior National Team with a hat-trick against Georgia, and she has not stepped off the gas since then with 70 goals in her career so far. Her 70 goals in her national team career set her on top of the top-goalscorers of the all-time leaderboard for Denmark, with the next active playing player 15 goals behind. Denmark is going to rely on their top goal scorer in Harder to propel them past the group stage.
China
China has qualified for their eighth World Cup, only not qualifying for the 2011 World Cup, by becoming the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup champions on January 30th, 2022. With China being in seven out of the eight previous World Cups, they have had multiple successes in the World Cup, including being the runner-up in the 1999 World Cup. In their last World Cup appearance in 2019, China made the Round of 16. It will be interesting how China does in the World Cup because, in preparation for the World Cup, they have not played quality opponents as much as the other teams in this group.
Player to Watch:
Wang Shuang
Wang Shuang has been a dominant force for China with 121 Senior National Team caps. In these 121 appearances, Wang Shuang has 43 goals, many of which came in pivotal games for China. Shuang is currently playing for Racing Louisville in the United States and has two goals and one assist so far in this year's campaign. At the age of 28, Wang Shuang will be a weapon for China to utilize in this World Cup, and in future major tournaments that China takes part in.
GROUP SCHEDULE
Sat, Jul 22
England vs Haiti
⏰ 5:30 AM
🏟 Lang Park
📍 Brisbane, Aus
📺 FOX
Sat, Jul 22
Denmark vs China
⏰ 8:00 AM
🏟 Perth Rectangular Stadium
📍 Perth, Aus
📺 FOX
Fri, Jul 28
England vs Denmark
⏰ 4:30 AM
🏟 Sydney Football Stadium
📍 Sydney, Aus
📺 FS1
Fri, Jul 28
China vs Haiti
⏰ 7:00 AM
🏟 Hindmarsh Stadium
📍 Adelaide, Aus
📺 FS1
Tue, Aug 01
Haiti vs Denmark
⏰ 7:00 AM
🏟 Perth Rectangular Stadium
📍 Perth, Aus
📺 FS1
Tue, Aug 01
China vs England
⏰ 7:00 AM
🏟 Hindmarsh Stadium
📍 Adelaide, Aus
📺 FOX