Corinne Deacon flew midweek to Auckland where she will attend this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. (live on La Chaîne L'Equipe) the draw for the 2023 World Cup. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the boss of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, will notably be present.
Les Bleues and their coach will thus finally know their three opponents in the first round of the competition disputed at the heart of next summer (July 20-August 20) in New Zealand and Australia.
As a reminder, during the last World Cup in France, in 2019, the Americans won after dismissing France in the quarter-finals (2-1).
Since then, the French have reached the semi-finals of the Euro, last July, dominated by Germany (2-1) and, in nine months, they will once again have the ambition to finally win an international title.
For this draw, carried out by the American double world champion Carli Lloyd, the tricolors will be seeded.
They are therefore guaranteed to avoid facing the Americans and the English European champions in the first round.
But it will take a bit of luck not to come across some formidable opponents in hat 2 like the Canadian Olympic champions, the Dutch or the Norwegians.
In pot 3, it will be appropriate to avoid Denmark and finally, in pot 4, Nigeria.
The French are currently experiencing a delicate period marked by two setbacks in friendly matches in Germany (2-1) then in Sweden (3-0).
They will soon face Norway on November 10 in Alicante (Spain).
Uncertainty hovers around the presence at the World Cup of two major players currently injured in a knee: the Parisian Marie-Antoinette Katoto, since the Euro, and Griedge Mbock, the Lyon central defender, spectacularly affected during the match against Greece, in September, in Sedan.
For this competition, which brings together 32 teams, no French TV broadcaster has yet been selected by FIFA, which is struggling to find takers, in particular because of the unfavorable time difference.
The only certainty is that New Zealand will play its opening match on July 20 at Eden Park in Auckland, dear to the All Blacks, while Australia will make its debut in the competition on the same day, in Sydney, the city where will hold the final one month later.
The #FIFAWWC Draw is happening on Saturday!
So, how does it all work?
đź” #BeyondGreatness pic.twitter.com/4NhhSJtQhR
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) October 21, 2022
For Les Bleues, the identity of the group will also be important since it will determine the country in which they will play the group stage and where their base camp will be installed.
Corinne Deacon will also stay a few days in New Zealand or Australia to choose this one.
Falling into group C, E or G would send them to New Zealand.
Conversely, a placement in group D, F and H would mean leaving for Australia.
Hats :
Hat 1:
New Zealand (group A), Australia (group B), United States, Sweden, Germany, England,
France
, Spain.
Hat 2:
Canada, Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Norway, Italy, China, Korea.
Pot 3:
Denmark, Switzerland, Republic of Ireland, Colombia, Argentina, Vietnam, Costa Rica, Jamaica.
4* hat:
Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, play-off (group A), play-off (group B), play-off (group C).
*Pot 4 includes three undetermined teams.
These last places are reserved for teams from the play-off tournament scheduled for February 17 to 23, 2023.
