Africa takes the stage: Women's World Cup Kickoff, July 20

Morocco, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa will defend the colors of the continent during the 2023 FIFA World Cup. The first match by an African team will be on Friday, July 21 when Nigeria meet Canada for this 9th Women's FIFA World Cup.

Australia and New Zealand welcome the 32 nations present for this final phase, against 24 in 2015 and 2019.

The African continent will have four teams. In this case, the four semi-finalists of the Women 's CAN 2022: Morocco, Zambia, Nigeria and South Africa.

To qualify for this 2023 Women's World Cup, the Moroccans eliminated Botswana, while the Zambians had defeated Senegal. South Africa had defeated Tunisia and Nigeria had beaten Cameroon.

Nigeria

The Super Falcons, who will play their 9th World Cup – they have never missed a final phase – are in Group B, that of the Australians. The Nigerians will play their first game in Melbourne against Canada, the reigning Olympic champions. Their third and final opponent will be World Cup rookies the Republic of Ireland. Nigeria is the African selection that has obtained the best result in a World Cup with a quarter-final loss in extra time against Brazil, it was in 1999. The Nigerians have 9 appearances in 2023, like the United States, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Brazil and Japan.

Zambia

This is a first for Zambia who have never participated in the World Cup before. The draw placed Zambia in group C. The She-polo polo will face the Japanese, titled in 2011 - the first non-American and non-European nation crowned - finalist in 2015 but only eighth-finalist in 2019. Spain and Costa Rica complete Group C.

South Africa

South Africa will play its second World Cup after France 2019 where the South African players had fallen from the group stage. Desiree Ellis ' Banyana Banyana will have a lot to do with a particular Group G opponent: Sweden. The Swedes remain on a final lost at the last World Cup as well as on two finals lost at the Olympic Games. Italy and Argentina, selections of a lower caliber than Sweden it is said, make up the rest of Group G.

Morocco

The Atlas Lionesses will be able to show the extent of their talent during their very first participation in the Women's World Cup. The Moroccans fell into group H. A heterogeneous group with experienced Germany, South Korea and Colombia. If the German selection will have the favor of the forecasts for first place, the Lionesses of the Atlas will have a blow to play, in particular with their coach Reynald Pedros, who arrived as the head of the team in 2021. He knew how to instill the winning spirit that characterized him when coaching Olympique Lyonnais, which allowed him to win the Champions League twice and be voted The Best – FIFA Coach for Women's Football in 2018.

And here is to finish some statistics with the number of participations of African nations in the Women's World Cup, 2023 included

9: Nigeria

3: Ghana

2: South Africa, Cameroon

1: Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Zambia