Will England be able to beat the US in the Women’s World Cup?

Heading into the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, there’s a match that every football fan has their eyes on already: England vs USA. Team USA is defending champion and No.1 in the world, while England is the current European champion. The last time they met, England put the USA on notice by delivering a resounding 2-1 defeat to the top-ranked side, firing off a warning shot ahead of the upcoming World Cup. With the two potentially on a collision course in Australia, will England be able to pull off a repeat?

England takes a pre-World Cup dip in form

Defeating the USA 2-1 last October was an incredible high for England. Since then, however, the side has stuttered somewhat. England hasn’t won a match since February 2023, when they pummelled Belgium 6-1 in the Arnold Clark Cup. Before that, they had been performing well, with twin 4-0 wins over Korea and Japan, as well as a 2-1 win against Italy. Since their win over Belgium, however, England have slumped to two draws—0-0 against Portugal and 1-1 against Brazil, either side of a 2-0 loss to Australia.

These results have been the product of a horrible injury run for England. The nation is without at least three key starting players right now, with Fran Kirby, Leah Williamson, and Beth Mead all sidelined.

USA looking dominant despite injuries

For the USA, they’ve had no such troubles with form.

Since losing to England, which was followed by a close loss to Germany as well, the USA has bounced back with a string of impressive performances. Most recently, the USA has won 2-0 over Wales, and 2-0 then 1-0 over Ireland. Before this, Brazil, Japan, and Canada were all dispatched comfortably, before which New Zealand were thrashed 5-0 and 4-0.

However, the USA have had their injury struggles. Mallory Swanson, Catarina Macario, Christen Press, and Sam Mewis are all currently out of action, courtesy of injuries obtained in the past season.

Bookies put the USA as a slight favourite heading into the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

One of the best ways to understand the head-to-head between two teams is to take a look at the latest betting odds.

Those betting in the UK will see that the USA are slight favourites to win the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. With odds of 9/4 (3.25) to win the tournament, the USA is ahead of England, who are second favourites to win at 7/2 (3.50). Such tight odds imply that these two teams will be neck and neck if they are to meet in the later stages of the tournament.

We say that should they meet, the USA will have the upper hand. While England is certainly capable of causing an upset as they proved last October, the reality is the USA has been a dominant force in women’s football for a reason. Their squad depth is unparalleled, and a below-strength English team will struggle to compete at the highest level, as Australia proved in their recent match.