The title of this article pretty much sums it up. What in the world? The 2023 Women’s World Cup was a shock to many of its loyal fans, including my entire house. I will be providing you with the Cliffs Notes version of the events of the cup and be warned, there are spoilers ahead.
Starting off with the group stage, and some of the biggest surprises and upsets of the whole cup, we saw Germany, Brazil, and Italy finish their time in the cup and Nigeria making its way into the round of 16. Another surprise was that the U.S. team (who was aiming for a three-peat this year) finished second in its group. Moving on to the round of 16, some powerful teams hit challenging times and we saw the United States and Canada already on the plane home. While the U.S. was the only major casualty from the round of 16, the tournament also said goodbye to some underdog teams in South Africa, Jamaica and Morocco, whose stories have hopefully inspired a new generation of women's soccer fans from those countries. Quarterfinals brought on the defeat of Japan, France, the Netherlands, and Columbia which was not the biggest surprise of the tournament but still hurt all fans. Finally, after eliminating Australia and Sweden, Spain and England go head to head for that final game. Spain takes home the cup 1-0.
Spain's Salma Paralluelo and Aitana Bonmati, England's Mary Earps, and Japan's Miyazawa Hinata were the outstanding players recognized with individual awards at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Paralluelo and Bonmati picked up Young Player of the Tournament and Golden Ball, respectively, before lifting the Women's World Cup trophy for the first time in Spain's history following their 1-0 win over England. Despite Japan's exit in the quarter-finals, Miyazawa picked up the Golden Boot award with a total of five goals. She was closely followed by Sweden's Amanda Ilestedt and France's Kadidiatou Diani. England's Earps was awarded the Golden Glove following her incredible campaign, including key saves in the final against Spain.
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