The stage is set for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

FIFA’s intercontinental play-in tournament determined the final three spots in the 32-team field, including the final group-stage opponent for the U.S. women’s national team.

The USWNT will enter this summer’s tournament looking to defend its 2019 title. The reigning champions have drawn 2019 finals opponent the Netherlands in their group, while 2021 Olympic champion Canada features in Group B alongside co-host Australia.

What is the World Cup format?

The 32 teams are split into eight groups of four countries each. In each group, the two highest-finishing teams will advance to a 16-team bracket for the knockout rounds.

What is the World Cup schedule?

New Zealand and Australia will kick off the tournament as hosts on Thursday, July 20. All times listed below are Eastern Time.

Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Switzerland

• Thursday, July 20
  • 3 a.m. — New Zealand vs. Norway (Eden Park, Auckland)
• Friday, July 21
  • 1 a.m. — Philippines vs. Switzerland (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)
• Tuesday, July 25
  • 1:30 a.m. — New Zealand vs. Philippines (Wellington Regional)
  • 4 a.m. — Switzerland vs. Norway (Waikato, Hamilton)
• Sunday, July 30
  • 3 a.m. — Switzerland vs. New Zealand (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)
  • 3 a.m. — Norway vs. Philippines (Eden Park, Auckland)

Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria, Canada

• Thursday, July 20
  • 6 a.m. — Australia vs. Ireland (Sydney Football Stadium)
• Friday, July 21
  • 10:30 p.m. — Nigeria vs. Canada (Melbourne Rectangular)
• Wednesday, July 26
  • 8 a.m. — Canada vs. Ireland (Perth Rectangular)
• Thursday, July 27
  • 6 a.m. — Australia vs. Nigeria (Lang Park, Brisbane)
• Monday, July 31
  • 6 a.m. — Canada vs. Australia (Lang Park, Brisbane)
  • 6 a.m. — Ireland vs. Nigeria (Melbourne Rectangular)

Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia, Japan

• Friday, July 21
  • 3:30 a.m. — Spain vs. Costa Rica (Wellington Regional)
• Saturday, July 22
  • 3 a.m. — Zambia vs. Japan (Waikato, Hamilton)
• Wednesday, July 26
  • 1 a.m. — Japan vs. Costa Rica (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)
  • 3:30 a.m. — Spain vs. Zambia (Eden Park, Auckland)
• Monday, July 31
  • 3 a.m. — Japan vs. Spain – (Wellington Regional)
  • 3 a.m. — Costa Rica vs. Zambia (Waikato, Hamilton)

Group D: England, Denmark, China, Haiti

• Saturday, July 22
  • 5:30 a.m. — England vs. Haiti (Lang Park, Brisbane)
  • 8 a.m. — Denmark vs. China (Perth Rectangular)
• Friday, July 28
  • 4:30 a.m. — England vs. Denmark (Sydney Football Stadium)
  • 7 a.m. — China vs. Haiti (Hindmarsh, Adelaide)
• Tuesday, Aug. 1
  • 7 a.m. — China vs. England (Hindmarsh, Adelaide)
  • 7 a.m. — Haiti vs. Denmark (Perth Rectangular)

Group E: USA, Netherlands, Portugal, Vietnam

• Friday, July 21
  • 9 p.m. — United States vs. Vietnam (Eden Park, Auckland)
• Sunday, July 23
  • 3:30 a.m. — Netherlands vs. Portugal (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)
• Wednesday, July 26
  • 9 p.m. — United States vs. Netherlands (Wellington Regional)
• Thursday, July 27
  • 3:30 a.m. — Portugal vs. Vietnam (Waikato, Hamilton)
• Tuesday, Aug. 1
  • 3 a.m. — Portugal vs. United States (Eden Park, Auckland)
  • 3 a.m. — Vietnam vs. Netherlands (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)

Group F: France, Jamaica, Brazil, Group C playoff winner

• Sunday, July 23
  • 6 a.m. — France vs. Jamaica (Sydney Football Stadium)
• Monday, July 24
  • 7 a.m. — Brazil vs. Panama (Hindmarsh, Adelaide)
• Saturday, July 29
  • 6 a.m. — France vs. Brazil (Lang Park, Brisbane)
  • 8:30 a.m. — Panama vs. Jamaica (Perth Rectangular)
• Wednesday, Aug. 2
  • 6 a.m. — Panama vs. France (Sydney Football Stadium)
  • 6 a.m. — Jamaica vs. Brazil (Melbourne Rectangular)

Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy, Argentina

• Sunday, July 23
  • 1 a.m. — Sweden vs. South Africa (Wellington Regional)
• Monday, July 24
  • 2 a.m. — Italy vs. Argentina (Eden Park, Auckland)
• Friday, July 28
  • 8 p.m. — Argentina vs. South Africa (Forsyth Barr, Dunedin)
• Saturday, July 29
  • 3:30 a.m. — Sweden vs. Italy (Wellington Regional)
• Wednesday, Aug. 2
  • 3 a.m. — Argentina vs. Sweden (Waikato, Hamilton)
  • 3 a.m. — South Africa vs. Italy – (Wellington Regional)

Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia, South Korea

• Monday, July 24
  • 4:30 a.m. — Germany vs. Morocco (Melbourne Rectangular)
  • 10 p.m. — Colombia vs. South Korea (Sydney Football Stadium)
• Sunday, July 30
  • 12:30 a.m. — South Korea vs. Morocco (Hindmarsh, Adelaide)
  • 5:30 a.m. — Germany vs. Colombia (Sydney Football Stadium)
• Thursday, Aug. 3
  • 6 a.m. — South Korea vs. Germany (Lang Park, Brisbane)
  • 6 a.m. — Morocco vs. Colombia (Perth Rectangular)

Round of 16

• Saturday, Aug. 5
  • 1 a.m. — Group A winner vs. Group C runner-up
  • 4 a.m. — Group C winner vs. Group A runner-up
  • 10 p.m. — Group E winner vs. Group G runner-up
• Sunday, Aug. 6
  • 5 a.m. — Group G winner vs. Group E runner-up
• Monday, Aug. 7
  • 3:30 a.m. — Group D winner vs. Group B runner-up
  • 6:30 a.m. — Group B winner vs. Group D runner-up
• Tuesday, Aug. 8
  • 4 a.m. — Group H winner vs. Group F runner-up
  • 7 a.m. — Group F winner vs. Group H runner-up

Quarterfinals

• Thursday, Aug. 10
  • 9 p.m. — Round of 16 winners
• Friday, Aug. 11
  • 3:30 a.m — Round of 16 winners
• Saturday, Aug. 12
  • 3 a.m. — Round of 16 winners
  • 6:30 a.m. — Round of 16 winners

Semifinals

• Tuesday, Aug. 15
  • 4 a.m. — Quarterfinal winners
• Wednesday, Aug. 16
  • 6 a.m. — Quarterfinal winners

Third-place match

• Saturday, Aug. 19
  • 4 a.m. — Semifinal losers

Championship match

• Sunday, Aug. 20
  • 6 a.m. — Semifinal winners

The Naomi Osaka comeback tour at the 2025 US Open has ended, as the two-time New York Grand Slam champion and world No. 24 star ceded her Thursday semifinal to No. 9 Amanda Anisimova, who battled back to claim the 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 victory.

"Naomi is playing amazing tennis," the 23-year-old said of Osaka's US Open run. "She's back where she belongs. I told her I'm so proud of her after having a baby and playing at this level — it's insane."

With her Thursday win, Anisimova is now the only player to ever defeat Osaka in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, semifinal, or final — ending the Japanese fan-favorite's 13-0 run in the later rounds of tennis's major tournaments.

Anisimova's US Open success is even more impressive considering the result of her first-ever Grand Slam final — a brutal 6-0, 6-0 loss at Wimbledon in July.

In a massive turnaround, Anisimova handed No. 2 Iga Świątek, the 2025 Wimbledon champion, a redemptive straight-set loss in Wednesday's US Open quarterfinals en route to reaching this weekend's championship match.

Anisimova's victory means that a US player has now competed in every women's Grand Slam final dating back to the 2024 US Open, extending the country's championship-match streak to five straight Slams.

With even more history on the line, the US rising star now has a second shot at joining No. 6 Madison Keys and No. 3 Coco Gauff in hoisting a 2025 Grand Slam trophy for the US — a feat not accomplished by any single country since Serena Williams won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in 2015.

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How to watch the 2025 US Open championship match

Just like Keys and Gauff, Anisimova will have to defeat Aryna Sabalenka to claim her own 2025 Grand Slam trophy — with the hard-hitting US finalist holding a 6-3 all-time record against the world No. 1 player, most recently downing the 2024 US Open champion in this year's Wimbledon semifinals.

Anisimova will battle Sabalenka in for the 2025 US Open crown on Saturday, with live coverage of the championship match beginning at 4 PM ET on ESPN.

The sale saga of the Connecticut Sun added a new chapter this week, as the state of Connecticut submitted a bid proposal on Thursday that would see the WNBA team remain in-state.

Owned by the Mohegan Tribe since 2003, the state is just the latest entrant into an ongoing bidding war for the franchise, with Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, ex-Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, and the WNBA itself all making offers ranging from $250 to $325 million in recent weeks.

Unlike previous relocation bids, the state's proposed sale plan sees the Connecticut Sun splitting home games between their current Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville and Hartford's larger PeoplesBank Arena, while also promising a new practice facility in the state capital.

Despite winding down 2025 in 12th place, the Sun have amassed a loyal local following, selling out their 10,000-capacity arena four times this year in a state buoyed by NCAA basketball powerhouse and current national champion UConn located less than an hour away.

"The best place for the Connecticut Sun is Connecticut because we have this very fierce fan base for women's basketball," Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz told ESPN. "We love the [UConn] Huskies. We love watching the Sun… and we've seen that the Connecticut Sun players have been great community leaders and role models."

The Chicago Sky reportedly held a team meeting to address the explosive Chicago Tribune interview of Angel Reese this week, after the star forward put the already-eliminated WNBA team on blast.

"We are aware of [Reese's comments]," Sky head coach Tyler Marsh said on Wednesday. "We're addressing it in-house as currently speaking. That's where we'll stay right now."

"Angel has shown a commitment to wanting to be here," he continued. "We as an organization continue to show a commitment that we want people that want to be here."

Reese focused much of her critique on the team's leadership and roster construction, expressing disappointment as the Chicago Sky closes in on back-to-back losing seasons.

"We can't rely on Courtney to come back at the age that she's at," the 23-year-old Reese said of veteran Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot, following the 36-year-old's season-ending ACL tear in early June. "I know she'll be a great asset for us, but we can't rely on that."

"We need someone probably a little younger with some experience, somebody who's been playing the game and is willing to compete for a championship and has done it before," Reese added.

Notably, Vandersloot helped the Chicago Sky snag the 2021 WNBA title before taking the New York Liberty to a franchise-first championship last season.

A high-stakes coastal clash tops this weekend's NWSL bill, with results directly impacting the increasingly tight league standings as No. 8 Gotham tries to hold off a No. 9 Angel City side sitting just one point outside of postseason positioning.

The pair last met in April, when Gotham shutout ACFC 4-0 at LA's BMO Stadium behind a brace from the NWSL's current Golden Boot leader Esther González.

"That's the key — everyone knows their role, their responsibilities, and they're willing to sacrifice for the team defensively while also bringing their quality in attack," Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós said earlier this week.

As they try to rise above the crowded mid-table traffic, both teams have seen positive results in recent weeks — along with challenging levels of upheaval.

Angel City recently lost defender Alanna Kennedy, midfielder Katie Zelem, and star forward Alyssa Thompson to midseason overseas transfers, while Gotham's had little room to breathe after defeating Concacaf W Champions Cup opponent Alianza 2-0 in El Salvador on Tuesday.

"You need to be loyal to your style, cement it, and make sure the players know it," said Amorós. "That's critical when you're playing three games in seven days and traveling almost around the world."

How to watch Gotham vs. Angel City this NWSL weekend

No. 8 Gotham will host No. 9 Angel City this Sunday, kicking off live at 5 PM ET on ESPN.