FIFA issued its branding for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, hosted by Australia and New Zealand, on Thursday, with a new tournament slogan, “Beyond Greatness.”

INTRODUCING...

The exciting new #FIFAWWC 2023 brand identity, incorporating the vibrant local landscapes & rich colours of 🇦🇺🇳🇿.

Beyond Greatness™ – a new tournament slogan to unite & inspire people around the 🌏 through the power of the tournament AND 👩⚽.

😍 pic.twitter.com/3KpZFH7cN0

— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) October 28, 2021

The new slogan, FIFA says, “aims to unite and inspire people around the world” through both the power of the Women’s World Cup and women’s soccer. The branding identity and emblem feature bright colors, meant to incorporate the “vibrant local landscapes and rich colours” of both New Zealand and Australia. As a result, FIFA built a palette based on the geographical attributes of the two countries, including the rainforests, mountains, cities and water that surround both countries.

A radical motif on the logo features 32 squares surrounding a soccer ball, which is meant to celebrate the tournament’s expansion to 32 participating nations. Additionally, the logo includes elements inspired by the indigenous cultures of Australia and New Zealand.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Women’s World Cup:

Dates: 

The tournament is set to kick off July 20 and run through August 20, 2023.

Setting:

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is set to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand. As such, the games will be split between the two countries, with four sites in New Zealand and five sites in Australia.

Host cities and stadiums: 

Nine cities will play host to the 2023 Women’s World Cup. They are:

• Adelaide, AU – Hindmarsh Stadium
• Auckland, NZ – Eden Park
• Brisbane, AU – Brisbane Stadium
• Dunedin, NZ – Dunedin Stadium
• Hamilton, NZ – Waikato Stadium
• Melbourne, AU – Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
• Perth, AU – Perth Rectangular Stadium
• Sydney, AU – Stadium Australia and Sydney Football Stadium
• Wellington, NZ – Wellington Stadium

How do teams qualify?

Qualification for the next World Cup is already underway, with the 2023 UEFA FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification (UEFA) period having begun on Sept. 16 and the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup (AFC) having started on Sept. 17. The 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (CAF) began on Oct. 18.

As host teams, Australia and New Zealand are the only two teams to have earned automatic qualification, with their slots being taken directly from the quotas allocated to their federations, the AFC and OFC.

The 2022 CONCACAF W Championship (CONCACAF) is set to begin February 16, 2022 and conclude July 24, 2022. In total, 32 teams — including the USWNT and the reigning Olympic champions, Canada — will compete in the CONCACAF Championship, which announced a revamping of the tournament in August. Both the USWNT and Canada have already automatically qualified for the final stage of the championship.

The 2022 Copa América Femenina (CONMEBOL) will begin on July 8, 2022 and conclude on July 30, 2022 with three direct slots. Two teams that don’t receive direct qualification will advance to the playoffs.

The 2022 OFC Women’s Nations Cup (OFC) will begin on July 5, 2022 and end on July 31, 2022. With one direct slot already being taken by New Zealand, that leaves one playoff spot for the remaining 10 teams.

The 2023 UEFA FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification, set to conclude on October 11, 2022, has 11 total slots allocated as well as one playoff spot. So far, no teams have been eliminated from the 51 competing.

The inter-confederation playoffs will determine the final three qualification spots for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The playoff tournament, running from February 17th to the 23rd in 2023, will be used as a test event for Australia and New Zealand to host prior to the Women’s World Cup. Ten teams will be split into three groups, with the winner of each qualifying for the World Cup. Australia and New Zealand will also participate in friendlies against teams in two of the groups.

In total, 32 teams will qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, up from 24 in 2019.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by espnW (@espnw)

According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by LPGA Tour (@lpga_tour)

The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.