2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Group C
Group C of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was one of eight groups that form the opening round of the tournament with the matches played from 21 to 31 July 2023.[1] The group consisted of Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia and Japan. The top two teams, Japan and Spain, advanced to the round of 16.[2] For the first time ever, Japan qualify for the knockout stage with three wins in all group games without conceding. With six points, Spain earned more points this year than in their previous Women's World Cups; a total of five across two editions.
Teams
| Draw position | Team | Pot | Confederation | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Last appearance |
Previous best performance |
FIFA Rankings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2022[nb 1] | June 2023 | |||||||||
| C1 |  Spain |
1 | UEFA | UEFA Group B winners | 12 April 2022 | 3rd | 2019 | Round of 16 (2019) | 6 | 6 |
| C2 |  Costa Rica |
3 | CONCACAF | 2022 CONCACAF W Championship fourth place | 8 July 2022 | 2nd | 2015 | Group stage (2015) | 37 | 36 |
| C3 |  Zambia |
4 | CAF | 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations third place | 13 July 2022 | 1st | — | Debut | 81 | 77 |
| C4 |  Japan |
2 | AFC | 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup semi-finalists | 30 January 2022 | 9th | 2019 | Winners (2011) | 11 | 11 |
Notes
- ^ The rankings of October 2022 were used for seeding for the final draw.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | +11 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Spain
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 | |
| 3 | Zambia
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 11 | −8 | 3 | |
| 4 | Costa Rica
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 |
In the round of 16:
- The winners of Group C, Japan, advanced to play the runners-up of Group A, Norway.
- The runners-up of Group C, Spain, advanced to play the winners of Group A, Switzerland.
Matches
All times listed are local, NZST (UTC+12).
Spain vs Costa Rica
| Spain | 3–0 | Costa Rica |
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| Report |
          Spain
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    Costa Rica
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Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Zambia vs Japan
    Zambia
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     Japan
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Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Japan vs Costa Rica
| Japan | 2–0 | Costa Rica |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Japan
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    Costa Rica
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Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Spain vs Zambia
Spain
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    Zambia
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Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Japan vs Spain
| Japan | 4–0 | Spain |
|---|---|---|
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Report |
Japan
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  Spain
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Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Costa Rica vs Zambia
| Costa Rica | 1–3 | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
Herrera  47' |
Report |
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 Costa Rica
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Zambia
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Player of the Match:
Assistant referees:
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Discipline
Fair play points would have been used as tiebreakers in the group should the overall and head-to-head records of teams were tied. These were calculated based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches as follows:[2]
- first yellow card: minus 1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points;
- direct red card: minus 4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points;
Only one of the above deductions was applied to a player in a single match.
| Team | Match 1 | Match 2 | Match 3 | Points | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Japan
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0 | ||||||||||||
| Spain
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2 | –2 | |||||||||||
| Costa Rica
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1 | 3 | –4 | ||||||||||
| Zambia
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1 | 2 | 2 | –7 | |||||||||
See also
- Costa Rica at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- Japan at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- Spain at the FIFA Women's World Cup
- Zambia at the FIFA Women's World Cup
References
- ^ "Match schedule: FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023" (PDF). FIFA. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Regulations: FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 14 December 2022.