2023 Women’s World Cup Cup, Day 7: Match thread and discussion

It’s Day 7 of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and before the USWNT take the field tonight, there are three matches that can get your early morning started. As the calendar flips to Wednesday, we get an hour before Japan and Costa Rica take the field in Group C play.. Spain and Zambia will battle it out after that for Group C, and then your breakfast match will be Canada facing Ireland in Group B action.

Japan put the beatdown on Zambia in their opening match of the World Cup, securing the most lopsided victory thus far in the tournament with a 5-0 victory. They’re looking to have a similar result against Las Ticas, who lost 3-0 to Spain in their opener. Las Ticas will want to try and get a result, but that’s going to be a tough assignment given Japan’s strengths. With Japan just a cycle removed from being in 2 straight World Cup finals, winning in 2011, they look like they might be one of the teams that’s announcing its return to the upper tier of talent in this tournament.

In the second match, Spain will hope to continue its success against Zambia. Zambia needs a big match here, having lost 5-0 to Japan in their opener. Spain looked ever bit the contender they believe themselves to be in their first match, so these are two teams looking to fight for some points here. This will also look to be a wide open match, with both teams looking to spread out and create some fun, open attacks. Zambia will need to bring their A game to get a result against Spain.

In the final match of the morning, Canada will take on Ireland. Canada battled Nigeria to a scoreless draw in their first match, while Ireland lost 1-0 to co-hosts Australia in their opener. This group is still wide open, which will allow both teams to really go for it and fight for some goals. Canada is the better team on paper, but Ireland has played a ton of teams really tough, including the USWNT, and they’re going to be ready to battle another Concacaf power. It makes for a great morning of matches before you take that nap for the USWNT nightcap.

How to watch

Group C - Japan vs. Costa Rica

Location: Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin

Kick-off time: 1:00am Eastern, 10:00pm Pacific

Available TV: FS1 (English), Universo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports (App/Website), Peacock (App/Website), Univision Now (App/Website), FuboTV (Free Trial)

Group C - Spain vs. Zambia

Location: Eden Park, Auckland

Kick-off time: 3:30am Eastern, 12:30am Pacific

Available TV: FS1 (English), Telemundo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports (App/Website), Peacock (App/Website), Telemundo (App/Website), FuboTV (Free Trial)

Group B - Canada vs. Ireland

Location: HBF Park, Perth

Kick-off time: 8:00am Eastern, 5:00am Pacific

Available TV: FS1 (English), Universo (Spanish)

Available streaming: Fox Sports (App/Website), Peacock (App/Website), Univision Now (App/Website), FuboTV (Free Trial)

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