Five players to watch at the 2023 Women’s World Cup
The 2023 Women’s World Cup is set to kick off across Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, and former England star Eni Aluko has named five players to look out for. The United States have been crowned champions at the last two tournaments in 2019 and 2015, but Aluko does not feel they are outright favourites this time around and is predicting a ‘very competitive’ World Cup.
Barbra Banda
Aluko has highlighted Zambia’s 23-year-old goal machine Barbra Banda as one of the players to watch. Banda plays club football in the Chinese Women’s Super League and scored two hat-tricks at the last Olympics. Aluko believes it will be a breakout World Cup for her.
Melchie Dumornay
Haiti winger Melchie Dumornay, 19, is another player Aluko has picked out. She will face England when the two nations meet in their World Cup Group D opener on Saturday. Aluko described her as a ‘top winger’.
Sam Kerr
Australia’s Sam Kerr is one of the most recognisable names in women’s football and Aluko is excited to see what she can achieve with Australia at her home World Cup.
Keira Walsh
Aluko is a big fan of England midfielder Keira Walsh and believes teams are now setting up tactically to stop her because she is so good. She was named in the Team of the Tournament as England won Euro 2022 and Aluko is excited to see how she develops.
Sophia Smith
USWNT forward Sophia Smith is another player Aluko has highlighted. She is tipping Smith for the Golden Boot and believes she will challenge for goals no matter who the USA play against.
The USA are not outright favourites
When asked if four-time champions USA were the outright favourites to win the World Cup given their dominance in previous tournaments, Aluko said: ‘I wouldn’t say so, no. The USA are in transition. A lot of their younger players are coming through now.’
Aluko also highlighted France and Sweden as ‘really tough opposition’ and believes France have the talent to win the World Cup but may suffer from a mentality problem.
Conclusion
The 2023 Women’s World Cup promises to be an exciting tournament with several teams packed with stars. Eni Aluko has named five players to look out for – Barbra Banda, Melchie Dumornay, Sam Kerr, Keira Walsh and Sophia Smith – and believes the USA are not outright favourites. It will be interesting to see which nation comes out on top.