The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off in Australia and New Zealand early Friday, with both host countries getting a win. Australia beat Ireland 1-0, and New Zealand beat Norway 1-0.
The North County soccer club the Cardiff Sockers had a special Team USA day during its summer camp to show support for the U.S Women’s National Team at the World Cup.
“It’s just going to be awesome to see them play against hard teams all over the world,” sixth grader Hannah Jane Wright said.
Brisbane Gates' favorite player is Megan Rapinoe. The fifth grader wore Rapinoe's jersey at the camp.
“I’m excited to see their new younger additions to the team, how they’re going to play and how well they’ve become as a team,” she said.
Riley Rolando hopes to play professional soccer someday.
“I think that it’s actually pretty cool that I get to watch a lot of the greats play like Sam Kerr and Alex Morgan, and I think that, when the different teams play, it’s a good experience for me to learn how to play myself,” Rolando said.
Gates is happy that people respect and support women’s soccer.
“These girls did something really great like compete on a national level of soccer, and they’ve won the World Cup four times, and that’s really cool to me,” Gates said. “Surprisingly, the boys haven’t won it once.”
For young athletes like Wright, it means a lot to watch women compete in the World Cup.
“They’re awesome. I’m awesome, too. We both had the same moments in life where we were just little kids starting at soccer and then big kids growing up to move on,” Wright said.
Team USA has won four of the last eight Women’s World Cups and has never finished off the podium.
And if you're wondering who these girls are rooting for, “USA, obvi,” Rolando said. Why? “Because they’re the best,” she said.
For the Group Stage, the United States is in Group E, with Vietnam, Netherlands and Portugal. The USWNT begins its 2023 World Cup journey at 6 p.m. California time on Friday against Vietnam.
