Just hours after England get proceedings underway in Group D against Haiti, Denmark will take to the pitch in Perth as they face China. The Steel Roses have missed just one edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and have persistently established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the global stage – with their best achievement being a second-place finish in 1999.
China have never failed to progress from their group, and they’ll look to maintain that this summer – but a difficult group alongside England, Denmark and Haiti looks set to cast doubts over their ability to do so.
Denmark will also feel confident of their ability to walk away with three points from this fixture, with the rød-hvide boasting some of Europe’s best talent including Signe Bruun and Pernille Harder. They’ve never made it past the quarterfinals though, and this is their first appearance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup since a group stage exit in 2007.
These two sides sit 13th and 14th in the latest FIFA World Rankings, with Denmark just edging out their Asian opponents – who have endured a rocky patch of form recently with just two wins from their last ten games.
Team news
Thankfully, both sides boast fully fit squads ahead of their opening match – but Denmark have been forced to travel to this tournament without some of their brightest talents. Notably, Stine Larsen is sidelined with her second anterior cruciate ligament injury, having spent months in the treatment room for the same problem, in the same knee, five years ago.
Predicted lineups
Denmark: Christensen; Veje, Boye, Ballisager, Sevecke; Kühl, Holmgaard, Hasbo; Sørensen, Harder, Thomsen
China: Xu; Wu, Yao Wei, Dou, Li; Zhang Linyan, Yao Lingwei, Zhang Rui, Wang Shuang; Lou, Wang Shanshan
Where can I watch?
Kickoff at the Perth Rectangular Stadium is scheduled for 1pm UK time on Saturday, 22 July 2023. The coverage will begin at 12:30pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. If you’re unable to watch the match, fear not – we’ll have a detailed match report published within minutes of the final whistle.
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