Jill Ellis: Women’s World Cup one of most unpredictable and exciting ever
Six top-20 sides have already been knocked out at the group stage of the tournament Down Under.
Double World Cup-winning coach Jill Ellis says she is blown away by the unpredictability of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Six top-20 sides have already been knocked out at the group stage of the tournament Down Under. On Thursday, world number two Germany were sent packing from Group H.
Round of 16: locked in. 🔐#BeyondGreatness | #FIFAWWC
— FIFA Women's World Cup (@FIFAWWC) August 3, 2023
World Cup winner Ellis
“It’s been a doozy so far,” said Ellis, who won back-to-back titles with the USWNT in 2015 and 2019.
“I think we all feel this. Gone are the days of total predictability. Progress sits very clearly at the core, and certainly the competitiveness can be felt [with] giants in the game getting knocked out, we see debutants advance to the next round, which I think lends itself to this being just one of the most unpredictable and arguably exciting World Cups we’ve seen to date.
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“If I’m candid, I really am surprised. I think when you suddenly see a Germany or a Brazil get knocked out of a World Cup in group stage. I don’t think any of us could have predicted that. I’m excited by the development, of course, for sure. But I think I was thinking that one more iteration of the World Cup before we started to see even more parity that we’re starting to see right now.”
Canada and Brazil eliminated
Canada (seventh), Brazil (eighth), China (14th), Italy (16th) and South Korea (17th) have all been eliminated from the tournament thus far.