Italy’s players have written a statement appearing to question the backing of the country’s football federation following their group-stage exit at the Women’s World Cup.

Milena Bertolini’s side were knocked out in dramatic circumstances in Wellington on Wednesday after South Africa scored a stoppage-time winner.

A statement posted on social media on Thursday — signed from “players of the national team” and shared by veteran striker Cristina Girelli among others — admitted the team sought “redemption” after finishing bottom of their Euro 2022 group last year.

But the players also highlighted wider support for the women’s game back home, claiming they were “not put in the condition” to succeed.

Bertolini’s squad, though controversially without previous captain Sara Gama, comprised 16 players who competed in the women’s Champions League last season with Roma and Juventus.

But the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) did not send a representative to watch the side compete in Australia and New Zealand and the players’ message rued a lack of outside “confidence”.

The statement read: “The feeling of regret is still strong because we came to this World Cup wanting redemption. We knew we were coming off a disappointing Euros and had learned a lot from…

If ever there was a game of football to demonstrate the importance of set pieces, this was it: Sweden versus Italy, July 29th 2023, Wellington.

In the 20 minutes of one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the World Cup 2023 group stage, Sweden were a shambles. Yet at half-time, they were 3-0 up, had won the game, and had effectively wrapped up Group G thanks to the goal-difference boost too. The difference, quite obviously, was set pieces.

First, we shouldn’t overlook what happened during the opening period. In a World Cup that has thus far been mundane tactically, with most of the big sides playing similar 4-3-3 systems and relying heavily on the flanks for their attacking, Milena Bertolini used an unusual approach that completely flummoxed Sweden.

Describing it in traditional formation terms would be tricky, but this was something of a cross between a diamond midfield and a 4-2-3-1. It involved Giulia Dragoni playing as a No 10, left-back Lisa Boattin pushed high to allow left-winger Barbara Bonansea to become a second striker, and — most dangerously of all — Sofia Cantore used in a strange hybrid role: a centre-midfielder on the right without possession and a touchline-hugging right winger in possession. Sweden’s left-back Jonna Andersson was being regularly…

The 2023 Women’s World Cup gets under way in Australia and New Zealand on July 20, with the U.S. hoping to navigate an expanded 32-team tournament to become the first country to win football’s biggest prize three times in a row.

They are the favourites, but will the four-time winners actually pull off the ‘three-peat’? What of England, European champions but decimated by injuries to key players as they attempt to win the tournament for the first time? Will Germany bounce back from losing the final of the Euros to lift the game’s biggest prize?

How will the likes of France, Spain and Canada perform after their preparations have been disrupted by disputes with their federations over the past few months?

And can we expect any surprises from any of the eight countries — Haiti, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Vietnam and Zambia — making their World Cup debuts?

Our expert writers give their verdicts on what they think will happen over the next five weeks.

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Flo Lloyd-Hughes, women’s football reporter

Winner: Germany. This is a very open tournament and there are four or five teams that have a good chance of winning the title. Germany are often the masters of their own downfall, but given their disappointment at the Euros last summer and their…

Let’s start with a few fun facts. 

Asisat Oshoala has been African women’s footballer of the year five times. She has won the Africa Cup of Nations three times. She has two Golden Boots and two Golden Balls at international tournaments: two each at AFCON and the Under-20 World Cup. 

She was the top scorer in Spain in 2021-22 and last season, notched a personal-best 21 goals for Barcelona — accompanied by three assists, which was comfortably more than her team-mates.

In 2019, she became the first African woman to score in a Champions League final. Two years later she became the first African woman to win a Champions League title. A year after that, she became the first African woman to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or. 

We could go on. There will certainly be better players at this World Cup, but there won’t be many as exciting to watch, or indeed many with a more interesting career story, than Oshoala. 

Born in Ikorodu, a coastal city about an hour’s drive from the Nigerian capital Lagos, Oshoala wasn’t exactly encouraged to pursue her sporting dreams as a child. Her parents would frequently not give her any food if she disobeyed them and went to play football, considering it a waste of time. They wanted her to become a lawyer instead. 

But when she was…

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is almost here. It is the ninth iteration of the tournament and the biggest yet as, for the first time, 32 teams will compete for the trophy.

That means a new format with more matches and more players, as well as some new rules that have not been in operation before.

Here’s a primer ahead of the biggest women’s football tournament in history.

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The basics

What is the Women’s World Cup?

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is an international tournament that pits the best national sides against one another every four years.

Where is it being held?

The tournament is being played in Australia and New Zealand.

It is the first Women’s World Cup to be hosted across two countries and the first World Cup (regardless of gender) to be hosted across two confederations — Australia are part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and New Zealand are part of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC).

When is it?

The first two games of the tournament — New Zealand vs Norway and Australia vs Republic of Ireland — will be played on July 20.

The group stage will conclude with the final two games in Group H a fortnight later on August 3.

The knockout stage will begin on…