How to watch the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023

An introduction to the FIFA Women's World Cup

Before we get into how to watch the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, let's just take a moment to look at the tournament's relatively recent history.

Women's football has been around pretty much ever since the glorious game was invented. There are frescos and scrolls depicting women playing “Cuju”, an ancient Chinese form of soccer with other artistic references dating back to the Song dynasty (960-1279).

In the UK, arguably the spiritual home of football, there are reports of women's annual football matches being played in Midlothian, Scotland as early as 1790.

Later, during the First World War, women's football enjoyed a surge in popularity, attracting thousands of supporters, even more so than the games of their male counterparts. But as the war ended and the men returned, the English Football Association (FA) suddenly decided that football wasn't suitable for “young ladies” and subsequently banned women from playing on any FA grounds. The ban was in place from 1921 until 1970.

It's been widely reported that the ban was a jealous reaction to the large crowds and the fact that the FA wasn't getting a cut of the large amounts of money that the games brought in.

Despite the British bans (and similar restrictions in other countries), women's football continued to grow, and they formed their own leagues and associations throughout the world.

The first Women's World Cup

Fast forward to 1970, and the very first women's World Cup was played in Italy, run by the Federation of Independent European Female Football (FIEFF). It featured eight teams, and the final saw Denmark beat the host nation 2-0.

But it took another 21 years for FIFA to approve the establishment of a Women's World Cup tournament. The first official FIFA Women's World Cup took place in 1991 in China and was won by the United States of America who beat Norway 2-1.

Much like the men's World Cup, the Women's WC is held every four years and brings together the best female soccer players from around the world.

Over the eight World Cup tournaments played so far, America has won four of them (1991, 1999 on penalties, 2015, and 2019).

Will they be the first team ever, male or female, to clinch a third World Cup title in a row?

You'll have to watch to find out.

Where is the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 taking place?

The 2023 Women's World Cup is being held in Australia and New Zealand. It's the first ever WWC to be held in the southern hemisphere and also the first to be co-hosted. It will also be the biggest sporting event to grace the land down under since the Olympic Games in 2000.

The matches will be played in nine host cities and ten stadiums across the two countries with Auckland, New Zealand hosting the opening match on July 20th and Sydney's Accor Stadium hosting the final on August 20th.

What teams have qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup?

For the first time, the women's tournament will see 32 teams battle it out on the pitch to be crowned World Cup champions. The 32 teams are organized into eight groups of four.

See who your favorite team has to beat from their group:

Image source: FIFA

FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 schedule

The group stage will kick off on July 20 with games playing out over two weeks finishing on August 3. Group winners and runners-up will then be placed in the last-16 stage, with games taking place from August 5 to August 8.

Teams that make it through to the quarter-finals will play their games either in Wellington, Auckland, Brisbane, or Sydney, on August 11 and 12.

The first semi-final match will be played on August 15 in Auckland, with the other semi-final played the next day on August 16 at Syndey's Accor Stadium where the final will also be held on August 20. FIFA has published a full match schedule here.

Because of the Southern Hemisphere location, you'll find that the majority of the matches kick off at rather unsociable times. Some of the early group stage games will be kicking off at 3 am ET/midnight PT.

How to watch the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023

If you reside in the US, then there are two key ways to watch the ninth edition of the Women's World Cup. Firstly, a cable subscription that includes Fox channels will have you covered. The games will be aired both on the main Fox channel and on Fox Sports channels.

If you're a Spanish speaker, then, you could watch it on Telemundo Deportes, on its sister network, Universo, or on the streaming site Peacock.

If you don't have a subscription (or the language skills) for any of the above, don't panic.

Watch Women's World Cup streams

It's pretty easy to get access to a Women's World Cup stream via several different streaming services such as FuboTV, Hulu, and YouTube TV.

• FuboTV: One of the best streaming services in the US, FuboTV has a range of subscription packages for different budgets. The starter package will set you back $64 but it will give you access to all of the Women's World Cup games.
• Hulu: Although Hulu is more popular for TV shows, it also gives access to Fox sports channels showing the Women's World Cup. The subscription is also $64 a month, but as well as the ability to catch all of the games, you'll also get access to 75 channels.
• Sling TV: Sling TV has all sorts of channels from entertainment to live sports, including those showing the Women's World Cup. It offers the cheapest subscription at $35 a month.
• YouTube TV: The subscription streaming service lets you watch live and on-demand TV from major broadcast and popular cable networks including Fox and Fox Sports, so with their $64.99 a month fee, you'll be all set to watch the Women's World Cup.
• Peacock: Thanks to the partnership with Telemundo, you can pick up the Spanish language Wome's World Cup stream on Peacock. It's one of the cheapest ways to watch the games with the Premium subscription costing just $4.99 a month.

Non-US?

An agreement signed between Eurovision Sport and FIFA means that the Women's World Cup 2023 will be broadcast across 28 territories in Europe.

If you reside in any of the following European countries, you can check their national network schedules for more information.

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, North-Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Turkey.

If you're tuning in from the UK, then you can watch the Women's World Cup games on BBC or ITV.

How to watch the Women's World Cup 2023 for FREE

Of course, you don't have to splash the cash on a subscription just to watch the Women's World Cup stream or live on TV. Most streaming sites offer a free trial option for either a week or a month. Apart from Peacock. Peacock doesn't have a free trial for the Peacock Premium or Peacock Plus, but the basic service is free all the time.

But if you plan it correctly, you could watch the whole Women's World Cup tournament without spending a dime! Here are the free trial options available for the most popular streaming sites:

• FuboTV: 7-days
• Hulu: 30-days
• Sling TV: 7-days
• YouTube TV: 2 weeks (at the time of writing, it's usually 7 days)
• BBC iPlayer and ITVX: Always free. In the UK, the BBC and ITV both have their own streaming site that is free to watch online.

Just remember, if you're watching any of the Women's World Cup streams on your mobile, be aware of the data usage. Go over the limits of your mobile plan and you could be charged extra.

How to watch the Women's World Cup 2023 from ANYWHERE

What if you're not at home while the games are in action? What if you're a digital nomad or on holiday abroad when your favorite team is about to enter the biggest game on the world stage?

If you're traveling during the 2023 Women's FIFA World Cup, you may not have access to traditional television coverage. It might also mean that you can't access your usual streaming service thanks to media rights restrictions.

But don't worry, using the right tools you can bypass geo-restrictions and access the coverage you want from anywhere in the world.

With a VPN service provider, you can spoof your location by switching to a server in another country to get access to the blocked content.

The downside of this though is that VPNs can severely slow your internet speed which is not ideal for watching live sporting events! VPNs can also still track users, so if you're privacy-conscious, this may not be the best option.

A quicker option would be to use the likes of Hoody. It works similarly to VPNs but it actually accelerates browsing speed, so there will be no lag just as your team is about to score! Plus you won't be handing over any of your personal data in the process. Unlike VPNs, Hoody is a dedicated privacy tool that neutralizes all websites' tracking techniques. It also operates using diskless servers, so no user data is ever saved.

Tune in for the kick-off!

Whatever team you're rooting for, the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 is set to be an exciting event. Whether you plan on watching from the comfort of your home or while on the go, there are multiple ways to tune in and catch all the action. So get ready for summer football fever and let the games begin!

Before you go, check out Where Are VPNs Banned or Restricted & What To Use Instead.