England choose first base camp for 2023 Women's World Cup
England will initially base themselves at the Sunshine Coast Resort just over 100km north of Brisbane on Australia’s east coast when they head out to this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
Following on from last summer’s Euro 2022 triumph, the Lionesses will enter the tournament as one of the favourites as they attempt to win a second major tournament in as many years.
Having beaten Brazil to win the inaugural Women’s Finalissima and lost an 18-month unbeaten streak at the hands of Australia this month - both tough tests with lessons to be learned - Sarina Wiegman’s team will play one final game against a yet to be confirmed opponent in early July.
The plan is to arrive in Australia on Friday 7 July, 15 days before their opening Group D clash with World Cup debutants Haiti. England will stay at the picturesque Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort and train at the Sunshine Coast Stadium, which was upgraded in 2011 and is part of Brisbane’s bid for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Wiegman has already been out to visit the facilities and has described the Sunshine Coast as like a ‘home away from home’ for England on their quest for global success.
“We can’t wait to get out to Australia. It is great we know where we will continue our World Cup preparations and we are very happy to have this perfect combination of training ground and hotel. The work we do in the last weeks before the tournament will be essential for making sure we get off to a good start on 22 July,” the Lionesses coach said.
“I was very impressed with what I saw when I visited Sunshine Coast Stadium just after the New Year. We will have everything we need on the pitch, as well as high performance gym and recovery facilities. We had such a warm welcome from all the people there which is also important.”
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Australia covers such a large geographical area that even with host cities in relatively close proximity to each other in local terms, there is set to be substantial travel between games.
England’s game against Haiti will be in Brisbane, before facing Denmark in Sydney and meeting China in Adelaide. All three cities are in the south east corner of Australia, but the distance from the Sunshine Coast to Sydney, for example, is over 1,000km - the equivalent of London to Prague. That in itself could present a different kind of challenge compared to last summer on home soil.
Assuming England progress from the group stage as expected, both possible knockout routes through to the final or third-place playoff as group winners or runners-up would see them play all remaining games in either Brisbane or Sydney.