Teams out of Women's World Cup 2023: Final list of how each nation was eliminated from tournament

08-20-2023
7 min read
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The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup has delivered plenty of surprises throughout which resulted in Spain beating England in the final.

The 2023 tournament saw the increase from 24 to 32 national teams competing for glory in the largest bracket the competition has seen.

There were 16 teams eliminated after the group stage with only two teams advancing from each group.

The Sporting News tracked the teams as they were eliminated throughout the tournament. 

  • Group stage: Thu, Jul. 20 - Thu, Aug. 3
  • Round of 16: Sat, Aug. 5 - Tue, Aug. 8
  • Quarterfinals: Fri, Aug. 11 - Sat, Aug. 12
  • Semifinals: Tue, Aug. 16 - Wed, Aug. 16
  • Third-place: Sat, Aug. 19
  • Final: Sun, Aug. 20

MORE: FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 groups and tables

Teams out of the Women's World Cup: Every nation eliminated

The table below was updated throughout the 2023 tournament as teams are eliminated with the final entrant being the losing finalist on August 20.

With the group stage completed, 16 of the 32 sides that began the World Cup were knocked out. A further eight followed in the Round of 16.

The most high-profile team knocked out during the group stage was Olympic champions Canada, who began their final matchday in second spot before getting hammered 4-0 by Australia and suffering elimination.

There was then a shock when South Africa won a Women's World Cup match for the first time, eliminating Italy in the process. However, a seismic upset came later on August 2, when Brazil were held to a 0-0 draw with Jamaica that meant they did not qualify for the next round.

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A day later, Germany — the No.2-ranked side in the world, twice World Cup winners, and the beaten finalists at last year's Euros — were eliminated after drawing 1-1 with South Korea. And just when it seemed as though the surprises would end, USA — winners of the past two tournaments — were eliminated on penalties by Sweden.

The next Round of 16 match saw England scrape past Nigeria on penalties with star player Lauren James receiving a straight red card. Co-hosts Australia progressed in more convincing style, beating Denmark 2-0 and then defeated France on penalties to reach their first semifinal. England overcame Colombia to set up a meeting with the Matildas.

Spain edged a 1-0 win over England in the final with La Roja winning their first major trophy.

Nation FIFA
Ranking
Date
Eliminated
Stage
Eliminated
How
Eliminated
England 4 Aug. 20 Final Loss vs. Spain
Australia 10 Aug. 16 Semifinals Loss vs. England
Sweden 3 Aug. 15 Semifinals Loss vs. Spain
Colombia 25 Aug. 12 Quarterfinals Loss vs. England
France 5 Aug. 12 Quarterfinals Loss vs. Australia
Netherlands 9 Aug. 11 Quarterfinals Loss vs. Spain
Japan 11 Aug. 11 Quarterfinals Loss vs. Sweden
Morocco 72 Aug. 8 Round of 16 Loss vs. France
Jamaica 43 Aug. 8 Round of 16 Loss vs. Colombia
Denmark 13 Aug. 7 Round of 16 Loss vs. Australia
Nigeria 40 Aug. 7 Round of 16 PS loss vs. England
USA 1 Aug. 6 Round of 16 PS loss vs. Sweden
South Africa 54 Aug. 6 Round of 16 Loss vs. Netherlands
Norway 12 Aug. 5 Round of 16 Loss vs. Japan
Switzerland 20 Aug. 5 Round of 16 Loss vs. Spain
South Korea 17 Aug. 3 Group Stage Draw vs. Germany
Germany 2 Aug. 3 Group Stage Draw vs. South Korea
Brazil 8 Aug. 2 Group Stage Draw vs. Jamaica
Argentina 28 Aug. 2 Group Stage Losses vs. Italy, Sweden
Italy 16 Aug. 2 Group Stage Loss vs. South Africa
China 14 Aug. 1 Group Stage Loss vs. England
Haiti 53 Aug. 1 Group Stage Three losses
Portugal 21 Aug. 1 Group Stage Draw vs. USA
Canada 7 July 31 Group Stage Loss vs. Australia
New Zealand 26 July 30 Group Stage Draw vs. Switzerland
Philippines  46 July 30 Group Stage Loss vs. Norway
Panama 52 July 29 Group Stage Losses vs. Brazil, Jamaica
Vietnam 32 July 27 Group Stage Losses vs. USA, Portugal
Costa Rica 36 July 26 Group Stage Losses vs. Spain, Japan
Zambia 77 July 26 Group Stage Losses vs. Japan, Spain
Rep. of Ireland 22 July 26 Group Stage Losses vs. Australia, Canada

MORE: Women's World Cup attendance tracker 2023

How many teams play at the Women's World Cup?

The changes ahead of the 2023 tournament have brought the competition entrants up to 32 nations spread across FIFA's continental federations.

With more teams involved, extra games have been added to the schedule, with eight groups of four teams meaning each side will play a minimum of three group-stage games.

The process to decide the qualifiers for the knockout Round of 16 is now simplified, with the top two teams from each group moving to the next phase, with group standings determined by overall points. There is a set of tiebreakers in case teams are level on points during the group stage.

Each game from the Round of 16 onwards is a straight knockout match, with 30 minutes of extra time added if a game is tied after 90 minutes of play, with a penalty shootout then used if the scores remain level.