MIAMI – WEBWIRE – Thursday, July 20, 2023
Concacaf President and FIFA Vice President, Victor Montagliani, has wished the best of luck to all six Concacaf Member Associations and their womens national teams as they look forward to their opening matches in the FIFA Womens World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023. Montagliani also took the time to praise FIFA, fellow Confederations the AFC and OFC, and the two host federations for all of the hard work that has gone into preparing for what promises to be an excellent tournament that showcases the very best of womens football.
President Victor Montagliani said:
As they head towards their opening matches in the FIFA Womens World Cup 2023, on behalf of the entire Concacaf football family, I want to wish the very best of luck to the six Concacaf Member Associations and their competing womens national teams in Australia and New Zealand. Everyone in the Confederation is proud of the Costa Rica, Canada, Jamaica, Haiti, Panama and United States teams and will be supporting them throughout the tournament.
All of the coaches and players deserve the utmost credit for their efforts on the pitch to qualify for the pinnacle of womens football at this World Cup. Now they have the opportunity to compete with their peers on the global stage for what promises to be a tremendous tournament that celebrates the very best of the womens game.
In Concacaf, we launched a new womens football strategy in 2019,Concacaf W, which prioritized enhancements in womens football in our region at all levels of the game. As a key part of this strategy, we developed and delivered an entirely new international calendar of competitions from 2021-2024, vastly increasing the competitive opportunities for all womens national teams in our region. While there of course remains much more work to be done, we have already seen tremendous growth and developments across Concacaf, and it is particularly pleasing to see that reflected with a record six Concacaf teams qualified for this upcoming Womens World Cup, including representation from Central America, the Caribbean and North America.
Good luck to all of the Federations, their players and coaches, and of course to their fans who will be following them with pride in Australia and New Zealand, and back home in the six countries.
Praise for FIFA and the Football Family
I must also recognize and praise the leadership and preparation shown by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and his administration to deliver what promises to be a wonderful Womens World Cup. I am also very grateful to AFC PresidentShaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and to OFC President Lambert Maltock for hosting the biggest ever FIFA Womens World Cup in their Confederations and, alongside the Australian and New Zealand Federations, for providing such a warm welcome to the global football family.