New Zealand – Women’s World Cup 2023 – Tactical Analysis

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After a promising start to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, New Zealand crashed out of the tournament due to a narrow defeat in the second round against the Philippines. With Norway putting six past the Philippines in the next match, New Zealand’s lack of goals meant they were never going to advance on goal-difference, even if their head-to-head had them favourites.

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Despite this disappointment, especially in being the first host to crash out of the group stage, New Zealand played some excellent football. They impressed with their tactical approach to all three matches, just lacking that killer edge up front. Here are the positives to take away from New Zealand, and their over-arching tactics at the Women’s World Cup under Jitka Klimková.

SYSTEM OF PLAY – 4-4-2

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New Zealand shaped up in a traditional 4-4-2 shape, with their wingers advancing into the attack and their central midfielders typically holding more reserved roles.

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With CJ Bott inverting into central areas in the build-up to progression, one central midfielder could then join the attack, with the other holding rank in midfield. Malia Steinmetz and Ria Percival both impressed massively at the heart of the midfield, each possessing that box-to-box engine to nicely take turns making advancing runs on and off-the-ball. Steinmetz even had a few impressive carries from midfield in the opening match with Percival making herself a threat from distance.

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On the wings, Indiah-Paige Riley impressed in the opening match, with Betsy Hassett forming a decent partnership with Jacqueline Hand down the other side. Hand involved herself in build-up and ran the channels, allowing Wilkinson to stay as their ‘Target’ through central channels and then burst onto long-passes into the half-spaces.

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But at the back is where New Zealand looked oh so comfortable throughout the tournament. For good reason – they have one of the best back-fours of any nation. But the progressive passing of Rebekah Stott and Katie Bowen out from the back was brilliant in all three nations. Combine that with Ali Riley’s sublime 1v1 defending and CJ Bott’s on-the-ball quality, and it was always going to be difficult for any side to break them down.

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Victoria Esson doesn’t quite bring the same excitement factor in goal, but kept two clean sheets in her three matches. All of this, of course, sounds great. So what went wrong for the New Zealanders?

ATTACKING STRUGGLES

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For all their star-power at the back, I worried that New Zealand would lack the same cutting edge in front of goal. This turned out to be partially true, with the Football Ferns scoring just one goal across their three matches. It was sublimely worked from a goal kick, with several different women playing their part in some neat and tidy one-touch combinations before Hannah Wilkinson smashed the ball into the back of the net.

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But across the matches, Indiah-Paige Riley was the only one who consistently won her 1v1 battles. Even when their attacking thrusts looked promising and full of nice interchange between the wings and strikers, that final moment often wilted away under the pressure of a defender.

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It can sometimes be difficult when you have one undeniable star in an attack that otherwise lacks genuine fire-power. It can make teams become overly-reliant on that one player in every attacking move they create. It’s possible that this became part of the problem in constantly trying to feed Hannah Wilkinson as the ‘Target’ up front, whether it be through her physical frame or her undeniable speed to run the channels.

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Again, the likes of Bott and Stott nicely progressed the ball out from the back throughout the tournament. The problem wasn’t in breaking down the opposition. It wasn’t even in generating chances. The problem lied more in generating the right chances to score.

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In all three of their matches, Klimková’s team had the better moments and even the better run of play. But they continuously took on shots with a low xG, failing to work the right angles to fire.

Perhaps with more of a connecting piece between the lines operating as a ’10’, New Zealand might have enjoyed more success at pulling back-lines out of position. But in working with what they have, New Zealand looked the stronger team in all three of their matches, and should be commended for that.

DEFENSIVE SOLIDITY

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Part of the reason why they looked comfortably the better team in all three matches came down to their defensive solidity. A 4-4-2 can always be difficult to break down, especially with the talent of a back-line like Klimková has at her disposal.

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But they worked incredibly hard to win the ball back, doing far more than just patiently shuffling with the play in that compact 4-4-2 shape. They pressed with vigour and intensity through the energy of players like Wilkinson, Percival and Hand; and often forced play long or wide to regain control.

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Even though one central midfielder had license to roam at a time, the stability of Steinmetz and Percival in midfield also made it hard to counter attack against the Football Ferns. Both nicely covered wide when required, and neither full-back galloped too far forward to the extent where they had too much ground to make up going the other way.

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In that sense, New Zealand’s rest-defense could at times even be a comfortable 4+2 to 2+4. Maybe that limited their attacking endeavours and the potential for combinations down the wing all the way into the final third. But it nicely set them up to keep scoring low. For New Zealand to come away with just one goal conceded in three matches is an impressive campaign, regardless of their ultimate finishing place.

CONCLUSION

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New Zealand had incredibly low odds of winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and in many ways surpassed expectations. For the NFL fans out there, winning the World Cup would have been like the Cardinals or Texans winning the super bowl this year. It would have been one of the stories of the century.

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Looking into the future, there might be a feeling that this was New Zealand’s strongest chance of working something remarkable, especially given their host nation status. Many of their players are now over the age of 30, and the nation will need to continue to produce more promising young talents like Indiah-Paige Riley to succeed in four years time. But for the present moment, I think New Zealand can still hold their heads high.

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For them to play with heart and firepower throughout their three matches and look the better side in each match, New Zealand should be very proud of their performance. It’s sad to see them go, but I loved the way the hosts approached the tournament.

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