ITV confirms stellar squad for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

ITV has announced a star-studded lineup for its live coverage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Viewers will be guided through the tournament by the channel's stellar team, who will contribute to comprehensive coverage, expert analysis and the very best action on ITV.

Led by main presenter Laura Woods as well as Seema Jaswal and Michelle Owen, ITV’s Women's World Cup squad will offer expert insight, opinion and analysis from Eni Aluko, Karen Carney, Jill Scott, Emma Hayes, Fran Kirby, Lucy Ward, Siobhan Chamberlain, Emma Byrne, Vicky Losada and Jen Beattie.

Commentary will come from Seb Hutchinson, Sam Matterface, Pien Meulensteen and Tom Gayle, while reporting on the tournament will be Katie Shanahan.

Live games will be broadcast on ITV, simulcast on ITVX, with highlights available on ITVX, alongside a comprehensive coverage package and content across ITV Football’s social platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, ensuring fans will not miss a single minute of the action.

All 64 matches from the tournament, set in Australia and New Zealand, which starts in Auckland on July 20, will be broadcast in the UK on either ITV or the BBC, except for the Final, which will be shown across both ITV1 and BBC1.

ITV will show coverage of half of the tournament’s matches across ITV1 and ITV4 [*simultaneous kick-off times in final group games mean, on three dates, matches will be shown across both channels - otherwise, all matches will be shown on ITV1] with simulcast and catchup on ITVX. Match highlights will also be on ITVX as well as ITV's social media platforms. 

Because of the tournament’s location in the southern hemisphere, kick-off times will be early with three quarters of matches beginning between 8am and midday UK time.  

ITV will show two of England’s Group stage games - their first match against Haiti and final group game versus China. On the opening day of the tournament, ITV will show coverage of the Republic of Ireland taking on co-hosts Australia. ITV will also show Canada v Ireland in the Group stage.  

ITV’s Group stage coverage will also include Portugal’s clash with World Cup holders, and the nation ranked number one in FIFA’s rankings, USA, as well as number two ranked Germany’s matches against Columbia and Morocco. Other matches involving top ranked nations to be shown on ITV include France v Jamaica, Brazil v Panama and Vietnam v Netherlands. 

ITV has first and second choice of the Quarter-final round. and will show the third-place play-off as well as the Final. 

ITV’s social media channels (@ ITVFootball) will provide near-live clips from every ITV game as well talking points from our studio pundits. On our streaming platform, ITVX, we'll have highlights of EVERY game from the tournament available to watch back if any of the action is missed overnight. 

Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: “I'm delighted we have been able to assemble a squad of some of the biggest names in the game for our comprehensive coverage of the Women’s World Cup across ITV and ITVX. Viewers are at the heart of our coverage and our team will provide expertise, fantastic insight and the very best analysis of the action at what, with the popularity of women’s football continuing to grow, promises to be the biggest tournament yet."

ITV and the BBC have partnered with the EBU which is a European alliance of public service media organisations.

As anticipation mounts ahead of next month’s tournament, ITV has  also launched its on air promotional campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 including filming with real lionesses in South Africa. 

The Lionesses’ success in the 2022 Euros has galvanised greater levels of passion, interest and engagement for the world cup and ITV’s World Cup trailers, which are  airing across ITV platforms, aim to rouse the country as people prepare to come together for the next chapter of the Lionesses’ journey in Australia and New Zealand when the World Cup kicks off in July. 

Set within scenarios around the UK, the ad sees different groups of people from teenagers playing football, riding bikes and chatting, to a man relaxing in a park being startled by the surreal but breath-taking sight of real-life lionesses. 

Prowling in unlikely settings across the UK, the lionesses are seen on top of a parked car on a local high street - in the back of office video calls, at a cafe, at the gym, running down a residential street and at home cosying up on the sofa with a family ready to watch an England Lionesses match. 

The promo ends with the campaign tagline, “The Pride Has Arrived”. 

The Women’s World Cup adds to ITV Sport’s portfolio of first-class events, which also includes Six Nations rugby, the Rugby World Cup, England Women's qualifiers and friendlies, UEFA EURO 2024, the FA Cup, EFL highlights including the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One, Sky Bet League Two, Carabao Cup and the EFL Trophy, La Liga, the Tour de France, the NFL, Heineken Champions Cup, Gallagher Premiership Rugby and, in motorsport, Extreme E, plus British Touring Car Championships and MotoGP, SailGP, plus major competitions in snooker and darts.