Women’s World Cup: United States vs. Vietnam by the numbers

Last updated: 2023/07/21 at 8:41 AM

BigP Published July 21, 2023

The United States women’s national team will face off against Vietnam in its opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Friday at Eden Park (9 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

The U.S. has qualified for all nine editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, something only six other countries have accomplished. Meanwhile, Vietnam is making its Women’s World Cup debut after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and winning a playoff over Chinese Taipei and Thailand.

Vietnam will be undoubtedly be the underdog on Friday, but does it have the talent to pull off an upset? Let’s look at the matchup by the numbers via the FOX Sports Soccer Research Team:

4,399 — Days that will have passed from the USWNT’s last loss in regulation in a World Cup (vs. Sweden in 2011) to its opening match against Vietnam — at least in Auckland, New Zealand, where it will be Saturday, July 22. However, in the United States it will be Friday, July 21, so 4,398 days.
1,476 — Days since the USWNT beat the Netherlands 2-0 to win the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup (in Auckland, New Zealand; 1,475 days in the United States)
32 — Vietnam’s FIFA world rank; the USWNT is ranked first.
27 — Appearances that Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan has recorded for Vietnam at just 21 years old, scoring seven goals in those matches.
16 – Goals Vietnam scored against the Maldives in their opening game of World Cup qualifying (16-0 on Sep. 23, 2021 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan).
15 — Matches the USWNT has played against Asian Football Confederation (AFC) teams in the World Cup all-time, going 11-4-0 (W-D-L) in those matches.
13 — Goals the USA scored against Thailand in the opening game for both teams at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. It’s the most goals any team has scored at the World Cup.
8 — Vietnam is one of eight countries in this Women’s World Cup making its debut in 2023.
6 — Players on Vietnam’s women’s World Cup squad that have recorded more than 50 international appearances for their country.
5 — The number of times Vietnam captain and all-time leading goalscorer Huynh Nhu has won Vietnamese Player of the Year award; she’s also the only player on Vietnam’s squad that has played outside the country.