The countdown to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, which kicks off on 20 July next year, is well and truly under way. The ninth staging of the women’s world finals promises to be a record-breaker and will take the game to new heights. The latest episode of Living Football is largely devoted to this eagerly awaited tournament, which will see a number of historic firsts, as FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura explained: “It will be the first Women’s World Cup to be held in the southern hemisphere, the first to have 32 national teams on the start line and the first where we will have the chance to discover the cultures of two host nations.” Newly re-elected as president of New Zealand Football, and the first woman ever to hold the post, Johanna Wood tells us about preparations for the women’s world finals in a video interview. She also talks about the night the two Antipodean neighbours were named tournament hosts, a decision greeted with an outpouring of joy in both countries.

Johanna, who is a FIFA Council member, also speaks about how the recent development of the women’s game will make the tournament more keenly contested than ever, with more competitive teams lining up, and hails the huge support FIFA has given the discipline, not least during the pandemic. She rounds off by talking about the legacy the competition will leave in New Zealand. Also discussing next year’s Women’s World Cup are Australian superfan Angelica Georgopoulos and her Kiwi counterpart Andriete Rodrigues. If, like them, you would like to join the Fan Movement, then click HERE. In this episode of Living Football, we also look at the seminar held in Doha in early July for the team doctors of the national sides that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. And we put the spotlight on The Next 90, a FIFA programme that helps retired players build new careers for themselves. Finally, we look at the Green Card for the Planet initiative launched in June by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, which aims to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment.