Nigeria Women and Canada Women will begin their respective 2023 Women's World Cup campaigns when they face off at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on Friday morning in Group B. This group could be a very competitive group. The Super Falcons come into the World Cup desperate to impress after losing the semi-final of the Africa Women Cup of Nations, while Canada failed to make it out of the group stage in the SheBelieves Cup. The Super Falcons have not been in action since claiming a 3-0 victory over New Zealand in a friendly in April. One Ebi, Onyi Echegini and Desire Oparanozie all found the back of the net for the West Africans. Canada, on the other hand, fell to a 2-1 defeat against France in a friendly in April. All three goals were scored in the second half, with Grace Geyoro and Lea Le Garrec scoring for the French, while Jordyn Huiteme scored a consolation goal for the Canadians. Canada booked their spot in the World Cup by finishing as runners-up in the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, while Nigeria finished fourth in the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations to secure their ticket to Australia/New Zealand. I am expecting Nigeria to win with an handicap of +1.5 for the following reasons:

Firstly. Nigeria do have a bad record in this prestigious tournament. They have won only one match in their last six outings in the World Cup tournament, losing the rest. However, Nigeria have not been too bad since their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations run, winning three of their five friendlies, with two defeats against 25th-ranked Colombia and 35th-ranked Mexico. The Super Falcons are actually the lowest ranked side in Group B, finding themselves 30 places behind their Canadian opponents, and 18 adrift of anyone else in this group. Nigeria know that they will have to pull off a surprise result or two if they are to reach the knockout stages for the third time in their World Cup history.

Secondly. Canada are one of the favourites to make it out of this group but they come into this competition with very poor form. They lost four of their last five matches, conceding nine goals in the process. They head into the World Cup as the reigning Olympic champions after winning gold in Tokyo two years ago. They do have a decent record in the past World Cup tournaments, winning two and drawing four of their last six World Cup games. They have also won their last two World Cup openers by a 1-0 scoreline. Ultimately, they are a good side compared to Nigeria.

Nigeria will enter this game as clear underdogs but they can’t be over underestimated because they are very good defensively. The Super Falcons conceded a total of just five goals over the course of their last ten competitive matches. And, Canada have not been clinical in front of goal of late, as they scored over one goal in just one of their last five matches. It is on this note that I believe that the Nigerian women should be winning this game with an handicap of +1.5.

尼日利亚女足和加拿大女足将于周五上午在墨尔本长方形体育场迎战b组女足，开始各自的2023年女足世界杯之旅。这个小组的竞争可能非常激烈。在非洲女足杯半决赛失利后，超级猎鹰队迫切希望给人留下深刻印象，而加拿大在“她相信杯”小组赛中未能出线。超级猎鹰队自4月份在一场友谊赛中以3比0击败新西兰队后就一直没有参加过比赛。Ebi, Onyi Echegini和Desire Oparanozie都为西非队打进了一球。另一方面，加拿大队在4月份的一场友谊赛中以2比1输给了法国队。这三粒进球都是在下半场打进的，法国队的格雷斯·杰约罗(Grace Geyoro)和莱·勒·加雷克(Lea Le Garrec)进球，加拿大队的乔丁·惠特梅(Jordyn Huiteme)则打进了一粒安慰球。加拿大在2022年中北美和太平洋地区足球锦标赛上获得亚军，从而获得了世界杯入场券，而尼日利亚在2022年非洲女足国家杯上获得第四名，从而获得了前往澳大利亚/新西兰的入场券。我预计尼日利亚将以+1.5的差点获胜，原因如下:

首先。尼日利亚在这项久负盛名的赛事中确实战绩不佳。在世界杯的最近六场比赛中，他们只赢了一场，其余的比赛都输了。不过，尼日利亚女足非洲杯以来的表现还不错，五场友谊赛中赢了三场，其中两场输给了排名第25位的哥伦比亚和排名第35位的墨西哥。超级猎鹰队实际上是B组排名最低的球队，比他们的对手加拿大队落后30个名次，比该组其他任何一支球队都落后18个名次。尼日利亚知道，如果他们想在世界杯历史上第三次进入淘汰赛阶段，他们必须取得一两个出人意料的结果。

其次。加拿大是小组出线的热门球队之一，但是他们的状态非常糟糕。他们在最近5场比赛中输了4场，丢了9个球。在两年前的东京奥运会上获得金牌后，他们以奥运卫冕冠军的身份进入了本届世界杯。他们在过去的世界杯比赛中确实有不错的战绩，最近6场比赛中2胜4平。他们最近两届世界杯首战都以1-0的比分获胜。最终，与尼日利亚相比，他们是一支优秀的球队。

尼日利亚将以明显的劣势进入这场比赛，但他们不能被过度低估，因为他们的防守非常出色。超级猎鹰队在最近10场正式比赛中总共只丢了5个球。此外，加拿大最近在门前表现不佳，他们在最近五场比赛中只有一场进球超过一球。正是在这一点上，我相信尼日利亚女子应该以+1.5的差点赢得这场比赛。