Women’s World Cup Betting: Opening Day Gives Us 3 Big Favorites

The opening day of the 2023 Women's World Cup is finally here. We've got three matches on Thursday, with the two host nations in action. There are a few of the more interesting players in the tournament who will be on the pitch on Thursday, and the first day of matches should be fun to watch.

Here are the three games, with World Cup odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook:

New Zealand vs. Norway

The opening game will take place in Auckland as the first hosts will get the tournament underway. New Zealand gets a difficult test in their opening match against Norway.

Norway is the 12th-ranked team, according to FIFA's rankings. Much of that was achieved without Ada Hegerberg, who recently ended a five-year national team self-exile. Hegerberg is the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner and has been a deadly goal scorer for years for Olympique Lyonnais.

Overall, Norway's form coming into the tourney has been fairly indifferent. They've won just two of six matches in 2023 but have fought for draws against tough opponents in France and Sweden.

Norway's form is certainly better than that of New Zealand's heading into this match. The Football Ferns have just one win in nine friendly matches in 2023, and that was against lowly Vietnam. They managed to score in just two of those nine matches.

On paper, New Zealand looks overmatched. They might build some hope from having the first game in front of their home crowd, as we've seen that drive teams on in the past. Sneaking away with a draw might be the best they can realistically hope for, and it's an intriguing bet at +500.

Australia vs. Republic of Ireland

The second host nation in the tournament is Australia, and they'll be playing their first game in front of a home crowd in Sydney.

Australia has a legitimate superstar in Sam Kerr. She's the two-time reigning Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in England and has finished third place in the Ballon d'Or two years running. She's an interesting bet to score first at +290. Her anytime goal odds are at -115.

The Aussies come into this match in scintillating form. They've won 9 of their last 10 matches dating back to October 2022. That includes triumphs over Spain, England and France.

This will be the first ever game for the Republic of Ireland at the Women's World Cup. They clinched their spot with a playoff win over Scotland in October. Being huge underdogs in the first match of the tournament, Ireland may have some "happy to be here" vibes in this game -- which would be understandable.

The Irish have just one win in 2023, against Zambia. Their program underwent a reform in 2017, and this led to them making the World Cup for the first time. Their time will come eventually, but it will be extremely difficult for Ireland in this first match against an in-form host nation.

All in all, Australia is a huge favorite for a reason, so the -350 moneyline odds seem fair. If you're looking to back Australia but don't want to touch the moneyline, you can go with Kerr to score or you can look at some Same-Game Parlays involving Australia winning and Kerr scoring to get a better payout. Kerr to score paired with Australia to win comes out to +102.

Nigeria vs. Canada

The first game not involving a host nation will actually kick off well after the other two matches. This one gets underway at 10:30 p.m. EST while the first two take place very in the morning (for us here in the U.S.).

Canada enters this tournament ranked seventh in the world. They are coming off an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 and will look to better their best World Cup result of a quarterfinal appearance in 2015.

A player to watch out for on Canada is the legendary Christine Sinclair. She enters the tournament at age 40, having played for the national team a stunning 323 times. Her 190 international goals are the most ever among international soccer players. She is looking to become the first player -- man or woman -- to score at six different World Cups, and she has the best anytime goal odds in this match (-130).

Nigeria has been the most successful women's side in Africa. They've qualified for every World Cup ever held and have won 11 African Cup of Nations titles. However, they have yet to make it out of the group stage in the World Cup and will be looking to change that this time around.

Nigeria comes into the tournament ranked 40th and is +600 to get out of the group, so their chances of finally making it to the knockout round aren't looking too hot. They have won three games in a row coming into the tournament -- all against teams who made the World Cup, although the wins came against some of the lower-ranked teams.

This could be Canada's easiest match of the tournament, and they might use the opportunity to try to help Sinclair make history. That makes a bet on her to score (-130) an interesting wager in this match. A Same-Game Parlay with a Sinclair goal paired alongside Canada winning comes out to -107.

The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.