China W vs Haiti W prediction: WORLD: World Cup Women betting tips on match 2023-07-27 11:00.
After falling to 1-0 losses against Denmark and England respectively, Group D outsiders China and Haiti head to the smallest of the ten 2023 Women’s World Cup (WWC) venues in search of their first points. A draw is unlikely to help the cause of either side, and with England and Denmark facing off in Group D’s other clash, this represents a prime opportunity for one of these sides to gain ground on at least one of the front runners.
Asian champions China are attempting to reclaim their long-lost status as a powerhouse of the women’s game, driven by the hunger of manager Shui Qingxia who missed their run to the final in 1999 as a player through injury. Although she was left to lament a lack of physicality and focus that allowed Denmark to claim a 90th minute winner in their group opener, Shui praised her squad as having “played to their best of their abilities” and is still hopeful of achieving the quarter-finals place she set as a pre-tournament target.
As the fourth-lowest ranked of the 32 WWC finals participants, Haiti were only expected to make up the numbers in their debut at the event. Since qualifying for this tournament with a 2-1 win over Chile at February’s inter-confederation play-offs in New Zealand, the Haitians have lost six of seven matches, defeating only #111 ranked Moldova and sustaining multiple goal losses against non-qualifiers Guatemala and Venezuela.
Those on-field struggles, a lack of financial sponsorship, and an inability to play or train at home prior to the tournament due to a near-collapse of Haitian society, only appear to have galvanised the squad. Following their narrow 1-0 loss to European champions England, the players earned high praise from “very proud” manager Nicholas Delépine as well as England boss Sarina Wiegman, who believes “the other two countries (China and Denmark) are going to really struggle with them”.
Players to watch: Zhang Linyan opened the scoring within 15 minutes in two of China’s last four wins against all opposition and remains in good touch after netting in three straight Swiss Super League games in May. In similarly impressive form, 19-year-old midfielder Melchie Dumonay scored goals in three of Haiti’s four internationals leading into this tournament.
Hot stat: China’s last seven wins against all opposition included just two clean sheets and one half-time lead.