An incredible 14 different members of Gareth Taylor’s squad have been selected to represent their home nations down under this summer.
Those players span seven different nations, with a strong chance that some of our stars will lock horns should they progress into the knockout stages of the competition.
It promises to be another captivating summer of football, with plenty of our exciting young squad itching to sample their first senior World Cup experience, while others will be hoping to build on previous performances at the tournament.
Find out how our stars have got on at past World Cups below…
England
Six City players have been included in Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses squad for Australia and New Zealand.
Five of those, Ellie Roebuck, Esme Morgan, Laura Coombs, Chloe Kelly and Lauren Hemp, are set to feature at their first-ever World Cup, as the European champions look to build on their recent success.
However, Alex Greenwood will be embarking on her third World Cup in succession, having helped the Lionesses to consecutive semi-final finishes in 2015 and 2019.
She was the youngest member of the England squad at the first of those tournaments, making three appearances in Canada en route to a stoppage time defeat against holders Japan.
Four years later, she would become a key figure as the Lionesses once again reached the semis, this time being edged out by eventual winners, the United States.
Greenwood would even find the net in 2019, scoring in a 3-0 win over Cameroon in the Round of 16.
Australia
In Alanna Kennedy and Mary Fowler, City boast two members of the Australia squad hoping to be crowned World Cup champions for the first time in their history.
Both were part of the Matildas side to reach the knockout stages in 2019, before being edged out by Norway on penalties but, just 16 at the time, Fowler is still waiting to make her World Cup debut.
Kennedy meanwhile, a veteran of two previous World Cup tournaments, has featured nine times in the competition.
The defender’s first appearance came from the bench in a 3-1 group stage defeat to the United States in 2015, but she finished the tournament as a regular, with Australia reaching the quarter-finals for the third time in succession.
By 2019, she was an ever-present in a squad which also contained a teenage Fowler, starting each of the Matildas’ four matches in France before that shootout defeat to Norway.
The Netherlands
Kerstin Casparij and new signing Jill Roord will be hoping that Oranje can go one better at this summer’s tournament having reached the final in 2019.
While she played an important role for her home nation at last summer’s European Championships, Casparij is preparing for her first World Cup in Australia in New Zealand.
Roord, however, is ready to make her mark at what will be her third time representing the Netherlands at the tournament.
The midfielder was included in the 2015 squad at just 18, but failed to make an appearance for Holland as they reached the knockout stages.
Four years later though, Roord marked her World Cup debut with a stoppage time winner against New Zealand in her nation’s opening fixture.
She would feature in each of the Netherlands’ matches at the tournament, as the 2017 European Champions finished as runners-up following a 2-0 defeat to the United States in the final.
Japan
Yui Hasegawa was one of the leading lights at City in her debut campaign at the Academy Stadium, and she’ll be keen to build on that success with Japan this summer.
The midfielder was part of her nation’s squad in 2019, with her strike against the Netherlands in the Round of 16 even nominated for the Goal of the Tournament award.
Hasegawa’s clinical finish rounded off an intricate team move against the Dutch, but the 2017 European Champions, featuring new City star Jill Roord, would recover to win 2-1.
Our Japanese international had managed three appearances in those four matches across the World Cup.
Jamaica
If the Reggae Girlz are to make a mark at this summer’s World Cup, it’s probably safe to assume that Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw will play a significant role in it.
City’s top scorer in 2022/23, with 31 strikes in just 30 appearances, is also the leading markswoman for Jamaica ahead of their second-ever appearance on the world stage.
They failed to progress from the group stages in 2019, but it was Shaw’s incisive pass which unlocked the Australia defence for Havana Solaun’s strike in a 4-1 defeat.
It was the Reggae Girlz’s first, and so far only, goal at the World Cup.
Sweden
Filippa Angeldahl established herself as a key figure for City in 2022/23 and will be hoping to translate that form into her first World Cup this summer.
The midfielder is a regular for Sweden having made her debut in 2018, and was part of squads which finished as runners-up at the Olympics in 2021 and reached the semi-finals of Euro 2022.
In the latter of those tournaments, Angeldahl would even finish as her nation’s leading scorer thanks to a brace against Portugal in their final group fixture.
Norway
Like Angeldahl, Julie Blakstad is preparing for her first World Cup tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
The 21-year-old was part of Norway’s Euro 2022 squad, finding the net against Northern Ireland in a 4-1 win, but wasn’t able to help her nation progress into the knockout stages.
She enjoyed a successful first half of the 2022/23 campaign at City, grabbing nine goals in 16 appearances in all competitions, before joining Swedish side BK Hacken on loan at the end of March.
