Strong women’s field set to compete for FISU Cup Football

The second edition of the FISU University World Cup Football is set for Jinjiang, China 21-31 October. This brings together some of the world’s best university football sides for a chance at a gold medal. This format features universities competing against each other, regardless of the nationalities of their players.

The defending women’s champions from 2019, the University of Ottawa Gee Gees from Ottawa, Canada, will not be back to defend their title. However, the runners up from Paulista University in Brazil are and will look to climb up one more podium step. They may be glad Ottawa is not returning as they also lost to them in the gold medal game at the 2022 FISU America Games, but the 2019 Brazilian champions will make a formidable opponent in Jinjiang.

Thailand’s College of Asian Scholars Women’s Football Club will represent Asia in Jinjiang. The 2018 Asian University Sports Federation Football Championship winners, and bronze medalists at the 2019 FISU Cup Football, will bring with them to China a significant track record of success, including five Thai Women’s League titles.

Making their debut at the 2023 FISU Cup Football is University of Bordeaux from France. This team is a mix of athletes from five different clubs, and have also had recent success. In the last two years they have won two national titles and both European Universities Championships.

Returning to the FISU Cup Football is the Sydney University Soccer Football Club (SUSFC). Affiliated with the University of Sydney, this team traveled cross country to Perth in 2022 to Australia’s UniSport Nationals where they won the title for the 10th straight time, and with only one loss in that streak. This win put them in the Oceania Qualifying Game for the FISU Cup Football, which they won 2-0 in extra time over New Zealand’s University of Canterbury.

The other Asian representative will be the home nation favourite – Beijing Normal University. Since their inception in 1987, they have yet to lose a Beijing Collegiate Women’s Football Championship, claiming 36 in a row. Close to 40 players have moved on from the program to play for the Chinese national women’s team. They placed just out of the medals in 2019 finishing in 4th spot.

Rounding out the women’s teams that will start competition on 21 October are the University of Kindia from Guinea, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany, and Ukraine’s Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University. All eight teams bring with them significant experience and home country success so they will now try to carry that to the international stage to see who comes out on top at the Jinjiang 2023 FISU University World Cup Football.

Written by Doug McLean