Women's World Cup 2023: Updated Group Results and Sunday's Schedule

Behind a brace from Sophia Smith, the United States opened its run at the 2023 Women's World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Vietnam.

The comfortable win from the Americans kicked off a four-game slate on Saturday, which also featured Japan and England picking up three valuable points to begin the group stage.

Sunday's schedule brings three more matchups, including the World Cup debuts for Sweden, the Netherlands and France.

Ahead, we have summaries of Saturday's four contests before previewing the action on Sunday.

Group C

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Hinata Miyazawa

Group C Standings

• Japan 1-0-0 (+5)
• Spain: 1-0-0 (+3)
• Costa Rica: 0-0-1 (-3)
• Zambia: 0-0-1 (-5)

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Saturday Result

Japan 5, Zambia 0

Zambia nearly held Japan scoreless in the first half, but Hinata Miyazawa opened the floodgates in the 43rd minute.

Mina Tanaka scored early in the second half, Miyazawa added another and Japan cruised to a 5-0 victory.

The worst part for Zambia, though, is goalkeeper Catherine Musonda received a red card in second-half stoppage time and will be unavailable against Spain. Since she was already replacing Hazel Nali (knee), Zambia will be stretching its depth at goalie.

Group D

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Georgia Stanway

Group D Standings

• England: 1-0-0 (+1)
• Denmark: 1-0-0 (+1)
• China: 0-0-1 (-1)
• Haiti: 0-0-1 (-1)

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Saturday Results

England 1, Haiti 0

Denmark 1, China 0

If you like nerve-wracking games, Group D provided your drama.

As a heavy favorite, England narrowly survived a clash with Haiti. Georgia Stanway's penalty in the 27th minute stood as the Lionesses' lone goal of the match—and it only happened on a retake after Haitian keeper Kerly Theus stopped the first attempt but left her line early.

England goalie Mary Earps then punched away a curling corner in the 91st minute to protect the 1-0 win.

Denmark, on the other hand, found its winner over China in the 89th minute. Amalie Vangsgaard launched a long-range header off a corner kick, scoring her first international goal at the perfect moment.

Group E

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Lindsey Horan

Group E Standings

• United States: 1-0-0 (+3)
• Netherlands: 0-0-0
• Portugal: 0-0-0
• Vietnam: 0-0-1 (-3)

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Saturday Result

United States 3, Vietnam 0

As expected, the United States controlled the ball throughout the match against Vietnam and won comfortably.

But it wasn't exactly a painless victory.

Vietnam played a compact defensive game, forcing the Americans to truly earn all three goals. Alex Morgan even missed a penalty in the first half, wasting a chance for the USWNT to take a 2-0 advantage.

In the end, though, Sophia Smith carried the USA. She scored twice in the opening half before notching an assist to Lindsey Horan, whose 77th minute goal capped the 3-0 triumph.

Sunday Schedule

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Fridolina Rolfo

Group G: Sweden vs. South Africa (Sunday. 1 a.m. ET, FS1)

Group E: Netherlands vs. Portugal (Sunday, 3:30 a.m. ET, FS1)

Group F: France vs. Jamaica (Sunday, 6 a.m. ET, Fox)

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Three of the world's eight highest-ranked teams are finally headed to the pitch on Sunday.

First up is Sweden, which finished third in the 2019 Women's World Cup and took silver at the Tokyo Olympics. Star attacker Fridolina Rolfo headlines a squad looking to take down South Africa.

The next matchup pits the Netherlands against Portugal, a clash that followers of the United States will be watching closely. Since the expectation, at the least, is both the USWNT and Netherlands will advance from Group E, Portugal is aiming to land a significant upset.

France's tilt against Jamaica, an underdog led by prolific scorer Bunny Shaw, rounds out the action.