FIFA women's World Cup: The make or break games of US, Australia and Canada

Thursday, July 27 at 11am, Wellington

It hardly gets bigger than reigning champion United States' physical style in a final re-match against the technically proficient Netherlands for a group match.

The United States is chasing a record fifth title to become FIFA's most decorated World Cup team.

The Dutch have plenty to prove after dropping coach Mark Parsons last year in the wake of a poor Euros campaign.

To face the US so early in the tournament will be a stern test for the Netherlands, under new coach Andries Jonker. The Netherlands still appear short of their best football despite beating Belgium five-nil early in July.

They will be missing key forward Vivienne Miedema, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament late last year, but still have strength and experience in Jill Roord, Danielle van de Donk and emerging goal keeper Daphne van Domselaar.

An injury-ravaged United States is without captain Becky Sauerbrunn but has plenty of depth and great player stories with star Megan Rapinoe, aged 38, making clear her fourth World Cup will also be her last, or, midfielder Julie Ertz who gave birth less than a year ago and made her international return in April.

Add in the likes of rising star Trinity Rodman (daughter of National Basketball Association great Dennis Rodman) and the US has the foundations for another dream team.

Preliminary matches in New Zealand should offer the high-profile US team less limelight to get started but there is no doubt this clash will be telling for the tournament.

Monday, July 31 at 8pm, Melbourne

A high-profile fight for better pay conditions, going all the way to parliament, has not been the most ideal tournament preparation Olympic champion Canada.

Taking on the Matildas on Australian soil will be a mammoth test of how much the turmoil has been a distraction for the Canadians - or whether it served fuel their mission to prove they should be more than an afterthought.

The Canadians are far from alone in the fight: Nigeria, who is in the same preliminary group, had its federation cancel the pre-season camp; South African players boycott a friendly send-off against Botswana on an unsuitable surface; and a Jamaican player's mum started a crowd funding campaign to help with team costs.

Experience in the likes of 40-year-old and international goal-scoring record holder Christine Sinclair will be invaluable for a squad featuring six newcomers.

Australia opens its campaign with an 83,000-strong Stadium Australia crowd against Ireland and has Nigeria before the seventh-ranked Canadians.

Friday, July 28 at 6.30pm, Sydney

Master tactician and motivator Serina Wiegman needs to rebuild the Lionesses' 2022 Euro winning formula with a team missing four of its starting 11: Lioness' legend Jill Scott retired, midfielder Fran Kirby is injured while star forward Beth Mead and captain Leah Williamson have both torn knee ligaments.

But in this clash, they must find a way to stop one of the tournament's most talked about players, attacking midfielder-forward Pernille Harder.

Denmark, too, has plenty to prove after 16 years' hiatus from the Women's World Cup stage.

This is a tournament debut for Harder, one of the world's most decorated female players whose record features seven titles in three countries but no World Cup.

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The 30-year-old made her international debut aged 16 by slamming a hat-trick and will undoubtedly be hungry to make an impact on the biggest stage - this match with a wealth of match-ups against Chelsea teammates.

England had a surprise goalless draw with Portugal before leaving for Australia but Wiegman has a proven record in turning teams around on the path to glory.

At the helm of her first national team, Wiegman took the Netherlands to its first Euro title in 2017 and finished runner-up in the 2019 World Cup final to the United States.

Now leading England, Weigman must again pull out a few game-changer moves.