The full match schedule for the Vitality Netball World Cup 2023 has been released.
Held in Cape Town, South Africa from 28 July to 6 August, Australia, Barbados, England, Fiji, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Wales and Zimbabwe will all compete for the trophy.
The Vitality Roses, who finished third at the 2019 edition of the competition, have been drawn in Pool B with Barbados, Malawi and Scotland for the first stage.
Jess Thirlby’s side’s campaign will start on Friday 28 July (20:00 local time, Cape Town) when they face the Caribbean style and flair of Barbados, who are currently ranked 14th in the world.
England will then face the Malawi Queens, who they beat 66-41 at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last summer, on Saturday 29 July (18:00).
The final Pool game sees an exciting Home Nations clash as the Vitality Roses and Scottish Thistles go head-to-head on Sunday 30 July (16:00).
The Vitality Roses’ next fixtures in the competition will be determined by their results in the opening stage with a full guide to how the competition works outlined below.
To view the full competition schedule, click here.
To stay up-to-date with the latest Vitality Netball World Cup 2023 news, visit the official website.
Make sure you’re following England Netball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as subscribing on YouTube, for all the Vitality Roses behind-the-scenes content and build-up over the coming months.
How The Competition Works
The first stage of play is four round-robin Pools of four teams (Pools A, B, C and D).
Each team plays three games – one against each of the others in the pool. Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
At the end of the first stage each team in a Pool is ranked from 1 to 4, e.g. A1, A2, A3, A4.
The top three teams from Pools A and B move forward to form Pool F, while the top three teams in Pools C and D form Pool G.
The bottom team from each pool (A4, B4, C4, D4) move forward and form Pool E.
Group F
The three teams from Pool A and B form Group F, with their ranking from the first stage determining their new position within Group F.
A1 = F1; A2 = F2; A3 = F3; B1 = F4; B2 = F5; B3 = F6.
The teams each carry forward the results (points/goals for and against) from the matches that they played against teams in their first stage (two x match results).
In the second stage, each of the teams play the three teams from the other Pool that has joined them in Group F, e.g. the three teams from Pool A play the three Pool B teams. Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
Once all the matches have been played in this stage, each team finishes with five match results. Teams are then re-ranked from F1 to F6.
Group G
The three teams from Pool C and Pool D form Group G, with their ranking from the first stage determining their new position within Group G.
C1 = G1; C2 = G2; C3 = G3; D1 = G4; D2 = G5; D3 = G6.
The teams each carry forward the results (points/goals for and against) from the matches that they played against teams in their first stage (two x match results).
In the second stage, each of the teams play the three teams from the other Pool that has joined them in Group G, e.g. the three teams from Pool C play the three Pool D teams. Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
Once all the matches have been played in this stage each team finishes with five match results. Teams are then re-ranked from G1 to G6.
Group E
The bottom four teams – are named into position in Group E – A4=E1, B4=E2, C4=E3, D4=E4.
Each team plays each of the others in round-robin play. Matches in this stage may end in a drawn result.
Once all the matches have been played in this stage each team finishes with three match results, and based on results/points, are re-ranked from E1 to E4.
No matches in this stage can be drawn. All matches must play to a result.
Groups F and G
Following the re-ranking of teams in Groups F and G, the teams finishing 1st and 2nd (F1, F2, G1, G2) go through to the top four.
They compete in the semi-finals (F1 v G2/G1 v F2) followed by the medal matches where the winners meet for gold/silver (1st/2nd) and the losers meet for bronze (3rd/4th).
Teams that finish 3rd or 4th in Group F or G (F3, F4, G3, G4), compete for 5th to 8th place.
They play in cross-over matches (F3 v G4/G3 v F4) followed by a final classification match where the winners compete for 5th/6th and the losers for 7th/8th placings.
Teams that finish 5th in Group F and G (F5/G5), play a final classification match for 9th and 10th place.
Teams that finish 6th in Group F and G (F6/G6) play a final classification match for 11th and 12th place.
Group E
Following the re-ranking of teams in Group E, the top two teams (E1/E2) play a final classification match for 13th and 14th place.
The bottom two teams (E3/E4) play a final classification match for 15th and 16th place.
