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The action might be happening almost 12,000km away in Cape Town, but you can still cheer on your favourite teams from your couch. Here are all the on-court happenings…
How to watch
All 60 matches of the Vitality Netball World Cup 2023 will be live on Sky Sport and Sky Sport Now, so you’re guaranteed to not miss a match with full coverage.
Don’t have a Sky box?
With Sky Sport Now, you can watch all matches live and on demand for $19.99.
Key matches, including all Silver Ferns games, semi-finals, the bronze medal battle and the final will also be available free-to-air on Prime.
Stats you need to know
• The Silver Ferns are in Pool D, and will come up against Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda and Singapore in initial pool play. Coach Dame Noeline Taurua says to pay close attention to Uganda, who
she says could surprise during the competition.
• Pool B and Pool C house some intriguing match-ups – keep
an eye on Malawi v England in group C – while Jamacia and hosts South Africa are on track to battle for top spot in pool D.
• New Zealand is 10 hours ahead of Cape Town, but with a lot of games scheduled first thing in the morning, the time difference plays in Aotearoa’s favour during the earlier matches of the tournament. But if the Ferns make the final, be prepared for a very early morning!
Did you know?
Australia has the most World Cup wins with 11. (New Zealand has five.)
The only other country who has won a World Cup apart from Australia and New Zealand is Trinidad & Tobago, who shared the title with the Diamonds and Silver Ferns in 1979.
The highest winning margin belongs to New Zealand, with a 112-4 victory against Northern Ireland in 1963.
Forty countries have competed in the World Cup since its inception in 1963.
Cape Town is gearing up for World Cup hosting
How does the draw work for the Netball World Cup?
All 16 qualifying nations are split into four groups of four, who play each other once. The Silver Ferns will begin in Pool D with Uganda, Trinidad & Tobago and Singapore.
After four round-robin games, the top three teams in each group qualify for stage two of the preliminary games, while the four lowest-ranked teams head to Group E to battle it out for 13th to 16th place.
The remaining 12 teams are split into two groups of six. The top three teams from Pools A and B merge to form Group F, and the top three teams from Pools C and D (the Silver Ferns’ pool) will make up Group G.
Then, after three matches against the other group, the top two from each of those groups qualify for the knockout semi-finals. The other teams then battle for 5th to 12th place.
Finally, the bronze medal match and the final!
Key Netball World Cup matches
Pool round
Silver Ferns vs Trinidad & Tobago
Date: Friday 28 July
Time: 7pm NZT (9am SA time)
Silver Ferns vs Uganda
Date: Saturday 29 July
Time: 7pm NZT (9am SA time)
Silver Ferns vs Singapore
Date: Sunday 30 July
Time: 9pm NZT (11am SA time)
Preliminaries stage two
Dates: Monday 31 July – Thursday 3 August
Semi-Final #1
1st place in Group F vs 2nd place Group G
Date: Saturday 5 August
Time: 9pm NZT (11am SA time)
Semi-Final #2
1st place in Group G vs 2nd place Group F
Date: Saturday 5 August
Time: 2am Sunday NZT
(4pm SA time)
Bronze Medal Match
Loser of Semi-Final#1 vs Loser of Semi- Final #2
Date: Sunday 6 August
Time: 2am Monday NZT
(4pm SA time)
Final
Winner Semi-Final #1 vs Winner Semi-Final #2
Date: Sunday 6 August
Time: 4am Monday NZT
(6pm SA time)
Follow the Silver Ferns on their journey through the Netball World Cup. Check the website for draw details at silverferns.co.nz
