The Men’s Lacrosse World Championship begins play in San Diego, California, USA, this Wednesday as 30 nations will play to become the World Champions of field lacrosse.
The favorites at this tournament are the USA, Canada, and the Iroquois Nation who go by the name of Haudenosaunee.
In addition, Australia and England are also expected to battle for the gold medal.
These top five nations will all play in Group A.
As with previous editions of this tournament, this elite group will have all of its teams advance to the knockout stages, which consists of the last 14 teams this year.
The top 2 nations from Group A will receive byes to the quarterfinals. The rest of the nations will have to play in this round if they advance, with a bracket according to seeding: 1 vs 8/9, 2 vs 7/10, 3/14 vs 6/11, and 4/13 vs 5/12.
Groups B-F also will feature 5 nations each, but only the group winners will advance, plus the next four best nations according to a cumulative standing across all the groups. This means that hypothetically, one of these other groups could get not just one or two nations into the last 14 knockout rounds, but possibly more than two.
Here are the groups with the nations and their corresponding world ranking:
Group A: USA (#1), Canada (#2), Haudenosaunee (#3), Australia (#4), and England (#5)
Group B: Japan (#6), Uganda (#40), Wales (#14), Denmark (#34), and France (#33)
Group C: Israel (#7), the Philippines (#10), the Czech Republic (#26), Sweden (#25), and Puerto Rico (#8)
Group D: Germany (#9), New Zealand (#21), Switzerland (#20), Poland (#32), and Jamaica (#13)
Group E: Scotland (#11), Hong Kong (#27), Italy (#16), Austria (#24), and Mexico (#38)
Group F: Ireland (#12), South Korea (#35), Latvia (#18), the Netherlands (#22), and Peru (#39)
For a schedule of the tournament, you can find it with this link.
The matches will be played at three different locations: the campus of San Diego State University, the University of San Diego’s Torrero Stadium, and Snapdragon Stadium.
For those watching on TV, most places around the world will be able to watch on ESPN, while those in Canada will be able to watch on TSN. Those in South America will be able to watch on Star+, and those in PR China will be able to watch on Star Sports. In addition, the website will have some live streaming for select countries.
For those wondering what is at stake, this is the World Championship, the tournament that awards the World Champions title. To become the best in the world, you have to win this tournament.
The USA enters the 2023 edition as the hosts, and also as the defending World Champions. The USA have won 10 World Championship gold medals and 3 silver medals, while Canada has won 3 gold medals, 6 silver medals, and 4 bronze medals. Australia has won 3 silver medals and 7 bronze medals, England has won 1 silver medal, and the Iroquois Nation has won 2 bronze medals.
In addition to these nations, Japan is expected to be the strongest challengers for a medal, and Israel, Puerto Rico, Germany, the Philippines, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales are all expected to be very competitive if they reach the knockout rounds. Jamaica may also prove quite difficult to beat.
As for the first match, it will take place on Wednesday 21 June at 7 pm local time in San Diego, California at Snapdragon Stadium. This match will feature the two best nations: the USA vs Canada! It will be a battle most likely for who will top Group A.
KTH 