Women's World Cup 2023 group stage: Highlights, predictions - ESPN

The 2023 Women's World Cup is in full swing, and after an incredible group stage that saw shocks galore — Germany, out! Brazil, out! Italy, out! Nigeria in! The U.S. finished second in its group! — we're given a scant 48 hours (or less) to breathe, digest and regroup ahead of the round of 16.

— Women's World Cup: Landing page | Schedule | Rosters | News — Connelly: Why every last-16 team will, won't win the World Cup (E+)

With the knockout rounds set, what better time than now to reflect and react to the past 15 days of high-octane soccer? ESPN's reporters in Australia and New Zealand weigh in with their best moments from the group stage and their predictions as to who's going to take home the World Cup on Aug. 20.

Jeff Carlisle: Seeing the Moroccan players huddled together, awaiting word on Germany's result against South Korea, and then bursting into tears of joy after they realized they'd qualified for the knockout stages after the 1-1 draw in the other Group H game. This is what the Women's World Cup is all about. Seeing new women's teams break barriers and get rewarded for their hard work. Absolutely fantastic.

Sophie Lawson: Picking one moment is incredibly tough when we've seen so many unexpected results, at least according to the odds. From Nigeria's ripping win over Australia to Jamaica's defensive resolution and Colombia's result against Germany, there have been results to being tears of joy.

Or we could talk about the jaw-dropping goals from Panama's Marta Cox, Colombia's Linda Caicedo and Argentina's Sophia Braun, or even pivot from the football to talk about the fans and their joy. But for me, that first night at Eden Park — before the rain started — when New Zealand pulled off their own «shock» and finally,