WC 2023 is not just a WC. Also in the pot is a direct qualification for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In addition to that it also plays a key role for setting the conditions for the qualifiers.
The World Cup is perhaps the nicest thing a player can win during a career. But with less than a year left to the Olympics in Paris 2024 this years tournament also serves as an important step before the qualification tournament this spring.
The World Cup gold medalist of course gets a direct place at the Olympics, but the rest have to fight for their places in a nerve-wracking qualifying game.
The conditions are clear in advance where the following applies in the three groups of the Olympic qualifiers:
Olympic qualifying group 1
2nd from World
10th from World
2nd from Africa
2nd from Asia
Olympic qualifying group 2
3rd from World
6th from World
2nd from the Americas
9th from Europe
Olympic qualifying group 3
4th from World
5th from World
8th from World
3rd from the Americas
Converted to the current state for the quarter-finals of the WC 2023, it looks like this:
Olympic qualifying group 1
2nd from World
Hungary
Cameroon
Japan
Olympic qualifying group 2
3rd from World
6th from World
Argentina
Spain
Olympic qualifying group 3
4th from World
5th from World
Slovenia
Paraguay
We can state that France and Norway are already qualified for the Olympics in Paris as organizers and European champions. This means that the others have an exciting situation before the decision in the WC.
Denmark of course wants to win WC gold, but they probably have their fingers crossed for Norway as well, alternatively France as champion and Norway silver. Then Denmark gets the direct place thanks to its silver in European Championship 2022.
So the remaining places to fight for are: Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherlands, Montenegro.