5 Funniest Moments of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Including Michelle Alozie, Videos

• Spain won their maiden Women's World Cup, beating England in the August 20 final
• It has been a month of mouthwatering action in Australia and New Zealand
• Sports Brief reflects on the few hilarious moments that took place Down Under

Australia and New Zealand combined to stage the best Women's World Cup in history. It was the first tournament hosted by two nations and saw the expansion of the number of teams from 24 to 32.

Heavyweights like the USA, Canada, Brazil and Germany exited the competition early. Sarina Wiegman was denied once again in the final as a 'divided' Spanish side beat her European champions in the final.

In tournament football, there is barely any time for sideshows and jokes. It is either you win or go home. But players and teams who congregated Down Under conjured some hilarious moments.

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We take a look at some of the moments that tickled a few ribs as the tournament progressed.

1. Danielle van de Donk and Andries Jonker

As previously reported by Sports Brief, dark arts don't necessarily have to be about causing harm to an opponent or something purely evil, but anything you use to gain undue advantage over an opponent.

And at times, it can be funny. Netherlands Women's Head Coach, Andries Jonker, was caught by pitchside microphones and cameras asking Danielle van de Donk to fake an injury during their opening game at the FIFA Women's World Cup on July 23.

With the Dutch still holding a slender 1-0 lead over Portugal with 20 minutes to go, Jonker was spotted beckoning van de Donk to go down and fake an injury to allow him to pass instructions to the rest of the players.

Van de Donk wasn't particularly thrilled with what her head coach wanted her to do. The Lyon W star even recommended her teammate, the goalkeeper, to go down instead, but Jonker only wanted her.

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The coach gets what the coach wants, eh?

2. Sam Kerr

The face of this year's tournament did not play as much as she wanted after picking up a calf injury at the start of the tournament. Instead of being a menace for opposing defenders on the pitch, it was her teammates who had to 'contend' with her on the bench.

In their last group game against Canada, she removed the heavy strapping on her calf and jokingly attempted to feed it to one of her teammates beside her.

Kerr you play too much

3. Deneisha Blackwood and Kate Jacewicz

The Colombia vs Jamaica match-up in the round of 16 offered intriguing storylines. The former was gunning for their first quarterfinal appearance while Jamaica had just become the first Caribbean nation to qualify for the knockout stages and were seeking to go even further.

It was the South Americans who finally got over the line. The Reggae Girlz' defender and set-piece specialist Deneisha Blackwood, had to be reminded by referee Kate Jacewicz to wait for the whistle.

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Blackwood was understandably in a hurry to get on with the game, but Jacewicz told her to tone down. The Australian official made a gesture to suggest, 'I might as well give you the whistle.'

There's only one referee here.

4. Peter Gerhardsson

The Sweden W manager appeared 'absent-minded' after a press conference. He walked past the door and headed directly to what appeared to be the cleaning room.

He realised he had missed his exit once he had opened the wrong door. The funny bit - no one in the room pointed it out and left him to figure it out on his own.

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5. Lauren James and Michelle Alozie

Now, this was certainly not funny for James or her manager Sarina Wiegman. The Chelsea winger was her standout performer in the group stages before that silly stamp on Alozie in the round of 16,

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The memes that followed, coupled with Alozie's carefree and funny side, made for hilarious viewing. The Houston Dash star saw the funny side of the pics but called for the hate and trolls to stop on the England international.

Sports Brief compiled a list of the best memes from that incident.

Women's Ballon d'Or rankings

With the season now over, the Ballon d'Or debate is expected to take centre stage. The men's race is expected to be down to either Lionel Messi or Erling Haaland in a year where the World Cup will greatly influence the vote.

Sports Brief takes a look at some of the players who will be in the running to replace Alexia Putellas and win the 2023 Women's Ballon d'Or.

Aitana Bonmati will be many people's favourite to succeed her teammate at club and international level.