Tag: FIFA Women’s World Cup

Co-hosts Australia beat France 7-6 in a thrilling penalty shoot-out to reach the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history on a night of drama in Brisbane on Saturday.

Australia now go to Sydney on Wednesday to face the winners of the final last-eight tie between England and Colombia.

Cortnee Vine scored the winning penalty to end a remarkable shoot-out that saw both teams take 10 spot-kicks, the third Women’s World Cup quarter-final having ended 0-0 after 120 nerve-shredding minutes.

Vine held her nerve to send the crowd into raptures and keep the Matildas’ dream of winning the World Cup on home soil alive.

Australia goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold had missed a chance to win the shoot-out when her kick hit the post but then saved twice from Kenza Dali after the VAR spotted she had both feet off her line the first time.

Vicki Becho missed France’s 10th penalty, and it was left to Vine to take Australia through by beating France’s substitute goalkeeper Solene Durand, who had been sent on, especially for the shoot-out.

“I’m so freaking proud about this team. The bravery that they showed tonight, unbelievable,” said Australia coach Tony Gustavsson.

“I think we’ll have maybe tonight to celebrate it and then tomorrow we’ll review it and move on to the next game,” added Arnold, the player of the match.

It was an agonising way for France to go out of the Women’s World Cup after a tense encounter watched by a sell-out crowd of 49,461.

Les Bleues had been hoping to get to the semi-finals for just the second time, following their defeat in the last four in 2011, but instead go home.

“We had a whole stadium and a nation against us. We produced an exceptional performance, but that’s football. It was destiny,” French coach Herve Renard told broadcaster France 2.

“Good luck to Australia. I think we deserved more but that’s how it is.”

Australia’s victory was achieved despite Sam Kerr again being left on the bench at kick-off, with the talismanic Matildas captain, now fit after a calf injury, coming on early in the second half and going on to convert her penalty in the shoot-out.

Gustavsson stuck with the same team that started against Denmark in the last 16, while France brought the fit-again Maelle Lakrar back into their defence.

Lakrar really should have given France an early lead to silence the hostile crowd, but the 23-year-old somehow succeeded in diverting a Eugenie Le Sommer shot over the bar with the goal gaping.

That was a let-off for the hosts, who were then grateful to Arnold for tipping a Le Sommer effort behind and for stopping a stinging Lakrar attempt following a corner.

It looked like the occasion was getting to Australia, but they began to threaten in the final minutes of the first half.

They were desperately unlucky not to go ahead in the 41st minute when French defensive hesitancy allowed Emily van Egmond to tee up Mary Fowler for what seemed like a certain goal, but Elisa De Almeida raced in to produce a miraculous block.

French goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin then had to come out to clear in front of Fowler, as it somehow remained goalless at the interval.

Kerr emerged 10 minutes into the second half, replacing Van Egmond to the delight of the crowd, and her introduction provided such a lift that Australia very nearly went ahead moments later.

Hayley Raso tried her luck with a rasping drive from outside the box, but Peyraud-Magnin saved and the Juventus goalkeeper topped that with a brilliant block to deny Fowler from point-blank range on the hour mark.

That appeared to pierce some of Australia’s momentum, and the tension increased as the clock ticked down, making extra time almost an inevitability.

France thought they had the breakthrough 10 minutes into the extra period when Ellie Carpenter turned the ball into her own net, but Australia were rescued when the Chilean referee blew for a foul.

Arnold saved superbly from Becho, before France replaced Peyraud-Magnin with Durand as penalties loomed.

Durand is their penalty-saving specialist and denied both Steph Catley and Clare Hunt in the shoot-out, but it was not enough for France.

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Colombia reached the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals for the first time and a clash with England after a 1-0 win over Jamaica on Tuesday, with France or Morocco poised to join them.

Skipper Catalina Usme scored the only goal of the game in Melbourne in the 51st minute, bringing the ball down expertly and bending it into the bottom corner.

It was the first time at the Women’s World Cup that Jamaica had conceded a goal.

It set a cagey game alight and sent the pumping pro-Colombian crowd into deafening delirium.

Fired up, Jamaica almost had an immediate reply with Jody Brown’s shot cleared off the line in a frantic goalmouth scramble.

Behind for the first time at the World Cup and facing the exit door, Jamaica abandoned their defensive posture and threw players forward frantically looking for the equaliser.

Drew Spence almost grabbed it with a header that spun just wide, but Colombia held on.

They will now play European champions England in Sydney on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.

Jamaica bow out but made history of their own, winning a World Cup game for the first time with a 1-0 victory over Panama and holding heavily fancied Brazil and France to goalless draws.

But despite boasting the prolific Manchester City striker Khadija Shaw, Jamaica’s lack of goals proved to be their undoing — they scored just one all tournament, against Panama.

It was a victory, though, of sorts in the team’s wider battle with their federation — they hope their displays will mean more support in future from Jamaican football bosses.

“Now we’re a bit low because we didn’t want to end the tournament, but I’m proud of all my team-mates,” said Shaw.

“A lot of people didn’t think we were going to make it this far.

“It shows that if you believe and work hard, anything is possible.”

France, fifth in the FIFA world rankings, and Morocco kick off in Adelaide, with the winners facing Australia.

Morocco are appearing at their first Women’s World Cup and recovered from a 6-0 hammering by Germany to reach the last 16 with 1-0 wins over Colombia and South Korea.

Morocco are the lowest-ranked team left, 67 places below Herve Renard’s France.

But Renard, who managed the Moroccan men’s team for three years, is wary.

“Even when we have a kickabout with friends we want to win, and we are here to win and qualify for the next round,” said the Frenchman.

“The important thing is that we respect our opponents and the fact that this is a last-16 tie at a World Cup.

“Morocco are not here by chance. This is a match of the same calibre as our game against Brazil.”

France were held scoreless by Jamaica in their opening game before defeating Brazil 2-1 and Panama 6-3.

It will also be a special occasion for Renard’s opposite number and countryman Reynald Pedros.

The Morocco coach is a former French international.

“There will be just one French coach left in the quarter-finals,” Renard said.

“I hope it will be me.”

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Japan’s surprise title charge at the Women’s World Cup gathered pace with a clinical 3-1 win over Norway to reach the last eight while Spain thrashed Switzerland 5-1 on Saturday.

The 2011 champions Japan will face either holders the United States or Sweden in the quarter-finals and on this evidence they will take some stopping.

They have won all four games in Australia and New Zealand — including a 4-0 thumping of Spain — scoring 14 times and conceding only once.

Hinata Miyazawa is also quickly becoming one of the breakout stars of the Women’s World Cup which has been full of shocks.

The 23-year-old got the third nine minutes from time to seal Norway’s fate in front of 33,000 in Wellington.

She is now the tournament’s top scorer.

The teams went to the break level at 1-1, but Japan turned the screw on Norway in the second period through goals by Risa Shimizu and Miyazawa.

Norway threw everything at Japan late on but goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita stood firm and in injury time pulled off a breathtaking save from a close-range header, somehow clawing the ball back off the line.

Ominously for the rest of the teams, coach Futoshi Ikeda said Japan are becoming harder to beat as the Women’s World Cup progresses.

“The team is very positive, kept up the pace and I think we have become tougher than before,” he added.

Spain crushed Switzerland to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history and will face the Netherlands or South Africa next.

Aitana Bonmati played a starring role with a brace and two assists in front of 43,217 fans at Eden Park in Auckland, a record crowd for a football match in New Zealand.

Coach Jorge Vilda, who made five changes to his starting line-up including dropping reigning Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, said he had “the 23 best players in the world”.

“Aitana played very well today, she scored goals and was player of the match, but the rest of the team played very well too. We have 23 Ballons d’Or,” he said.

Barcelona’s Bonmati said the humbling by Japan in the group stage had been on their minds.

“When you lose like we did the other day it is a really big blow but to win 5-1 in a World Cup knockout tie, be through to the quarter-finals and make history, that shows we are a team,” said the midfielder.

“It was not easy after the other day but today we saw the character of the players and I hope we have a lot of days left here.”

Spain were simply a class above a Swiss side who had reached the last 16 without conceding a goal but whose exit means they have still never won a major tournament knockout game.

The United States, who have underwhelmed so far in their pursuit of an unprecedented third Women’s World Cup crown in a row, play Sweden on Sunday in Melbourne.

It pits the two top-ranked sides left in the tournament after world number two Germany’s shock early exit.

The top-ranked US won their last Women’s World Cup encounter 2-0 in 2019 on their way to the title, but world number three Sweden were 3-0 winners when they last met at the Tokyo Olympics.

United States coach Vlatko Andonovski admitted the underfire title-holders were lucky to still be in the tournament after some insipid displays.

They stumbled out of their group in second place with one win — against Vietnam — and nervy draws with the Netherlands and Portugal.

“The fact we are in, we are lucky, but we are moving on,” said Andonovski.

In Sunday’s other last-16 encounter, the 2019 runners-up the Netherlands must avoid becoming the latest top team to go out at the hands of a lower-ranked opponent.

South Africa, 54th in the world, beat Italy 3-2 to grab a place in the knockouts and defeating the Dutch would be another major upset.

“Look, we’ve been underestimated so many times before,” South Africa’s coach Desiree Ellis said on the eve of the game.

“I think this group has shown that nothing can stand in their way.

“This group has shown that when the chips are down, they can stand up.”

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Organisers of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup – scheduled later this year in Australia and New Zealand – said they were close to selling one million tickets, reported BBC. 

According to the report, around 850,000 tickets have already been sold for the event that takes place between July 20 and August 20, 2023.

“2023 is going to be a landmark moment for women’s football,” said Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura.

A FIFA spokesperson also informed the British broadcaster that over the next weeks, the one million ticket sale milestone will be crossed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the ninth edition of the tournament, featuring 32 teams.

As women’s sports are gathering more and more viewership across the globe, FIFA expects the football megaevent to surpass a record 1.5 million ticket sales and around 2 billion viewers on television.

The United States women’s football team will defend their title at the event which begins with a grand opening ceremony at Eden Park, Auckland before the first match between co-hosts New Zealand and former World champions Norway.

A total of 64 matches will be played across ten venues in nine different cities of the Australian continent.

The final will take place on 20 August at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Eight teams will feature in their first FIFA Women’s World Cup which includes Haiti, Republic of Ireland, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Vietnam and Zambia.

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ALAJUELA: United States of America (USA) started their FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup campaign on a high as the side defeated Ghana 3-0 in the Group D match on Thursday.

The young USA side displayed their domination over Ghana for the majority of the match as the team had significantly better pass accuracy and possession than the latter and hence ran away with a consolidating 3-0 victory.

USA were off to a flying start to their opening match as Michelle Ivory Cooper struck in the 11th minute of the game to hand the side an early lead.

The two sides then remained involved in a hard fight and tested each other’s defences and it seemed that the first half would conclude with the unchanged scoreboard before Alyssa Paola Thompson sneaked through the Ghana defence to enhance USA’s lead to 2-0.

Team USA then had a similar start to the second half as Alysson Marie Sentnor took just six minutes to net the third goal for the side.

Ghana then looked to cut USA’s dominating lead but remained unable to do so as the USA defence did well to bar them from netting the ball.

Following this victory, the USA secured the top position in Group D, while the opening match defeat resulted in Ghana dropping to the bottom.

The second day of the world cup features three more matches including the defending champion Japan starting their campaign as they take on the Netherlands at Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto.

The action-filled tournament is being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and will be simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

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MONTERREY: Jamaica secured a berth at the 2023 Women’s World Cup on Monday, while reigning world champion United States and Olympic champion Canada stayed unbeaten in the CONCACAF W tournament.

Jamaica’s Trudi Carter scored in the 26th minute, captain Khadija Shaw followed in the 59th and 70th and Drew Spence struck in the 79th as the “Reggae Girlz” defeated Haiti 4-0 to claim the last available semi-final berth at the tournament, and a spot in next year’s global football showdown in Australia and New Zealand.

US reserve Kristie Mewis scored in the 90th minute to give the Americans a 1-0 victory over 10-woman Mexico, who lost Jacqueline Ovalle to a red card for fouling Rose Lavelle in the 73rd minute. The win gave the United States the Group A crown.

Canada’s Jessie Fleming scored in the fifth minute and Sophie Schmidt followed in the 70th to produce a 2-0 victory over Costa Rica and gave their team the Group B title.

Two-time defending Women’s World Cup champion United States, Canada and Costa Rica had already qualified for next year’s World Cup by clinching spots in Thursday’s semi-finals, where the Americans will face Costa Rica and Canada will play Jamaica.

Panama and Haiti each finished third in group play to book berths in a February global qualifying event for three final Women’s World Cup berths.

Marta Cox scored in the 43rd minute to give Panama a 1-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago.

The North American regional tournament is a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics as well.

The winner of next Monday’s CONCACAF final will secure a 2024 Paris Olympic berth. The runner-up and third-place teams will meet in a playoff next year to determine another Summer Games qualifier.

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