Women’s World Cup Daily: Sweden sends message; France bests Brazil

Sweden punched its ticket to the knockout stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a comfortable win over Italy on Saturday at Wellington Regional Stadium.

France won its heavyweight matchup with Brazil in Group F, but neither team will know its fate until the final day of group play after Jamaica made history by beating Panama.

Here’s a recap of everything that happened on Day 10 of the tournament and a preview of what to expect on Day 11:

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

— Sweden routed Italy 5-0 in the opening match of the day, tying its second-largest margin of victory at the Women’s World Cup. It won 8-0 against Japan in the 1991 Women’s World Cup.

Read more: Sweden sends a warning shot to future challengers, including USA

— Sweden scored three first-half goals in the span of seven minutes, seven seconds. Sweden is the second team to score three goals in one half at this year’s tournament after Spain.

— Eugenie Le Sommer, France’s all-time leading goalscorer, became the first French player to score at three women’s World Cups, and at age 34, she became France’s oldest women’s World Cup scorer.

— Wendie Renard, who scored the match-winner against Brazil, moved up to second on France’s all-time scoring list at the Women’s World Cup with five goals. Only Le Sommer (6) has scored more.

Read more: World Cup NOW: Wendie Renard paves the way for France

— France coach Hervé Renard became the first-ever coach to win a match at the men’s and women’s World Cup. Renard was the coach when Saudi Arabia beat Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

— Jamaica won its first-ever Women’s World Cup match by scoring its second goal ever at the tournament. Panama can no longer advance to the round of 16 with the loss.

— Australia’s star striker Sam Kerr said Saturday that she plans on playing in the Matlidas’ final group stage match against Canada on Monday. Kerr missed the first two group stage matches with a calf injury. Meanwhile, Norway’s Ada Hegerberg and England’s Keira Walsh will not play in the group stage finale due to their respective injuries.

Read more: Sam Kerr available for Australia’s group-stage finale: ‘I’m going to be ready’

— The United States not advancing past the group stage of the Women’s World Cup seems unthinkable — but it’s a possibility if it doesn’t take care of business against Portugal on Tuesday. “The objective is to win the game and get out of the group and hopefully win the group,” U.S. midfielder Andi Sullivan said. “It’s just survive and move on.

Read more: USWNT ‘knows what’s on the line’ against Portugal

— Not that long ago, it seemed the USWNT was preparing for a Women’s World Cup without its defensive anchor, Julie Ertz. Now, Ertz is back to being an invaluable piece of the puzzle. “No matter what position on the field she’s in, she wants to know exactly what the objectives are, not just for herself but for the entire team,” Sullivan said.

Read more: For USWNT, Julie Ertz has been just ‘what we needed’ 

RECAPPING THE DAY

Assist of the Day: Double-header

Kadidiatou Diani could have done the selfish thing and tried to head the ball in herself but instead, she made right play and headed the ball to Eugénie Le Sommer, who had a better angle for the header.

Save of the Day:

Costa Rica’s Yenith Bailey was sensational against Jamaica. Without her contributions in goal, the Reggae Girlz might have put the game on ice in the first half.

Goal of the Day: Around the back

Even against Italy’s tired and defeated back line, Rebecka Blomqvist’s solo run to give Sweden its fifth goal of the match was still impressive. Her soft touch and explosive speed allowed her to pass the ball to herself and create a fast break opportunity, which she calmly finished.

Must-See Moment: Set piece specialists

Sweden scored not one …

… not two …

… but three headers its 5-0 win over Italy on Saturday.

 If Sweden keeps this up, its opponents might have to consider putting all 11 players in the box.

LOOKING AHEAD

FOX Sports research numbers to know

16 — Age of South Korea striker Casey Phair, who became the youngest-ever player to make an appearance at the Women’s World Cup in South Korea’s 2-0 loss to Colombia.

Group H: South Korea vs. Morocco (coverage starts at 11:30 p.m. ET, with kickoff at 12:30 a.m. on FOX)

8 — Previous WWC host nations to advance from group stage. In other words, as every WWC host nation has advanced from the group stage can New Zealand keep the streak alive? The Football Ferns missed their first chance to do that when upset 1-0 by the Philippines. Destiny is in their hands — beat Switzerland and they advance. Draw and they will need help — a Philippines draw.

Group A: Switzerland vs. New Zealand (coverage starts at 2:30 a.m. ET, with kickoff at 3 a.m. on FOX)

0 — Number of goals scored by Norway so far at WWC. This from a team that features Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg (all-time leading scorer in the UEFA Champions League, 59), Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen (44 goals, 100 caps) and Chelsea’s Guro Reiten (11 assists this season, most in WSL.)

Group A: Norway vs. Philippines (coverage starts at 2:30 a.m. ET, with kickoff at 3 a.m. on FS1)

20 — Consecutive WWC group stage games won by Germany after beating Morocco, 6-0 in the opener (16W, 4D.) Against the Atlas Lionesses, Germany had 74 percent possession and outshot the WWC debutants, 18-5. Germany has now won six straight opening WWC games, outscoring their opponents, 34-2. The last time Germany lost a WWC group game was to Sweden (3-2) in 1995.

Group H: Germany vs. Colombia (coverage starts at 5 a.m. ET, with kickoff at 5:30 a.m. on FS1)

---

---