2023 WWC: England, Australia, Spain, Sweden battle for final place
By babagana jidda kanempress
15 The semi-final of the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
No African countries are in the Women’s World Cup at this stage of the competition.
Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco were the last African countries which were eliminated from the competition in the Round of 16 stage.
The Super Falcons of Nigeria lost 4-2 via penalty against England following a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes.
Morocco was thrashed 4-0 against France, while South Africa lost 2-0 against the Netherlands.
Ahead of Tuesday and Wednesday’s semi-final fixtures, four countries, which have made it to this stage are Sweden, Spain, Australia and England.
Spain will clash with Sweden in the first game of the semi-final fixtures on Tuesday, while Australia will tackle England in the second game on Wednesday.
Prior to the semi-final stage, Spain had defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the quarter-final encounter, while Sweden won 2-1 against Japan.
Australia won 7-6 against France via penalty shoot-out following a 0-0 draw after 120 minutes, and England defeated Colombia 2-1.
Analyzing the four teams in the semi-final stage, the four countries, Sweden, Spain, Australia and Englan in the semi-final stage of the Women’s World Cup have all been impressive in the competition so far.
It is sad that no African country made it to this stage, particularly the Super Falcons of Nigeria, which puts in a good fight against England in the last-16.
Australia topped Group B with six points, and Spain finished in second position in Group C with six points also.
England topped Group D with nine points, and Sweden also topped Group G with nine points.
The four teams all went on to win their matches both in the Round of 16 and in the quarter-final.
Smart also gave his predictions on the two countries that could reach the final of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
England and Sweden have not lost a game in the competition, and both teams finished first in the respective Groups.
Australia, which is the co-host of the competition, lost only one game against Nigeria (3-2) in the group stage, same with Spain, which lost woefully against Japan (4-0) in the group stage. But that did not take away the fact that both teams have so far had exceptional outings in the competition.
