Football

The Women’s World Cup has a playoff on the schedule. What do the eight-final pairings look like?

The battles in the preliminary groups of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand are over. The knockout phase kicks off on Saturday. Who will face who for a position among the top eight teams and what is the schedule for the eight finals?

Published

10 months ago

3. 8. 2023

Michal Jelínek

Switzerland – Spain

The eight-final programme will start with a clash of European teams. Although the Swiss qualified for the play-offs from first place in Group A, their 2-0 win over the Philippines was rather unique in the context of recent times. It was the only win for the national team of the Helvetic Cross country in the last ten matches.

Even with goalless draws against Norway and home New Zealand, the Czech coach Jitka Klimkova’s side picked up a total of five points in the main part of the competition. Their opponents from Spain are in better current form, yet they did not avoid hesitation.

After clear victories of 3:0 over Costa Rica and 5:0 over Zambia, they ended their performance in Group C with an unexpectedly high defeat by Japan 0:4.

Japan – Norway

Japan, who dominated the entire Women’s World Cup in 2011, made it through the group stage without dropping a point with an overall score of 11:0. The representatives of Norwegian football, which conquered the world stage in 1995, will not have an easy task.

The Northerners gradually picked up the pace during the Group A group stage, losing 0:1 to the New Zealanders, drawing 0:0 with the Swiss and winning 6:0 against the Philippines. The last time the two teams played each other was five years ago when the Japanese won 4:1.

Netherlands – South Africa

One of the surprises of the ongoing championship was the South Africans. With four points, they secured their qualification for the play-offs from second place. They only lost to the Swedes 1:2, drew 2:2 with the Argentines and beat the Italians 3:2 in the deciding match.

The South African team will also be the underdogs in the eight-final against the reigning world champions. The Dutch were the best placed team in Group E after beating the Portuguese 1-0 and the Vietnamese 7-0 and drawing 1-1 with the USA in a repeat of the last World Cup final.

The two teams faced each other relatively recently. In a friendly match played last April, the result was clear-cut. The Netherlands won 5:1.

Sweden – USA

The most historically successful country in women’s football was not far from a surprisingly quick finish in the tournament. After a 3:0 win over Vietnam, the United States only recorded two draws – the aforementioned one with the Netherlands and a goalless draw with Portugal. At the end of the last match, a goalpost shot by their opponents saved them from elimination.

This eight-final clash promises to be an interesting and balanced spectacle. The silver medallists from the Olympic Games in Rio and Tokyo fared better in Group G. They won 2-1 against South Africa, 5-0 against Italy and 2-0 against Argentina.

In addition, the Swedes did not score a goal in their clash with four-time world champions USA at the previous year’s Olympics. They beat them 3: 0.

England – Nigeria

The current European champions England are among the favourites for the championship and their results so far confirm this. In Group D, they earned the full nine points by beating Haiti and Denmark 1:0 and then China 6:1.

On the other hand, Nigeria’s progress was not as expected, but they still outperformed Olympic champions Canada in the final standings. They drew 0:0 with them, as well as with the Irish, and also beat the home team Australia 3:2. The English and Nigerians have played once at the World Cup, in 1995 the island team won 3:2.

Australia – Denmark

Australian players give joy to the crowded stands at the Women’s World Cup, which for the first time is attended by 32 teams. With six points from their 1-0 win over Ireland and 4-0 win over Canada, they finished first in Group B.

For the Danes, the same points from their 1-0 win over China and 2-0 win over Haiti were enough to finish second in their group. However, they have not scored any goals so far and will be looking to do the same in the eighth round. The last time the teams met was last October, when the team from Europe lost 1: 3 at home.

Colombia – Jamaica

Another duel of the opening round of the knockout phase has a rather exotic composition from the domestic football point of view. However, both teams are deservedly in the eighth finals, given the results in the matches against the stronger national teams.

The Colombians, thanks to the goals of 18-year-old star Linda Caicedo, managed to beat the South Koreans (2:0) and the Germans (2:1). On the other hand, they lost 0:1 to the Moroccans. The Jamaicans first drew 0-0 with France and beat Panama 1-0. They then sent home the favored Brazilians with the legendary Marta, again after a goalless draw.

For example, the Colombian and Jamaican footballers ran into each other at the 2019 Pan American Games. In Peru, the first-named team won 2: 0.

France – Morocco

The final day of the group part of the World Cup brought one more surprise. The Germans, whose predecessors dominated the tournament in 2003 and 2007, had an amicable 1-1 draw with South Korea, which sent them out of the game for good.

The fact that they defeated Morocco 6:0 at the start of the championship did not make any difference. Unlike the German favourites, it was the North African team that secured promotion with a 1-0 victory over Colombia.

The Moroccans will face the French, who after an opening draw with Jamaica have improved their taste and especially their points tally with wins over Brazil (2: 1) and Panama (6: 3). France is expected to win the eighth round as well. However, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has already brought many surprises.