Women’s World Cup: England route to final opens up as big guns go home early
t the end of every day at this World Cup, Lucy Bronze has been filling in a wall chart with the results from the tournament.
The right-back did the same during Euro 2022 last summer.
The wall chart is outside England’s meeting room at their training base and, when the players looked at it this morning, they will have realised the huge opportunity in front of them.
The Lionesses were supposed to be on the tough side of the draw, but their path to the final has opened up.
The worst-case scenario was that England would meet co-hosts Australia or Olympic champions Canada in the last 16, before facing Germany in the quarter-finals.
A shock early exit for Germany, who became the latest big team to crash out at the group stage yesterday after being held to a draw by South Korea, has changed all that.
Auf wiedersehen: Alexandra Popp’s face says it all as Germany crash out
/ REUTERSCanada are also out, and England will now face Nigeria, ranked 40th in the world, in the last-16 in Brisbane on Monday. Get through that match and it will be Colombia, ranked 25th in the world, or Jamaica, ranked 43rd, in the quarter-finals.
Despite being heavy favourites to beat Nigeria, Sarina Wiegman will not let her side underestimate their opponents, who have showed already they are capable of pulling off an upset at this tournament.
The Super Falcons stunned co-hosts Australia with a 3-2 win in the group stage and are will likely use a similar tactical blueprint against England. Nigeria sat deep against the Aussies, letting them have the ball and hitting them on the counter.
Australia had more than 60 per cent possession and 28 shots on goal, but were hit with three sucker punches.
Wiegman has stressed the need for England to be ruthless in attack, and that will especially be the case on Monday.
Nigerian’s Asisat Oshoala is a huge threat to England
/ Getty ImagesNigeria’s strength is going forward, where they are led by Barcelona forward Asisat Oshoala, but their defence will concede chances.
England should aim to kill off the game early to extinguish any Nigeria hope of another shock. On the other side of the draw, Brazil have been dumped out, while defending champions the USA have looked vulnerable and just scraped through to the knockout stage.
It is an incredibly open tournament and there is no clear favourite at the last-16 stage.
England are one of only three sides with a 100 per cent record. Japan have probably been the most impressive team so far but underdogs such as Colombia, Jamaica and Nigeria have been the stars of the show, while Morocco and South Africa have also made the last 16.
FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 | England Training | 4th August 2023
The serious stuff starts now and England will hope this is when the gap in quality, and resources, between them and some smaller nations will tell.
The Football Association have paid for the Lionesses to stay at their base in Terrigal, where the facilities are among the best at the World Cup.
It is a far cry from the situation faced by Jamaica, who crowdfunded their way here, or Nigeria, who have been battling with their association over unpaid wages.
After a steady start, England look ready to kick on after their 6-1 win over China. Lauren James is taking the tournament by storm, and England’s new 3-4-1-2 formation has caught everyone by surprise.
The chances of them following up last summer’s Euros triumph have never looked better.
.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp&quality=75)
