The Australia vs. Canada match would end up determining which team can advance to the Round of 16 and which team would enter crisis/inquest mode. The Matildas ensured that they would be the former after thrashing Canada 4-0 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (aka AAMI Stadium).
Australia came in essentially needing a win to advance and played with urgency from the opening whistle. Canada were second best in everything and ended up third in the group after Nigeria and Republic of Ireland played to a 0-0 draw in Brisbane.
The will-she-play-or-won’t-she-play story of Sam Kerr became academic after Hayley Raso scored a pair of goals in the first half and then Mary Fowler and Steph Catley added a pair in the second half.
It’s a sense of relief for Australia who avoided becoming the second host to not make it past the group stage in the Women’s World Cup after New Zealand became the first the previous night. For Canada, they became the first Olympic Champion to not make it to the quarterfinals of the subsequent World Cup.
After the intense scrutiny that Tony Gustavsson faced after the loss to Nigeria, he deservedly receives heaps of praise for his game plan on this night in Melbourne. It started with Kerr giving her teammates a pre-match speech he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Part of the reason why I also think that it was so united and performed the way that they did was Sam said to the team, ‘Make sure you win without me, so that I can get another week to train and recover and get healthy.’ And the team responded and said, ‘Yes we will. You sit on the bench tonight, and we’ll win for you,’” said Gustavsson.
“You can almost see that commitment from the players – ‘Let’s do it.’ [Kerr is], in my opinion the best striker in the world. [To] still go out and play the fluent football that we did and score four goals against the Olympic champions, I think it’s very impressive.”
As impressive as Australia were, Canada were simply horrid and this may be the San Pedro Sula moment for the women’s team where they needed a draw and ended up like they had been in a fight with Amanda Nunes. A good deal of this should fall on Canada Soccer, not the least of reasons is not having a prep match before the start of the tournament. This combined with the myriad of issues facing Canada Soccer, particularly as it relates to the women’s team, and some will point that it’s another example of the country’s federation getting in the way of itself.
For now, Australia went from the depths of potential elimination to the top of the group and now get to host their second round opponent at Stadium Australia on Monday–and give Kerr more time to heal that calf. Whether she plays or not, the performance on Monday night was very encouraging for further progress.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – JULY 31: Hikaru Naomoto of Japan and Ona Batlle of Spain compete for the ball during the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Group C match between Japan and Spain at Wellington Regional Stadium on July 31, 2023 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Japan 4-0 Spain
Whoever created the meme of the Japanese men’s national team with the faces of famous male anime characters is now obligated to do the same for the women’s team (Sailor Moon as captain of course!). It was a surprise thrashing in Wellington and now the talk about Spain being a potential dark horse has been usurped by Japan. This was a message sent by Japan that they are contenders yet again and now look to be favorites against Norway on Sunday (3am CT, FS1/Telemundo) in Wellington.
Costa Rica 1-3 Zambia
Congratulations to Zambia for netting their first win in World Cup history, men’s or women’s. Of course, the men have never qualified for one. As for the Ticas, it’s another first round exit and the third team from Concacaf to suffer that fate. It also sends a chilling prospect that all six Concacaf sides go out in the first round (though it’s not the likeliest of scenarios considering the USA plays on Tuesday).
