Denmark sends Haiti home
English goal flood ends China’s World Cup hopes
08/01/2023, 3:05 p.m
The last World Cup preliminary round matches in group D are clear affairs: England only briefly lets China participate in the game and wins clearly – also thanks to an outstanding Lauren James. Meanwhile, a new signing from Bayern leads Denmark into the knockout stages.
European champions England stormed into the round of 16 at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with an impeccable record. The Lionesses also won their third group game against China 6-1 (3-0) in Adelaide and, with the maximum haul of nine points, made it into the knockout round of a World Cup for the sixth time in total.
Lauren James (41’/66′), Alessia Russo (4′), Lauren Hemp (26′), EM heroine Chloe Kelly (77′) and Rachel Daly (84′) scored the goals for efficient England women at Coopers Stadium, who had previously beaten Denmark and outsiders Haiti 1-0 in Group D. In the round of 16 on Monday (9.30 a.m. CET), Nigeria is now waiting for the in-form team of team manager Sarina Wiegman.
Even without their injured pacemaker Keira Walsh, the Lionesses immediately took control of the game in front of 13,497 spectators. Russo scored her first goal of the tournament early on with a low shot. The Chinese didn’t have anything to oppose for a long time, while the enthusiastic English team led by Bayern star Georgia Stanway extended their lead. After a handball from Lucy Bronze, Wang Shuang (57th) scored the Chinese consolation goal with a penalty.
Denmark struggles against Haiti
In the parallel game in Group D, Bayern newcomer Pernille Harder led the Danish footballers to the round of 16. The Northern Europeans defeated newcomers Haiti 2-0 (1-0) with a lot of effort and are thus in the knockout round of a World Cup for the first time since 1995. As runners-up in the group, they will face the furiously playing co-hosts Australia in the round of 16 on Monday (12.30 p.m. CET).
Underdog Haiti, on the other hand, was eliminated with zero points and zero goals. Harder, who moved to Munich from Chelsea, scored the 1-0 (21st minute) with a hand penalty, Sanne Troelsgaard (90th + 10th) made the final score.
The Danes started extremely determined, an early goal by Simone Boye Sörensen was ruled out for offside (4′). But the dominance remained enormous, Haiti hardly managed to get possession of the ball. Dayana Pierre-Louis made a clear handball in the penalty area, Harder stayed cold. As a result, the outsider acted more courageously and showed himself with quick switching actions occasionally on the offensive.
After the break, the Danes switched more to management mode and carefully let the ball circulate in their own ranks. So there was hardly any danger in the penalty area. For his part, Haiti acted too imprecisely with his few attacks on the last pass.