Double defending champions, the American players will not go further than the round of 16 of the Football World Cup which takes place in Australia and New Zealand. After a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation time and extra time, Megan Rapinoe’s teammates were eliminated by the Swedish team on penalties (5-4 pens), Sunday August 6 in Melbourne.
The Americans had however dominated the meeting but never managed to deceive the Swedish goalkeeper Zecira Musovic. The Chelsea door postponed everything until the extended penalty shootout, where three American players – including Megan Rapinoe – failed in their attempt.
The first nation in the world ranking of the International Football Federation (FIFA) comes out of a failed competition, where the American players had already come close to elimination after the first group matches. The Swedes, who only managed one shot during the match, will face Japan in the quarter-finals on Friday.
The Netherlands will face Spain in the quarter-finals
For their part, the Netherlands, vice-world champions in 2019, beat South Africa (2-0) in Sydney and will face Spain in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Friday. Effective against 54-ranked South Africanse rank in the FIFA rankings, the Dutch first opened the scoring thanks to Jill Roord, attentive following a corner badly cleared by the defense (9e). The Paris SG player, four goals since the start of the competition, is also behind the second goal signed Lineth Beerensteyn (68e), who took advantage of a handball error by South African goalkeeper Kaylin Swart to double the lead.
This FIFA Women’s World Cup has already reached record attendance, surpassing the 2015 edition in Canada, FIFA also announced on Sunday. Before the round of 16 between the United States and Sweden in Melbourne, 1,339,331 people had already passed through the turnstiles to get to the stadiums, said the Federation which governs international football.