The DFB team will start their journey home when the World Cup really gets going. For the Germans, the tournament is a debacle, while others are trumping, including supposedly “little ones” – and the hostesses. It’s good for the mood.
1. If you want the title, you have to defeat the “little ones”.
“When I was younger and watched women’s football, there were more high results where you can see a 12-0,” says 21-year-old Lena Oberdorf. In 2019, the USA beat Thailand 13-0 at the last World Cup. Just four years later, the highest result is a 7-0 win over Vietnam by the Netherlands – a class difference, sure, but it’s becoming rarer. “I find it extremely exciting that there are so many close results, where details are crucial, where things can go both ways. That’s exactly where women’s football has to go,” says Oberdorf. The development in recent years has been extremely fast. The DFB team also had to experience that, they are eliminated in a group with debutants Morocco and the underdogs Colombia and South Korea. The serial winner Germany no longer exists, the last title is the Olympic victory in 2016 – that was seven years ago.
National coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg watches “almost every game” because it brings her joy: what she expected has happened: “That there were many close results, a lot of physique, a lot of tenacity, that you played every game with everything you had to play. It shows how much football has grown together.” Before the start of the World Cup, there was great concern: For the first time, FIFA will allow 32 teams to play instead of the previous 24 nations. Will the achievements stand up to a World Cup? After the group phase it is clear: Yes, they have. The debutantes from Portugal had the USA on the brink of defeat – and almost threw the double world champions out of the tournament. The Olympic champions from Canada missed out on making the knockout stages, as did the co-favorites from Brazil and Germany.
2. Minimalism is also possible
The DFB team has a goal difference of 8:3 and is out. Other teams have done it more efficiently, such as Morocco in the same group. The North Africans got two more points, so the high 0:6 defeat against Germany doesn’t matter. The goal difference in Jamaica is very narrowly positive. With a single goal scored, but also not conceding a goal, they get five points in the group with Brazil – and throw the co-favorites out of the tournament. Switzerland, coached by DFB legend Inka Grings, only scored one more goal (2-0) – and even won Group A with five points.
That’s what matters: getting through the group stage – no matter how close. The Germans can’t buy anything from their one big win. Switzerland and Jamaica led the way when it mattered, wresting a draw from favorites Norway and Brazil in the last group game, getting exactly the result they needed. The DFB-Elf failed to do that twice. It is also clear for Jamaica and Switzerland that draws in the knockout stages are impossible. But always scoring just one more goal than the opponents would eventually lead to the title.
3. Japan is the surprise of the group stage
Three wins, 11-0 goals – no team completed the group stage more confidently than Japan. Among them is a 4-0 win against the highly talented Spaniards and a 5-0 win against Germany-Schreck Zambia at the start. The Asians, who won the title at the tournament in Germany in 2011 and became vice world champions again in 2015, had nobody on their list as big favorites. The last success seemed too long ago, in 2019 the end came in the round of 16. The public lost sight of the team. Efforts to attract young players were too sluggish, symbolic of this development was captain Saki Kumagai, who had played a very mixed season at FC Bayern.
But there is no sign of lameness at this tournament. Japan plows through the group stage, brimming with confidence and efficiency. Hinata Miyazawa has scored four goals in three games, as have Alexandra Popp, Mina Tanaka and Riko Ueki two each. Against Spain, the Japanese trump with merciless counter-football. They were solid defensively and used their degrees. Especially in the first half almost every shot resulted in a goal.
Coach Futoshi Ikeda had set up his team tactically perfectly. He had priced in that it would be difficult to gain a lot of possession against the Spaniards. Just 23 percent end up in the statistics. But the possession of the ball didn’t help the southern Europeans at all, Ikeda had changed his tactical formation from a daring 3-4-2-1 to a 5-4-1, the full-backs were deep, robbed the Spaniards of chances, the midfield moved up and pushed the opponents back early. This adaptability is a trump card in a tournament with many different teams, it was missing from the Germans, who had been unsettled by Colombia and South Korea.
In the round of 16, Japan now meets Norway, who just barely made it through the group stage. After the performance in the first three games, the team is the clear favorite – also for greater success in this tournament.
4. This is how the USA does not get the third title in a row
Centimeters were missing and the USA would have been eliminated from the World Cup in the group stage. Portugal had the double world champions on the brink of defeat, only the post saved the necessary 0-0 for Vlatko Andonovski’s team after the 3-0 win against Vietnam and the 1-1 win against the Netherlands had not yet meant a breakthrough . How much FIFA believed in such a thing is now shown in an absurd statement in the round of 16. The Netherlands group winners’ game will be played at night time for the Netherlands, while the USA’s game will be played in the middle of the night for the USA.
The performance of the USA and Germany is not entirely surprising. Since Andonovski took over the team in 2019 after defending the world title, things have not been running smoothly – measured by their own self-image. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, for example, it was “only” enough for bronze, in the semi-finals the USA lost to the eventual Olympic champion Canada. The team has clearly lost its dominance, the game plan is no longer obvious under Andonovski, the team does not tolerate adjustments during the games well and so a lot goes through the middle, the wings are involved less often, their game is more predictable for the opponents.
Yes, the USA are also plagued by injuries, experienced central defender Beckie Sauerbrunn was out at the last minute, Julie Ertz and Rose Lavelle are only gradually recovering, others cannot even be included in the squad. But the US has a large pool of players. Even the legends that are there for USA make no difference. Alex Morgan is not an outstanding personality of this tournament, Meghan Rapinoe only comes off the bench – and has more the role of the crowd’s favorite than the game decider.
In the round of 16 there will be a duel with the strong, esprit-spreading Swedes, who marched through the group with three wins and 9-1 goals. Which are dangerous in standards as well as in pressing. This duel took place in the group stage of the Olympic tournament a good two years ago – Sweden won 3-0. It was the first big warning shot in Andonovski’s tenure that the dominance was breaking. In the USA, however, everyone is expecting the third title in a row, the pressure is great. If the team plays like they did against Portugal, the tournament should be over quickly.
5. Australia’s hype can only get bigger
For one of the hosts, the World Cup already has everything it needs in terms of ingredients for a formative tournament: almost 80,000 spectators at the opening game, the tragic figure in the form of captain Sam Kerr, who is injured, a damper in the second game, the danger of being eliminated and the furious 4-0 victory over Canada, which never raised concerns that Australia might have to leave the tournament early. On the contrary, this game, the offensive power, the joy of playing, the cohesion in the team let the hopes of the really big coup grow.
Australia FA chief executive James Johnson hailed the women’s footballers enthusiastically: “Their unwavering spirit and resilience are in line with our nation’s values and their success on the pitch has made them a symbol of national pride. To see Australia united behind this one team is very inspiring.”
The World Cup arrives in the country, the opening game is moved to the big Olympic Stadium because there are so many ticket sales. The atmosphere crackles in the third group game – and now the team is returning to the Olympic Stadium in the round of 16. It’s against Denmark, for the northern Europeans around the new Munich player Pernille Harder things have not gone well so far. In addition, it is likely that Kerr will return to the field – which again increases the quality and electrifies the fans. Her every move is closely watched, with reports even mentioning the small detail that she smiled in training when she first acted with the team again.
And by the way, the tournament in Australia and New Zealand is already setting records: In the group phase, 1.2 million viewers were already in the stadium than at the entire 2019 World Cup. The channel Seven, which can show some games on free TV, during the Streaming service Optus Sport owns the rights, reports record ratings. The Matildas’ win against Canada was watched by 5.32 million Australians on television – making it the most-watched program in 2023. Messages that reach the public, including those who (so far) have not watched football because they consider Aussie football or cricket is more important. So it’s quite possible that one or the other will become even more curious. The further Australia progresses in the tournament, the more likely this is. So far, Australia have been through in the quarter-finals at the latest, but the home tournament seems to inspire the team.