With Germany going out, the US is now the only nation that has advanced out of the Group Stages in every edition of the WWC.
Women’s World Cup ‘23 Game Thread (spoilers)
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Morocco's manager looks like a cross between Pirlo and Kloppo. Also, Morocco on the up and up, eh!
Feel a lot better with US underperforming seeing Zee Womennschaft and Brazil out
But 106 minutes? wow (with 9 showing)
But 106 minutes? wow (with 9 showing)
South Korea had a lot of injuries (or "injuries") that necessitated medical service and stretchers. And not much less so in the last 15' of normal time than in added time. There was nothing untoward about the time-keeping.
The fact that the lower-half teams have been relatively plucky underdogs plus the removal of the "some 3rd place teams go through" safety net has made for simply terrific drama.
Totally agree. How many of these teams even put up a stinker in the group stage? Just looking at the 4th-place teams,
Weren't entirely out of their league:
- Philippines (1-0-2, -7 GD) managed to beat the hosts New Zealand, and had a very respectable 2-0 loss to Switzerland
- Ireland (0-1-2, -2 GD) drew 0-0 with Nigeria and had 1-goal losses to Australia and Canada
- Haiti (0-0-3, -4 GD) failed to score but had 3 close games with a bunch of chances created in them, and were routinely threatening Denmark. 1-0 loss to England is a great result. They belong.
- Argentina (0-1-2, -3 GD), this is their 4th WWC, have never won a game but are no longer out of place, both in 2019 and 2023 (Which was not the case their first 2 cups).
- South Korea (0-1-2, -3 GD) just knocked out Germany with a 1-1 draw, after 1-0 and 2-0 losses. This is their 4th WWC and 3rd in a row, and they made the R16 in 2015, so they are on this level, just had a tough group.
Okay, kinda an embarrassment:
- Costa Rica (0-0-3, -7 GD) looked kinda bad except in the second half of the game against Spain, where they kept Spain off the board in the second half. Didn't even have the worst GD of the group (Zambia -8), but they did lose to them head-to-head. 2-0 to Japan is an honorable scoreline but anyone who watched those games knows they weren't ready for this level. They also made the 2015 WWC, and frankly did better there.
- Vietnam (0-0-3, -12 GD), the less said about them the better. They didn't appear as if they were trying to connect passes or advance the ball. Just 270 minutes of bunker ball.
- Panama (0-0-3, -8 GD), were uncompetitive vs Brazil, made Jamaica work for it but honestly 1-0 kinda flattered Panama, and then they had that wonder free kick at 3' vs France but soon thereafter were down 5-1 and France eased off the gas.
And add:
- Zambia (1-0-2, -8 GD) finished 3rd but were thoroughly outclassed by both Spain and Japan, 5-0 losses each. They overcame a lot to even be here, but need some more seasoning.
That's really not too shabby given that teams ~20-24 last time around were also kinda run off the field (Thailand, but also Jamaica, South Africa, etc). One could be forgiven for thinking that the expansion would be a disaster, but it really wasn't. How did the confederations do with their extra slots?
Of the 8 marginal teams who only made it because of expansion,
- 2 made the knockouts (Nigeria, Switzerland)
- 1 finished in 3rd place only by a whisker (Portugal), in a group that contained both 2019 finalists
- 2 finished last but competed well, belonged (Ireland, Haiti)
- 3 finished last in somewhat embarrassing fashion (Panama, Costa Rica, Vietnam)
Next time around, I think you could give another ICPO bid to UEFA, perhaps at the expense of CONCACAF or CONMEBOL, without much complaint. The 3 highest-ranked teams who didn't qualify were all from UEFA (#15 Iceland, #18 Austria, #19 Belgium, not counting #10 North Korea who withdrew). But really, the whole approach has been pretty validated start to finish, even down to the bid allocation.
Compare that to, I dunno, the 2007 WWC. You had Argentina (-17 GD), Ghana (-12), New Zealand (-9), just out of 4 groups. It's clear that the depth of the international women's game has been expanding faster than the WWC tournament has.
(and if anyone wants me to detail why that is - i.e., how many players on fringe-ier teams are now playing at fully professional and very competitive club leagues - I'm happy to go into it, since I crunched the data a few days ago).
Weren't entirely out of their league:
- Philippines (1-0-2, -7 GD) managed to beat the hosts New Zealand, and had a very respectable 2-0 loss to Switzerland
- Ireland (0-1-2, -2 GD) drew 0-0 with Nigeria and had 1-goal losses to Australia and Canada
- Haiti (0-0-3, -4 GD) failed to score but had 3 close games with a bunch of chances created in them, and were routinely threatening Denmark. 1-0 loss to England is a great result. They belong.
- Argentina (0-1-2, -3 GD), this is their 4th WWC, have never won a game but are no longer out of place, both in 2019 and 2023 (Which was not the case their first 2 cups).
- South Korea (0-1-2, -3 GD) just knocked out Germany with a 1-1 draw, after 1-0 and 2-0 losses. This is their 4th WWC and 3rd in a row, and they made the R16 in 2015, so they are on this level, just had a tough group.
Okay, kinda an embarrassment:
- Costa Rica (0-0-3, -7 GD) looked kinda bad except in the second half of the game against Spain, where they kept Spain off the board in the second half. Didn't even have the worst GD of the group (Zambia -8), but they did lose to them head-to-head. 2-0 to Japan is an honorable scoreline but anyone who watched those games knows they weren't ready for this level. They also made the 2015 WWC, and frankly did better there.
- Vietnam (0-0-3, -12 GD), the less said about them the better. They didn't appear as if they were trying to connect passes or advance the ball. Just 270 minutes of bunker ball.
- Panama (0-0-3, -8 GD), were uncompetitive vs Brazil, made Jamaica work for it but honestly 1-0 kinda flattered Panama, and then they had that wonder free kick at 3' vs France but soon thereafter were down 5-1 and France eased off the gas.
And add:
- Zambia (1-0-2, -8 GD) finished 3rd but were thoroughly outclassed by both Spain and Japan, 5-0 losses each. They overcame a lot to even be here, but need some more seasoning.
That's really not too shabby given that teams ~20-24 last time around were also kinda run off the field (Thailand, but also Jamaica, South Africa, etc). One could be forgiven for thinking that the expansion would be a disaster, but it really wasn't. How did the confederations do with their extra slots?
(N.B. there was a "10 teams for 3 bids" inter-continental play-off, or ICPO, here, represented as "1/3" or "2/3" of a bid)
CONCACAF (3.5 -> 4 + 2/3s): In 2019, Panama and Haiti wouldn't have qualified, and Costa Rica would've had to play Argentina in an ICPO (probably losing)
CONMEBOL (2.5 -> 3 + 2/3s): In 2019, the same 3 teams qualify (BRA, COL, ARG), with Argentina playing CONCACAF's 4th team in an ICPO. As it was, Chile and Paraguay went to the playoff but lost to Haiti and Panama respectively.
CAF (3 -> 4 + 2/3s): In 2019, Nigeria (who lost to Zambia in the AfCON 3rd-place game) would've been out, instead they still qualified. Cameroon and Senegal made the ICPO but lost to Portugal (2-1) and Haiti (4-0) respectively.
OFC (1 -> 1 + 1/3d): New Zealand took OFC's auto-bid as host. Papua New Guinea took the consolation ICPO bid, but lost 2-0 to Panama.
AFC (5 -> 6 + 2/3s): Australia took a host bid. Vietnam finished 3rd in their qualifier group, lost to China in the qualifier QFs, but then beat Taiwan and Thailand (who then lost again in the ICPO) to get the 5th and final auto-bid. All QF winners qualified; Philippines beat Taiwan on penalties to go through.
UEFA (9 -> 12 + 1/3d): They did their UEFA thing with 9x groups of 5 or 6, winners auto-qualify, runners-up do a playoff (in 2019 they'd done a preliminary round and only 7 round-robin groups). If this were 2019, the marginal teams who wouldn't have made it were Switzerland, Ireland, and Portugal (who had to also go through the ICPO).
So those marginal teams, who probably wouldn't have made the WWC if it were still a 24-team affair, were: Panama, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Vietnam, Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal.
CONCACAF (3.5 -> 4 + 2/3s): In 2019, Panama and Haiti wouldn't have qualified, and Costa Rica would've had to play Argentina in an ICPO (probably losing)
CONMEBOL (2.5 -> 3 + 2/3s): In 2019, the same 3 teams qualify (BRA, COL, ARG), with Argentina playing CONCACAF's 4th team in an ICPO. As it was, Chile and Paraguay went to the playoff but lost to Haiti and Panama respectively.
CAF (3 -> 4 + 2/3s): In 2019, Nigeria (who lost to Zambia in the AfCON 3rd-place game) would've been out, instead they still qualified. Cameroon and Senegal made the ICPO but lost to Portugal (2-1) and Haiti (4-0) respectively.
OFC (1 -> 1 + 1/3d): New Zealand took OFC's auto-bid as host. Papua New Guinea took the consolation ICPO bid, but lost 2-0 to Panama.
AFC (5 -> 6 + 2/3s): Australia took a host bid. Vietnam finished 3rd in their qualifier group, lost to China in the qualifier QFs, but then beat Taiwan and Thailand (who then lost again in the ICPO) to get the 5th and final auto-bid. All QF winners qualified; Philippines beat Taiwan on penalties to go through.
UEFA (9 -> 12 + 1/3d): They did their UEFA thing with 9x groups of 5 or 6, winners auto-qualify, runners-up do a playoff (in 2019 they'd done a preliminary round and only 7 round-robin groups). If this were 2019, the marginal teams who wouldn't have made it were Switzerland, Ireland, and Portugal (who had to also go through the ICPO).
So those marginal teams, who probably wouldn't have made the WWC if it were still a 24-team affair, were: Panama, Haiti, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Vietnam, Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal.
Of the 8 marginal teams who only made it because of expansion,
- 2 made the knockouts (Nigeria, Switzerland)
- 1 finished in 3rd place only by a whisker (Portugal), in a group that contained both 2019 finalists
- 2 finished last but competed well, belonged (Ireland, Haiti)
- 3 finished last in somewhat embarrassing fashion (Panama, Costa Rica, Vietnam)
Next time around, I think you could give another ICPO bid to UEFA, perhaps at the expense of CONCACAF or CONMEBOL, without much complaint. The 3 highest-ranked teams who didn't qualify were all from UEFA (#15 Iceland, #18 Austria, #19 Belgium, not counting #10 North Korea who withdrew). But really, the whole approach has been pretty validated start to finish, even down to the bid allocation.
Compare that to, I dunno, the 2007 WWC. You had Argentina (-17 GD), Ghana (-12), New Zealand (-9), just out of 4 groups. It's clear that the depth of the international women's game has been expanding faster than the WWC tournament has.
(and if anyone wants me to detail why that is - i.e., how many players on fringe-ier teams are now playing at fully professional and very competitive club leagues - I'm happy to go into it, since I crunched the data a few days ago).
Addendum: Looking back over the 2022 Men's World Cup, there was really only 1 team who clearly didn't belong. No prizes for guessing it was the hosts, Qatar, who finished with the tournament's second-worst goal differential (-6, with 3 losses) and worst xG. The tournament's worst GD was held by Costa at -8, but despite getting boat-raced 7-0 by Spain in their first match, CRC did manage to beat eventual group winners Japan 1-0, and then kept the margin against a desperate Germany close enough to knock them out, so that's a respectable performance. There was only one other team besides Qatar to finish with 0 points from 3 games - we all know who it was - and frankly they were pretty unlucky to do so.
McCauley has a nice breakdown on the USMNT’s attack struggles over at the Athletic. Her central observation:
Spain up early 1-0 over Switzerland. Spain missed their first chance but got the rebound back and didn’t miss a second time.
Own goal by Spain! Holy shit. A pass back to the keeper and just bounces into the net. Spain’s keeper with her first cap.
Now 5-1 Spain.
Just total domination.
Stats at 82:30
Shots: SUI 1, ESP 25
SOG: SUI 1, ESP 9
Corners: SUI 0, ESP 11
Poss: SUI 24%, ESP 61%, in contest: 15%
Just total domination.
Stats at 82:30
Shots: SUI 1, ESP 25
SOG: SUI 1, ESP 9
Corners: SUI 0, ESP 11
Poss: SUI 24%, ESP 61%, in contest: 15%
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Spain and Japan both. They're so fun to watch.
Might have two semifinalists come from the same group.
Might have two semifinalists come from the same group.
So many own goals this torunament.
I liked Japan's jerseys, art deco tie die sort of.
France has a pretty easy draw to the SF imho
I liked Japan's jerseys, art deco tie die sort of.
France has a pretty easy draw to the SF imho
Obviously I hope not, but if we can't get it done vs Sweden (tomorrow at 5am ET!), I'll definitely be rooting for Japan against Sweden.
South Africa have lost two starters to injury in the first 40 minutes, but they have one player #11, who is uncontainable. The Dutch don't have anyone who can even go at 85% her pace.
And van De Donk continues to charge through players' backs. No discipline.
And van De Donk continues to charge through players' backs. No discipline.
You all need to go to bed, we have to be up in 5 1/2 hours for the USA match.
...and just as I write this,
- Yellow for Van de Donk, she misses next match, some justice for Catcher BLock
- Goalkeeping error on a pretty basic save on a shot from distance, it dribbles into the net, 2-0 NED. That's all for me, I'm hitting the hay.
...and just as I write this,
- Yellow for Van de Donk, she misses next match, some justice for Catcher BLock
- Goalkeeping error on a pretty basic save on a shot from distance, it dribbles into the net, 2-0 NED. That's all for me, I'm hitting the hay.
SA fell in love with the long ball in the second half after it gave the Dutch some trouble early on. They had no real plan to build the attack, and it became too easy to defend.
The irony is I hate that rule so much. 2 yellows across 4 games should never be worthy of a suspension. Even 3 games would be too many, but I could live with that.
If there were a player that deserved a suspension in this tournament it was her.. she deserved more cards but just wasn’t called.. I thought against the US she was out there trying to hurt people.
Took out and folded the laundry. Just made a couple aperol spritzes in our new Aperol Sprtiz glasses. LFG!
I’m half-rested but ready. Younger cat is bugging out that I’m up 2 hours early, she is ready as well. LFG.
Where is the 2nd run? Alex with a sublime first touch on the counter but only had a far side runner hiding behind defenders and a 2nd “runner” casually camping 30 yards from goal also out of view.
Sweden have kept their defensive shape pretty well on the counters and US aren’t getting enough bodies forward. Better on the buildup there but couldn’t find the cross.
Keep feeding Rodman. She's the only one who looks like she's interested in attacking.
Morgan and Smith continue to look like they met for the first time at kickoff.
Morgan and Smith continue to look like they met for the first time at kickoff.