Sweden secured their fourth Women’s World Cup bronze medal on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over co-hosts Australia in the third-place playoff. The match took place at Lang Park in Brisbane.
In the 28th minute, a VAR review confirmed that Australia’s Clare Hunt had fouled Stina Blackstenius, resulting in a penalty for Sweden. Fridolina Rolfo successfully converted the spot kick to give Sweden the lead.
Sweden extended their advantage shortly after the hour mark when captain Kosovare Asllani fired a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area past Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Although Australia was disappointed with yet another defeat, this result marked their best-ever performance in the Women’s World Cup, as they had never previously advanced past the quarter-final stage.
Both teams fielded the same starting lineups from their respective semi-final matches. Australia had lost 3-1 to England, while Sweden had been defeated 2-1 by Spain. The final will be contested between England and Spain on Sunday.
Sweden began the game in a dominant fashion and came close to taking an early lead when Blackstenius unleashed a powerful shot across the goal. However, Arnold made a crucial save, and Australian defender Ellie Carpenter cleared the ball.
The Matildas soon found their rhythm and initiated counter-attacks, with Hayley Raso leading the charge. However, her attempts were thwarted by the Swedish goalkeeper, Zecira Musovic.
Just before Sweden was awarded a penalty, Rolfo hit the crossbar with a header from Asllani’s excellent cross. The 49,461 spectators in attendance expressed their disapproval of the decision, showering boos upon the ruling.
As the game intensified, Arnold made a fantastic save to deny Rolfo’s free kick in the dying moments of the first half.
Australia fell further behind when Asllani capitalized on a swift counter-attack, much to the delight of her teammates, who surrounded her in celebration.
Despite Australia’s numerical advantage, they failed to regain momentum and ran out of energy and ideas. Their chances of staging a comeback were further diminished when Sam Kerr, their top scorer, sustained an injury late in the game. Sweden ultimately cruised to victory.