The Slay Ballers 2.0 – FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 – Sweden vs Australia Match Preview

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 Semifinal matches are usually such big highlights, as it gives hope to the two winning teams while taking away the hope of winning a trophy from the other two losers. This does not take away the fact that only one team can win the trophy, signifying that one team is merely delaying its disappointment by one match. However, beating an opponent fair and square in a football encounter is always a satisfying prospect, and Sweden and cohost Australia will be looking to achieve some form of respectability by winning the third-place match in the almost-concluded FIFA Women’s World Cup and comfort their runs to the semifinal with a third-place finish. 

Sweden, who were named favourites for their matchup against Sweden, failed to display the form of attacking, disciplined football we have come to see them play in the competition, hitting five shots and putting three on target with just one goal. This result also gives the team a bad record; they have played in four of five FIFA Women's World Cup semifinals and have no trophy to show for it. The match was boring for eighty minutes, and after coming on as a substitute, Paralluelo struck in the eighty-first minute, lashing a low drive into the right side of the net after some confusion in the Swedish box. Rebecka Blomqvist then threw the Swedish part of the stadium into joyous raptures after good work from Lina Hurtig. However, this would prove to be short-lived as Spanish left-back Olga Carmona struck from the edge of the box to give the Spanish the lead barely a hundred seconds after. They then defended in numbers to win the game and get into the final for the very first time in their history. 

In the other semifinal, England took the initiative right from the whistle, playing with much attacking fluency. They were rewarded in the thirty-sixth minute when Ella Toone struck a powerful effort that silenced the stadium for some seconds. Australia responded through star player Sam Kerr in the sixty-third minute with another powerful effort. However, Lauren Hemp reacted fastest to Ellie Carpenter’s mistake, booting the ball into the net to restore the Lionesses’ lead. Kerr would miss two golden chances and would be punished for it when Hemp assisted Russo to put the game out of the reach of the cohosts and book a place in their first World Cup final. 

Both teams have played superbly leading to this point, making it difficult to choose a favorite for the win. I will be backing the cohosts however, with Sam Kerr leading the line to give the country a solid performance and claim the third-place spot for the efforts of the fans so far. 

May the best women’s team win! 



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