Defending champion USA suffered a dramatic defeat, Sweden 'fought' Japan

Despite being highly rated before the 2023 Women's World Cup, the US women's team only finished 2nd in Group E with 5 points after 3 matches. Meanwhile, the Swedish women's team showed superior strength in Group G with 3 wins. The European representative scored 9 goals and only conceded 1. However, with many quality and experienced players, the US women's team is still rated higher by experts.

Despite criticism of the unconvincing play in previous matches, coach Vlatko Andonovski made only two changes to the lineup. In midfield, Emily Sonnett started in place of Rose Lavelle. In attack, Trinity Rodman replaced Lynn Williams. As for the Swedish women's team, all their best players were in the starting lineup.

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The fateful shot

Unforgettable images at the 2023 Women's World Cup. Defending champion USA (white shirt) was eliminated and received encouragement from Swedish players

REUTERS

The Swedish women's team took to the field with their strongest lineup.

The US women's team is still considered to have the upper hand in this match.

After a few shaky first minutes, the US women's team quickly regained control and dominated the game. They had 63% possession and had 6 shots on goalie Zecira Musovic. Meanwhile, the Swedish women's midfield was almost non-existent and they had no communication at all for the first 45 minutes. The Swedish women's counter-attacks were dull and they often lost possession easily.

The most dangerous chance of the first half came in the 34th minute. From a corner kick on the right wing, US women's team captain Lindsey Horan stepped up and headed a powerful header towards the Swedish women's goal. Zecira Musovic was helpless but unfortunately the ball hit the top edge of the crossbar and flew out.

Lindsey Horan (number 10) headed the ball against the Swedish women's team's crossbar.

Lindsey Horan regrets missed opportunity

In the second half, the US women's team continued to control the game. In the 53rd minute, Lindsey Horan continued to have a chance to finish from close range. But once again, Zecira Musovic played brilliantly, saving the Swedish women's team from conceding a goal.

In the 62nd minute, Crystal Dunn made an early cross from the left wing, sending the ball to Sophia Smith and she had a chance to face goalkeeper Zecira Musovic. Unfortunately, the young player of the US women's team was blocked and the opportunity to open the score was missed.

Goalkeeper Zecira Musovic (red shirt) had an excellent day of competition.

It wasn’t until the 85th minute that Sweden had their first serious chance against the US. Blackstenius dribbled down the right wing and passed the ball to Jakobsson. The yellow number 10 tried to switch to his left foot to finish, but unfortunately the ball went straight to Naeher’s chosen position.

Jakobsson (yellow shirt) takes a dangerous shot towards the goal of the US women's team.

The last dangerous chance in the 90 minutes of official play once again belonged to the US women's team. In the 88th minute, Williams crossed the ball accurately into the penalty area. Alex Morgan jumped high and headed the ball strongly from close range. The US fans stood up, preparing to celebrate, but goalkeeper Zecira Musovic accurately pushed the ball away, causing the match to end in a 0-0 draw and had to go into extra time. Notably, this was the first match in the knockout round of the 2023 Women's World Cup that did not determine a winner in official play time.

Alex Morgan (center) looked like he could have finished the game with a classy header

Goalkeeper Zecira Musovic played brilliantly

The extra time continued to see the stalemate between the two teams. Opportunities were still created but were all regrettably missed. Therefore, the two teams had to enter a "shootout" to determine the next name to enter the quarter-finals.

The drama was pushed to a climax when the two teams continued to tie 4-4 after 6 rounds. The turning point came in the 7th round when Kelley O'Hara of the US women's team missed a shot. In the next shot of the Swedish women's team, although goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher saved the ball, after consulting VAR, the referee determined that the ball crossed the goal line. The Swedish women's team officially defeated the defending champion USA to advance to the quarterfinals. Their opponent in the upcoming match is the Japanese women's team.

Megan Rapinoe is one of the players who missed penalties for the US women's team.

Lina Hurtig (number 8) scored the decisive goal, bringing the Swedish women's team into the quarterfinals.

The US women's team officially became the former champion of the Women's World Cup.

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