And our own Caitlin Murray was at the stadium tonight. You can read her full report below. Thanks for all your tweets and emails.
VAR popped its head into the game once again today. Our columnist thinks goalkeepers in particular are being penalised by overly strict use of the technology:
Sam Mewis and Tobin Heath were both excellent in that game. Mewis in particular has emerged as a valuable member of the US team. No news on Morgan’s injury yet but she didn’t seem in too much trouble before she went out. We can assume - for now - she was taken off as a precaution.
US coach Jill Ellis speaks. She says she is pleased with going through the group stage without conceding a goal. “We needed this next level and they responded to that. That was the ignition we needed,” she said.
So, both teams will play again on Monday. Sweden will face Canada and the US will play Spain. Sweden were well-organised and picked up their game in the second-half but the US deserved their victory. We didn’t know how the reigning champions would play against a world-class side. The answer is: pretty well. They will be particularly pleased with how solid they looked in defence, a worry before this tournament.
Full-time: Chile 2-0 Thailand
And Chile’s late penalty miss costs them. They fail to make the next round by a single goal. Nigeria go through in their place.
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Full-time Sweden 0-2 USA
Corner to Sweden. The US clear and that’s pretty much the last action of the match.
90min +6: Hurtig should have done better there. She has plenty of space in the area but can’t control the ball and Naeher rushes off her line to clear the danger.
90min +4: I’m sure Sweden would like to draw this game but I’m also sure they’d be happy enough to play a few minutes less of added time. As would the US. Horan is the latest American to go down after a challenge. She continues though.
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90 min+ 2: There’s seven minutes of added time in Thailand v Chile too. I wonder if refs were given a word after Scotland appeared to be docked a few minutes of added time against Argentina yesterday.
90 min: Great save from Lindahl! Mewis plays in Lloyd and we’d expect her to score but the Swedish keeper comes out and smothers the ball. We’ll have seven minutes of added time. How?
88 min: O’Hara is wandering around with a tissue up her nose after that knock earlier. All the kids will be wearing one next week.
87 min: Heath’s goal earlier has been changed to an own goal for Andersson. Jakobsson tackles O’Hara hard and is booked. O’Hara should be OK. Both teams have taken hard hits in the last 20 minutes, not ideal as they prepare for the knockouts.
85 min: Chile have missed a golden chance to go through! They have a penalty to go 3-0 up against Thailand, and advance but hit the bar.
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83 min: Pugh comes on as a late sub for Rapinoe, who hasn’t been at her best. She faded badly after a good first 30 minutes.
82 min: A bad backpass from O’Hara concedes a corner. Sweden will take through Bjorn who recovered from her head injury. She may still be feeling the after-effects: it swirls out for a goal-kick.
80 min: Chile have scored a second. They need one more goal against Thailand to advance at the expense of Nigeria. Ricky McGahey thinks the VAR decision was correct. “Lloyd is in an offside position, Swedish defender makes a clean play on the ball, so no offside. Lloyd never touched the ball. Here’s how Fifa defines it: ‘Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team mate.’ Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball.” Lloyd did neither. In an offside position, but no offside. The Swedish defender’s play on the ball ‘resets’ the situation, ball comes to Heath who is in an onside position, and can proceed.”
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77 min: It looks like the US will go through as group winners. But then again, Scotland were 3-0 up at this stage yesterday ... Heath is down injured - a scare for the US - and trots to the sideline for treatment. Sorry, this is all just injury news at the moment, hopefully some football will happen soon.
74 min: Bjorn is fit enough to get to the sideline under her own steam. “The lesson of VAR is NEVER celebrate! Ever! As the expression of modern life, in lieu of celebration we should experience several minutes of anxiety,” says Steve Murray.
72 min: Bjorn is down after her and O’Hara go up for a header. The Swede got an (accidental) chunk of O’Hara’s head to her jaw. Ouch.
70 min: Lloyd is booked after clattering into Asllani. Sweden get a free-kick on the edge of the area as a result. Naeher comes out to claim the cross and misses. But so does everyone else and it’s out for a goal kick.
68 min: Sweden continue to press and graze the cross from a Rolfo cross. Even US World Cup champions think that goal should not have stood:
Yo I’m 💯 for USA winning. But that shit was clearly offside before the Tobin goal! I’m outraged! As the stakes get higher, they have to get that right.
— Meghan Klingenberg (@meghankling) June 20, 2019
How is the defender supposed to let that go? Clearly Carli affected the play & forced the defense to make a play on the ball
65 min: “How was that not interfering with play?” says Toby Rutland. “The American offside player forced 2 Swedish players to react, one of whom ‘passed’ the ball to the goal scorer. Fifa seem determined to ruin football.” Oh, they’ve been trying to do that for a while now.
62 min: Sweden ping it around nicely and have had their best spell of the game. They’ve slowed the pace down, and are making the US chase the ball. Press comes on for Lavelle for the US. For Sweden, Glas replaces Seger.
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59 min: Sweden have been better since conceding the second goal but the US defence have handled them pretty well. O’Hara is booked for a hack on the substitute Rolfo. So maybe not that well.
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57 min: The excellent Heath floats in from the right and delivers a cross but Sweden clear. Blackstenius then has a good chance and shoots at Naeher’s near post but the US keeper turns it round the post. Rolfo replaces Schough for Sweden.
54 min: Sweden trot up the pitch for their first attack of the half. Schough take a free-kick from the edge of the area on the left. It’s a whipped cross, and Blackstenius beats Lloyd to the ball but she heads over.
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Heath's goal stands on review
It looked like Lloyd may have strayed a fraction offside when the ball was played into Heath. But the ref has a look and the goal will stand.
GOAL!!!! Sweden 0-2 USA (Heath 49 min)
Heath slowly advances on her marker on the edge of the six-yard area and smashes the ball in from a tight angle into the roof of the net. But we have a VAR review for a possible offside...
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48 min: And Chile have taken the lead against Thailand in the other Group F game. It was an own goal by the Thai keeper Boonsing. If they score two more, Chile will go through.
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46 min: And we’re back. And Carli Lloyd is on for the US, replacing Morgan who may still be feeling that knock she got in the first-half. Rick McGahey has a few thoughts on the match so far. “US players are just much stronger, winning most of the contested balls, overloading them in the midfield, and outrunning the Swedes. But they aren’t creating real shots, Sweden playing as if it were 0-0 and loading their defensive area so US can’t create chances off the dribble. Maybe put Lloyd in midfield and let her bomb away from outside the area, see if that loosens Swedish defense at all. If not for poor Swedish defending early on, it would be 0-0.”
One of these teams will play Canada in the next round. Here’s how they got on against the Netherland earlier:
While Cameroon pulled off a late win over New Zealand to make the last 16:
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Chile and Thailand are 0-0, meaning it looks like Brazil, China, Nigeria and Cameroon will go through as the best third-placed teams. And, if things remain as they are in this game the US will play Spain and Sweden will face Canada.
Half-time Sweden 0-1 USA
Well, we wondered how the US would do when they were challenged by a good side. The answer is pretty well. They are still, for me, the best attacking unit in the tournament. Their defenders have been decent but not faultless. Sweden, meanwhile, have decided they won’t sit back and have made this a good back-and-forth contest.
45 min: Two minutes of added time to come.
44 min: Dunn tackles well to repel a Sweden attack. Thailand - 13-0 Thailand - have had some good chances in the last few minutes over in the other match and could easily be 2-0 up.
42 min: Lavelle goes on a beautiful run across the middle before Horan finds Rapinoe on the left. She gets it to Lavelle, who shoots at the keeper.
41 min: Jakobsson is completely unmarked in the area but can’t control the ball to shoot. Dunn feels bad for her and feeds her back the ball a minute later and her shot goes over. Our first reminder that the US are vulnerable at the attack.
39 min: Rapinoe takes a throw-in a long way from where the ball actually went out but the ref is in a generous mood. The ball eventually finds Heath, who fires over from distance.
36 min: Morgan looks like she took a hit but runs it off and is OK to continue. US have 64% of the possession so far.
33 min: Lavelle doesn’t want Dunn to be the only player trying ambitious shots form distance and unleashes a long-range effort of her own. It’s ambition is not matched by its accuracy. Goal-kick to Sweden.
31 min: Lindahl suddenly believes she is an outfield player and tries to dribble up the field. This does not go well and she clatters the ball out for a US throw in. The US don’t do much with it.
30 min: Heath has plenty of space on the right, and a few tricks get her into the box where she wins a corner, which she takes. The ball is driven into the near post and Lavelle gets a touch but Lindahl is able to gather and clear.
27 min: Sweden play it across the back as both teams catch their collective breaths. Dunn and Rapinoe have been good down the left, but O’Hara and Heath have had plenty of joy down the right too.
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24 min: It’s still 0-0 in Chile v Thailand, so both teams are going out at the moment. Rapinoe has a good chance after she’s played in by Lavelle but her shot hits the side netting.
21 min: This is a very fast-paced game. Luckily for the players, it’s a cool-ish evening. Jakobsson romps through the US midfield before laying it off for Asllani, whose shot is straight at Naeher. There were doubts about the US keeper, but she’s been solid so far.
18 min: Peter Oh has some thoughts on VAR: “I wonder if the VAR manual is in the form of wordless cartoons, like IKEA’s assembly instruction booklets. Sometimes I feel like the blob-shaped assembler character, with a question mark-filled thought bubble over my head as I try to understand how things are supposed to fit together.”
17 min: A brilliant ball from Mewis, which slices across the Sweden backline. Morgan gets on the end of it but the finish does not do justice to the pass. “High press. Making Naeher play the ball. Sweden came to play,” writes Beau Dure.
15 min: Dunn and Rapinoe are linking up nicely on the left. Mewis shoots from distance but Lindahl stoops down and gathers it well. Sweden then try their own long-range shot, which Naeher handles comfortably. That’s her biggest test of the World Cup so far.
12 min: Another corner for the US. Dunn has another shot from distance as a clearance falls at her feet on the edge of the penalty area. This one is better than her first but goes over again. The US are all over Sweden at the moment.
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10 min: Dunn breaks up a Sweden attack - and launches Rapinoe up the leftwing. But the move breaks down when O’Hara tumbles over her own feet. Heath wins a corner on the next attack. This is nothing like that defensive masterclass by Sweden in their 2016 Olympic victory over the US.
7 min: Dunn has a shot from distance but it flies over. Well, we knew the US like to attack. They have done nothing to disprove that.
5 min: There was a VAR check to see if there was an offside leading up the US goal. There wasn’t. Sweden made a lot of changes going into this game and that could be to blame for the chaotic defending for that goal. Sweden fans must hope so.
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GOAL! Sweden 0-1 USA (Horan 3 min)
A stepover from Rapinoe wins a corner, the first of the game. She takes it too: and what that about Sweden being a sterner test for the US? The Swedes fail to clear the ball as it bobbles across goal and Horan pokes home from 0.0002cm out.
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2 min: The US attack straight away but Sweden counter and spend more time - 42 seconds - in the US half than Chile and Thailand did in the entirety of the first two matches.
1 min: And we’re off. The US are in all-white and Sweden are in their famous yellow and blue.
Here’s Kári Tulinius on Sweden’s chances today: “Nobody expects Sweden to beat the US, and while I’d be surprised if they did, I wouldn’t be flabbergasted. The team has a settled way of playing and does so well. They lost the 2016 Olympics final thanks to an uncharacteristic defensive calamity by Linda Sembrant, and if they avoid that kind of error, they’ll have half a chance against the US. Only half a chance, mind you.”
We have a pretty full house - no surprise as Sweden and the US are among the best-supported teams at the World Cup.
And the teams are out. The most nervous person in the tunnel appeared to be the ref, who took several deep breaths. Maybe she’s thinking about VAR.
The interesting thing for the US today will be how they cope with a team that actually musters a shot on target. While the Americans have the best attack in the world, their defence is more than a little shaky against the best teams. And Sweden are a very good team. This game is likely to tell us a lot about how far the reigning champions can go in the tournament.
Hubert O’Hearn emails in with a prediction: “Not to be a complete buzz kill, but I’ll be surprised if the USA doesn’t completely overrun Sweden in the 4-1, 5-2 fashion. Thing is, both teams will enjoy beating the other, but the choice of meeting Canada or Spain is a bit of a toss-up threat Entertainment’s hope is that as the result doesn’t truly matter, Sweden will engage the Americans across the pitch and thus supply the rest of the round of 16 with some worthwhile scouting tape. And if the USA somehow lose? Journos charge your batteries as the simmering feuds within the US ranks will explode after the match. Good times!”
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Both Sweden and the US are through already. A win or a draw for the US will see them go through as group winners, while a Sweden victory will win them the group. The reward for the winner is a meeting with Spain, the runner-up will face Canada, which could be very interesting if the US finish second. However, the group winner would be on a collision course with hosts and favourites France in the quarters. The runners-up would be in the same quarter-final bracket as Germany.
As you may recall there is a little history in this one. At the 2016 Olympics Sweden played the revolutionary 136-0-0 formations, frustrating the US in a game that ended with a penalty shootout victory for the Swedes. Guardian columnist Hope Solo ended up calling Sweden “cowards” for their tactics, a comment which ended her US career - she would almost certainly have been playing today if she hadn’t spoken out.
We asked Hope for her thoughts on those comments three years on, and she was good enough to write about it for us. Here’s what she said:
It was a strange Olympics for us. Our team wasn’t in great form and we had a lack of preparation. There was a lot going on, and we were not focused. Sweden had played an incredibly defensive game and essentially stopped playing any kind of offense. I made comments straight after the match about the US losing to a “bunch of cowards”. Not the best choice of words but in that moment I felt they didn’t play a courageous game. In conveying what I thought was the exact opposite of “courageous”, cowardly was what popped into my head. Of course, the loss was entirely down to our own lack of preparation.
You can read the full column here:
Meanwhile, Chile take on Thailand in the group’s other game, which will start at the same time. We’ll provide updates. Either team can steal a place in the last 16 by winning and finishing as one of the best third-place teams. Chile would need to win by three goals. Thailand, by my calculations, would only need to win 15-0: a walk in the park.
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The teams
Afternoon/evening. Here are your teams, the US women’s team are back to full-strength after they played a second-string line-up for their victory over Chile. Today’s has more of the flavour of that team that beat Thailand 13-0 last week. Although we’re not quite going to get that score today. I assume. Julie Ertz, who would usually start, is on the bench after suffering a minor knock - but she’s not a concern for the rest of the tournament.
Sweden: Lindahl, Bjorn, Ilestedt, Sembrant, Andersson, Jakobsson, Zigiotti, Asllani, Seger, Schough, Blackstenius. Subs: Faik, Glas, Fischer, Eriksson, Janogy, Hurtig, Roddar, Rolfo, Anvegard, Larsson, Rubensson, Musovic.
USA: Naeher, O’Hara, Dahlkemper, Sauerbrunn, Dunn, Mewis, Lavelle, Horan, Heath, Morgan, Rapinoe. Subs: Harris, Pugh, Brian, Ertz, Lloyd, Krieger, Davidson, Sonnett, Long, McDonald, Press, Franch.
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Tom will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Caitlin Murray’s lookahead to today’s group-stage finale.
