- Last-16 encounter ends goalless
- Test of nerves from 12 yards
- Swedes send holders packing
WHAT HAPPENED? There was nothing to separate two of the best teams on the planet across 120 minutes of action in Melbourne, with the game finishing goalless after extra-time. A test of nerve played out from 12 yards, with Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith and Kelley O’Hara all missing for the United States. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher scored her spot-kick, and thought she had kept the tie alive when getting hands to a strike from Lina Hurtig. The ball hit the crossbar before being bundled away, with a VAR check determining that it had crossed the line and the Swedes had claimed the most notable of scalps.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Rapinoe and Smith missed the target completely with their efforts, as they tried to be too precise, while O’Hara struck the post. There will be plenty of questions asked by those inside and outside of the USWNT camp in the wake of their worst-ever showing at the World Cup finals.
WHAT NEXT? The United States claimed a global crown in 2015 and 2019, but it is Sweden who move on the quarter-finals – where they will face Japan.
