With group stages finished, and the bracket for the knockout stages set, there’s a lot to look at with this year’s Women’s World Cup.
Let’s start with historic storylines from the group stages. The United States failed to win its group for the second time (the first was in 2011). The Stars and Stripes have struggled to find the back of the net, scoring one goal against the Netherlands and a goose egg against Portugal.
The Americans scored three goals against Vietnam, however, missed a penalty on top of other chances throughout.
The next big headline is Jamaica making it out of its group. The Reggae Girlz became the first Caribbean nation to advance to the round of 16 after eliminating Brazil Wednesday.
Speaking of Brazil, ranked eighth in FIFA’s rankings, it’s one of three top-10 teams failing to advance past group stages (Germany and Canada being the other two).
Like a lot of World Cups, stars have been born, too. Lauren James (England) and Linda Caicedo (Colombia) have been putting, well, the world, on notice.
Let’s start with James. England is a team stacked with talented players – so much so that James started game one on the bench. But in England’s following game against Denmark, James started, and scored a wonder goal from outside the box – the eventual game-winner.
James followed the heroics with another spectacular showing against China in the final group stage game. She scored two goals and provided three assists in England’s 6-1 thrashing.
Next, Caicedo. Colombia topped its group with the 18-year-old being a focal point. Earlier this year, Caicedo signed with Real Madrid. Now, the superstar forward is making her mark on the international stage.
Colombia opened the tournament with a 2-0 win against South Korea – with Caicdeo netting a goal in the first half. In a match against Germany, she opened the scoring with a goal in the 52nd minute.
Caicedo has made defenders miserable all tournament, and will try to keep Colombia’s dreams alive when it takes on Jamaica in Tuesday’s knockout stage.
This World Cup has produced upsets, late game-winners, and breakthrough stars. The competition has been great to watch – even if it means waking up at 3 a.m.
Oh well, I’ll continue to mess with my sleep schedule.
