Women’s World Cup Quarter-finals
The Women’s World Cup is now down to the quarter-final stage as the elite eight battle for a spot in the semi-finals.
Most of the big teams have survived to this point, but there is bound to be at least one huge casualty in the quarters as the two tournament favourites — hosts France and defending champions, the US — have been matched up against each other.
Elsewhere, England and Germany also have their sights set on making it to the semis for the second World Cup running.
Let’s take a look at how all four interesting quarter-final match-ups will shake out!
England vs Norway
Norway were given all they could handle by Australia in the round of 16. The Matildas took the Norwegians to extra-time after a late equaliser, but Norway held their nerve to go through on penalties.
Despite missing star striker Ada Hegerberg, Norway still have the likes of Isabell Herlovsen, who has scored twice in the last two games, Guro Reiten and Caroline Graham Hansen to call upon in attack.
On the other side, England have seemingly grown stronger as the tournament has gone on. They easily dispatched an overmatched Cameroon side, 3-0, in a contentious round-of-16 match. And before that, they turned in a convincing 2-0 win over Japan in their final group game.
The big Women’s World Cup 2019 news is that the Lionesses could be without both starting centre-backs in Steph Houghton and Mille Bright against Norway. That would certainly make things a bit tougher.
With Hegerberg, Norway would have a much better chance of toppling England. But the Lionesses have been rock-solid on both ends of the pitch for the most part in this tournament and should possess enough quality to get past Norwegians even without Houghton and Bright.
Betting Tip: England 1X2 @ 2.02
France vs USA
The USWNT were finally made to sweat by Spain in the round of 16. The Americans needed a couple of penalties to squeak by the Spanish, 2-1.
The U.S.’s margin of victory has conspicuously shrunk as the tournament has worn on. It’s gone from 13 following their record-breaking win over Thailand to three to two all the way down to one.
And now, they face the team with the next best chance to win the tournament per the Women’s World Cup 2019 betting odds: France.
The hosts needed extra-time to get by Brazil as they continue to grind out results. Since their 3-0 win over South Korea, they haven’t won by more than one goal in their last three matches.
With neither top contender in particularly great form, SBOBET Women’s World Cup fans should expect a closely-contested match.
But The US possess the superior depth on their bench, which should give them the ability to change the game later on. In a game that figures to be tight, that could prove to be the difference.
Betting Tip: USA 1X2 @ 2.15
Italy vs Netherlands
Italy’s amazing World Cup ride continued as they cruised to a relatively comfortable 2-0 win over China. They took their two chances on goal, while the Chinese were unable to create too many clear-cut opportunities despite putting the Italians under a fair bit of pressure.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands should consider themselves a bit fortunate to beat Japan. After a strong start, the Dutch were then outplayed for most of the match and needed a 90th-minute penalty after a handball to progress.
However, the Netherlands possess the superior pedigree over Italy, who are not nearly as talented as the Japanese, especially in attack. The Dutch defence, which had so many problems against Japan, will fancy their chances much more against the Italians.
Germany vs Sweden
While the U.S. and France are considered the top two favourites to win the World Cup, Germany are going under the radar and taking care of business with typical German efficiency.
Germany are the only team who have yet to concede a single goal in the entire tournament, which is in large part because they’ve given up an astoundingly low six shots on target in four games.
Meanwhile, they are also set to get back star midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan (32 goals in 91 caps), who has returned to training just weeks after suffering a broken toe in the first game of the tournament against China.
That’s obviously not good news for Sweden, who will most likely be on the back foot for most of the match. The Swedes were able to withstand the pressure from Canada in their 1-0 win in the round of 16, although they were fortunate that the Canadians missed a late penalty.
Kosovare Asllani (two goals, two assists) has had a strong World Cup thus far. However, she will need a lot more help if the Swedes are to become the first team to score on the Germans’ well-organised defence.
Betting Tip: Germany Asian Handicap -0.75 @ 1.95
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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