The penultimate day of the World Cup saw an action-packed clash in Nice, with Sweden prevailing in an entertaining contest.
ENGLAND v SWEDEN
Sweden have claimed the bronze medals at the 2019 World Cup after a 2-1 victory over England.
The Swedes started well, and were leading by the 11th minute. Kosovare Asllani pounced on a poor clearance, drilling a shot into the bottom corner.
Sofia Jakobsson then doubled Sweden’s lead on 22 minutes with a wonderful strike, curling the ball past Carly Telford from the left side of the penalty area.
England responded just after the half hour mark. Fran Kirby was found in space on the right wing, before beating a defender and sending a precision shot into the net via the base of the post.
A couple of minutes later, the Lionesses thought they had levelled the scores when Ellen White held off Linda Sembrant’s challenge and slid the ball past Hedvig Lindahl. However, the goal was ruled out by VAR due to a White handball in the build-up.
Down 2-0, claw back to 2-2 before the half, only to be denied by VAR.
All the chaos from a first half that would eventually see #SWE win third place at this year's #FIFAWWC#ENGSWE #OptusSport pic.twitter.com/Sin5PXvUXY
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) July 6, 2019
The English were the better side after the interval, and would go close to equalising twice in the second half.
In the 63rd minute, Kirby weaved some magic to evade a couple of tackles, before releasing Jodie Taylor. The Reign FC forward struck the woodwork, but in any case she was offside.
As England piled on the pressure, Karen Carney was brought on with just over a quarter of an hour remaining, in what would be her 144th and final game for her country.
https://twitter.com/FIFAWWC/status/1147546173240205314
Sweden then needed last ditch defending in the final minute of regulation time to preserve their lead. Hedvig Lindahl was unable to properly clear Alex Greenwood’s corner kick, and Lucy Bronze’s goalbound effort was headed off the line by Nilla Fischer.
By finishing third in the tournament, the Swedes have repeated their achievements from the 1991 and 2011 World Cups.
England 1 (Kirby 31’)
Sweden 2 (Asllani 11’, Jakobsson 22’)
