NICE, France: Sweden cruised into the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday after comfortably seeing off Thailand 5-1 to move top of Group F.
Peter Gerhardsson’s side are three points ahead of tournament favourites the USA, who take on Chile later on Sunday in Paris, after a routine win that however saw emotional scenes when Kanjana Sung-Ngoen scored a late consolation goal for the Thais.
Linda Sembrant and Kosovare Asllani put the Swedes two up after 19 minutes with Fridolina Rolfo rifling a long-range finish three minutes before the break.
Lina Hurtig headed home at the end of a flowing move with nine minutes left before the Thais, reeling from a humiliating record 13-0 defeat to the Americans in their opening match, restored pride through captain Sung-Ngoen’s drilled near post finish.
The goal sparked wild celebrations and even tears from the Thai players and coaching staff, but VAR stepped in to dampen their mood when Natthakarn Chinwong was judged to have handled in the area deep into stoppage time.
Elin Rubensson made no mistake from the spot to complete an easy win and her side’s qualification from the group.
Should the USA beat Chile as expected the Swedes will have to defeat them in their final match on Thursday if they want to win the group, due to the Americans’ whopping goal difference advantage.
Meanwhile, Netherlands and Canada ensured they would finish in the top two in Group E of the women’s World Cup with victories.
In Valenciennes on Saturday, Vivianne Miedema became the all-time Dutch women’s record goal-scorer with a brace as the Netherlands saw off a spirited Cameroon 3-1 to secure a place in the last 16.
Miedema’s goals came either side of a close-range Dominique Bloodworth strike for the European champions in Valenciennes, with Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene netting for Cameroon.
Canada then laid siege to the New Zealand goal with 22 total strikes in Grenoble, 11 of them on target and scored with goals from Jessie Fleming after 48 minutes and Nichelle Prince 30 minutes later.
Miedema’s double means the 22-year-old forward already has 60 international goals, making her the all-time top scorer for the Netherlands women’s side.
“I am 22 years old and I hope I have a nice career in front of me. I have no idea where this will end, but as long as I continue playing at his level I hope to keep adding more goals,” said the Arsenal star.
It was a frustrating Saturday for another goal scorer who has been around far longer than Miedema and scored three times as many goals.
Christine Sinclair, the 36-year-old Canadian striker, who is chasing retired American Abby Wambach’s record of 184 international goals, stayed on 181 after hitting the woodwork twice with headers.
The second, a powerful, downward header hit the post before rebounding to Prince to score Canada’s second.
That goal meant Canada had scored two goals in a game at a World Cup for the first time since a 2-2 draw with Australia in 2007, a run of nine matches.
“We reached another level today,” said Canadian coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller.
The Netherlands and Canada have both won two out of two in Group E and cemented their places in the knockout rounds. They meet in Reims next week top decide who will win the group.
“We expect a step up against the Dutch and we’ll need to look closely and see where we can hurt them,” said Heiner-Moller.