We’ve reached Group G in our Women’s World Cup preview series and the intriguing nature of this group could cause it to be one of the best in the tournament.
Group G
Sweden
Italy
Argentina
South Africa
Sweden are still ranked as the third best team on the planet and certainly favourites to top this group, but believing they can win the entire tournament still feels like a bit of a stretch this time around. Despite a whole host of criticism for their performances, they made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2022, where they were hammered 4-0 by England.
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That game demonstrated the gulf between the nations ranked second and third in the world, but despite that Sweden are still strong this time around. AC Milan’s Kosovare Asllani said: “We are not the only favourites, but you should never count Sweden out. That’s the dream we’re chasing; we want to win that gold medal – nothing else.”
They have a blend of talent and experience and Sweden tend to perform well at major tournaments. Remember, England were favourites to win the Euros so it was no surprise that they breezed past the yellow and blues on home soil. This time around, in Australia, Sweden should comfortably get out of their favourable group.
Fellow Europeans Italy had a poor Euro 2022 as they finished bottom of Group D behind France, Belgium and Iceland. The Italians only scored twice at that tournament but since then they have enjoyed an upturn in form. They finished top of their qualifying group, winning nine and losing only one of their 10 games, keeping nine clean sheets along the way. Four players from new Serie A champions Roma have been selected by head coach Milena Bertolini, and there is a hope that this new-look Azzurre will fare better by the time they arrive at the World Cup. If they don’t, it’s likely that under pressure Bertolini will be out of a job by the end of the summer.
Argentina could only manage two draws in 2019 but they’ve beaten New Zealand twice recently and hammered both Venezuela and Chile. They finished third in the Copa America last year and the country still has that Lionel Messi World Cup fever, something the women would love to capitalise upon. No country has ever held both World Cups at the same time. Meanwhile, Yamila Rodríguez is an exceptional finisher and should cause problems, if her team-mates can provide her with the chances she needs.
We finish with South Africa, who lost every game in 2019. After player protests over finances, amongst other issues, South Africa lost 5-0 to Botswana as the management had to use any players they could find, with the youngest of them just 13 years old. Luckily, ahead of this tournament the Afcon champions have resolved the issue and they are now ready to perform in the biggest tournament on the planet.
The issue is goals for this squad. They managed just four shots on target in 2019 and, at the very least, posing a more attacking threat would be a marginal success.
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