FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: Sweden secure third place with 2-0 win over co-hosts Australia
Fridolina Rolfo's penalty and a strike from captain Kosovare Asllani secured Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Sweden another medal at a global tournament to silence the home crowd in Brisbane.
Football
Sweden defeated co-hosts Australia 2-0 in Brisbane on Saturday (19 August) to take third place at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.
Fridolina Rolfo scored from the penalty spot after half an hour, and a second-half strike from Kosovare Asllani saw the Swedes secure another podium finish in a major tournament.
This is the second consecutive third-place finish at a FIFA Women’s World Cup for Sweden. In 2019, they fell to the Netherlands in the semi-finals before beating England 2-1 in the play-off for third.
Co-hosts Australia had to settle for fourth place, matching their best placing in a global competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Australia missed out on a chance to compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup final after a 3-1 semi-final loss to England’s Lionesses, and Sweden went down 2-1 to Spain.
Sweden have become all too familiar with narrowly missing out on a major tournament final.
Having done so in 2019 and at last year’s European Championships, one could question whether a side still has the desire to battle it out for a third place. However, on Saturday the Swedes came out fighting once again.
From kick-off The Blågult made it evident that they were hungry for another podium finish.
Early chances from Stina Blackstenius hinted at Sweden’s dominance, but it was far from an easy match-up for the Tokyo 2020 silver medallists - in part due to Australia’s captain Sam Kerr.
This was only the second game that Kerr started during her team's FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 campaign. The Chelsea forward had been sidelined with an injury, but started their semi-final against England in which she scored an incredible strike to give her nation a lifeline.
Against Sweden, Kerr teamed up with Mary Fowler, Hayley Raso and Ellie Carpenter to produce several counter chances that tested Sweden’s goalkeeper Zecira Musovic.
Half an hour into an evenly-matched half Sweden were awarded a penalty after a VAR check that revealed Clare Hunt’s foul on Blackstenius. Not missing the opportunity, Fridolina Rolfo calmly slotted the ball past Mackenzie Arnold to give Sweden the lead.
The goal came at the perfect time for Sweden, halting a mounting Australian attack and dismantling The Matildas’ game plan.
Sam Kerr looked in pain as she went down with an injury in the final minutes of Australia's third-place play-off against Sweden.
The beginning of the second half saw similar action, with Sweden successfully containing all Australian threats.
A defensive blip from the hosts gifted Sweden the ball, which prompted a speedy counter attack. Blackstenius passed it to Kosovare Asllani who sent the ball into the bottom corner for Sweden’s second goal of the evening.
From then on, Sweden’s chances kept coming with Arnold saving Australia on several occasions.
As the half progressed, it was experience that set these two sides apart. Sweden looked comfortable in controlling a third-place play-off while Australia looked jumpy, demonstrating their lack of involvement in matches of similar scale.
Australia’s game went from bad to worse with 15 minutes to go as Kerr suffered a visibly painful knock and hobbled through the next few minutes of play while Sweden ran the clock down.
In the end it was Sweden who had the edge, showing composure and experience on the way to climbing yet another podium at a major tournament.