Sweden strolled to a comfortable victory over Australia in the third-place matchup of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Peter Gerhardsson’s ladies were superb across the 90 minutes and they did enough to outwit co-host Australia at the Brisbane Stadium in Australia.
Despite playing on home soil and parading some great names like Kerr and Steph Catley, the Australians just couldn’t do enough to submerge Sweden.
However, they would take pride in the tournament they have had, achieving history by making it thus far.
Lessons that have been learnt in this tournament by Tony Gustavsson’s side can be taken to the world cup in 2027.
Rolfö scored the opener for Sweden
Meanwhile, Fridolina Rolfö took The Blue and Yellow into the lead via a penalty, after Clare Polkinghorne fouled Stina Blackstenius in the 18-yard box.
The referee had to go to his monitor to review the action and after consulting the VAR, he pointed to the spot for a penalty.
Rolfö stepped up and slotted the ball beyond the reach of Mackenzie Arnold in goal for Australia.
Sweden had the bigger chances throughout the 90 minutes and they were clinical in front of goal.
Kosovare Asllani netted the second in the 62nd minute, doubling Peter Gerhardsson’s side lead in the encounter.
Asllani scored the second with a long-range effort and West Ham shot-stopper Mackenzie Arnold just couldn’t do enough to save her side.
Sweden were unbeaten in the tournament before they loss against Spain in the semi-final, while Australia had experienced two defeats, losing in the group stage to Nigeria and the semi-final to England.
Possibly the disparity in quality, class, and world position was evident, as the Matildas didn’t produce enough brilliance that could trouble Sweden.
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup: Sweden V Australia stats
The possession count wasn’t a landslide, but it might have painted the true story of the encounter.
Sweden had the upper hand in terms of possession, with 54% possession to Australia’s 46.
In terms of total shots, until the dying embers of the game, Australia were leading, however, both teams ended with the same number of shots 11 – 11.
For shots on target, The Blue and Yellow as earlier revealed were more clinical, as they had 5 shots on target and scored 2 goals.
For Tony Gustavsson’s ladies, they had 4 shots on target, but couldn’t score any goal throughout the entire duration of the game.
Sweden finish the tournament with the bronze medal, while Australia bow out of the tournament with a 4th place finish.
This is the 4th time that the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup runners-up will be ending the tournament with the bronze medal.
All attention now turns to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final between Spain and England which will go down on Sunday, August 20, 2023, at the Stadium Australia in Sweden.
