Well this post is definitely a little late, the group stages ended on Thursday and they definitely didn't disappoint, the teams that went home after this stage though can definitely hold their head up high as there were some great quality games played. You had the 13-0 victory for the USWNT and the 3-2 fightback from Australia, all in all I would say that it was a great advertisement for women's football.
So here is how each group finished off....
Group A
France
Norway
Nigeria
South Korea
I think this group finished just as expected to be honest and France ran away with the group winning all 3 games. France had some pretty good passages of play but honestly I don't think they had too many spectacular moments in the group stages. Nigeria also progressed thanks to being one of the best 3rd places.
Group B
Germany
Spain
China
South Africa
Another group that finished just as expected with Germany coming top of the group. It was only goal difference though that helped Spain get through as 2nd place with China bringing up 3rd and qualifying as a 3rd best place. Unfortunately though South Africa ended up bottom not earning a single point which surprise me I thought they may have drawn with at least China.
Group C
Italy
Australia
Brazil
Jamaica
I honestly think this could have been my favourite group as it was so tight, who would have thought that Italy would top this group? The group however finished with the top 3 teams all on 6 points each and had some brilliant games in it such as Australia fighting back to beat Brazil 3-2. I honestly wouldn't have thought Brazil would end up only qualifying as been one of the best 3rd places.
Group D
England
Japan
Argentina
Scotland
There was one big surprise for me in this group England actually won all 3 games, I was honestly doubtful for their game against Japan but they really surprised me and came out on top. I am actually really proud of the way England played throughout the group stages as although they weren't the best at times they held it together only conceding 1 goal. I am gutted for Scotland though as even by scoring more goals than the other 2 teams aiming for 2nd in this group they just couldn't stop them scoring and ended up crashing out of the tournament. But to say it was their first world cup they can definitely be proud. Unfortunately Argentina also didn't do enough to get through as a best of 3rd place team either.
Group E
Netherlands
Canada
Cameroon
New Zealand
It was always going to be the Netherlands or Canada who topped this group but honestly I thought it would be Canada and I think if Sinclair was on form and did better with some of her opportunities they would have been on top. But in the end it was the Netherlands who won the group by winning all 3 games. The big surprise for me was definitely Cameroon coming above New Zealand as after how they performed against England in the build up to the world cup I thought they would get through. In the end though it was Cameroon who finished in the final best 3rd place spot.
Group F
USWNT
Sweden
Chile
Thailand
As I expected the USWNT came out on top of their group, but one standout from me in this group was definitely Chile, they were so unlucky not to qualify for the round of 16 but they can definitely hold their heads high especially their goalkeeper Endler who had a fantastic standout performance this tournament especially in the game against the USWNT. Thailand can also hold their heads high as they played well and showed the country that they can perform and the emotion from the team when they scored their only goal was absolutely fantastic it just showed you how much being at the tournament meant to them.
So now it is onto the knockout stages, I will have my first post up about the knockouts so far tomorrow so check back for that as we have definitely had some interesting games so far.
See you soon,
Lucy
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