Australia eliminates Olympic champions from 2023 Women's World Cup

Australia crushed defending Olympic champion Canada 4-0 on the evening of July 31, Australia and Nigeria won tickets in Group B to the round of 16 of the 2023 Women's World Cup.

* Goals: Raso 9' & 39', Fowler 58', Catley pen 90'+4

Australia's star striker Sam Kerr celebrates victory with his teammates in the technical area, having not yet recovered from injury. Photo: FIFA

Ahead of the match in Melbourne, Australia faced the risk of elimination and had to defeat strong opponents Canada - the reigning Olympic champions - to decide their fate. There were many concerns for Australia, because a day earlier, New Zealand had received a sad milestone when they became the first host team to be eliminated in the group stage in the history of the Women's World Cup.

The pressure was overwhelming, but coach Tony Gustavsson and his team played well with a reasonable strategy. They proactively gave the game to Canada, accepted to retreat to defend to play counter-attack and the result came in the 9th minute. Steph Catley crossed from the left wing for Hayley Raso to control and then shoot diagonally, opening the score.

In the 34th minute, still from a counter-attack, the Canadian goal was shaken and Mary Fowler quickly shot into the net. But VAR determined that Ellie Carpenter was offside and denied the goal to Australia. However, the co-host team did not have to regret for long because just five minutes later, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan misjudged the landing point from a corner kick and created an opportunity for Raso to finish and double the gap.

Mary Fowler scores to make it 3-0 for Australia against Canada. Photo: Fox Sports

In the second half, Canada made four substitutions to freshen up their attack, but when the changes were effective, they continued to concede. In the 58th minute, Canada's offside trap was triggered at the wrong time, allowing Caitlin Foord to escape down the touchline and cross for Mary Fowler to tap into an empty net.

The huge score gap and lack of innovation in their play left Canada deadlocked in attack. They took several shots but were not enough to trouble goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold. In the fourth minute of injury time, Australia was awarded a penalty after the referee consulted VAR. Steph Catley scored decisively from the spot to seal a 4-0 victory, ending a great match for the home team and a nightmare for Canada.

In the same match, Nigeria drew 0-0 with the Republic of Ireland and the result was enough for the African representative to finish second in Group B with five points, while Australia took the top spot with one more point. Canada was eliminated after finishing third with four points.

Starting lineup:

Australia : Mackenzie Arnold, Steph Catley, Alanna Kennedy, Clare Hunt, Ellie Carpenter, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Katrina Gorry, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Emily Van Egmond, Mary Fowler

Canada : Kailen Sheridan, Kadeisha Buchanan, Jayde Riviere, Ashley Lawrence, Vanessa Gilles, Quinn, Julia Grosso, Jordyn Huitema, Jessie Fleming, Adriana Leon, Christine Sinclair.

Hieu Luong

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