The Japanese women's team will face Sweden in the highly anticipated quarter-finals of the 2023 Women's World Cup. To reach this match, the Asian representative impressed with a record of 14 goals and only 1 goal conceded, while Sweden is also the third-ranked team in the world, having just defeated the defending champion USA.
After the opening whistle, the two teams created a tense and back-and-forth game. The midfield became cramped with fierce battles between players from both teams. Japan possessed skillful techniques, while Sweden had the advantage in size and speed. With the advantage in size, the Swedish girls showed their superiority over the Asian representative in one-on-one situations and created more finishing situations in the first half.
The opening goal came as a matter of course for the Swedish women's team. In the 31st minute, from a free kick outside the box, Ilestedt finished off a series of Swedish shots with a close-range tap-in past goalkeeper Yamashita, putting the European representative ahead 1-0.
In the second half, Japan continued to be inferior to their opponents. In the 49th minute, after consulting VAR, the referee awarded Sweden a penalty after a Japanese player handled the ball in the penalty area. On the 11m mark, Angeldal made no mistake to double the gap to 2-0.
After many efforts, hope opened up for the Japanese women's team in the 75th minute when Ueki was fouled in the penalty area. Unfortunately, on the 11m mark, Ueki was unable to beat the Swedish goalkeeper. The 24-year-old striker's shot hit the crossbar.
It was not until the 87th minute that the Japanese women's team scored a goal to reduce the score. The Swedish defender's blocking move accidentally created an opportunity for Hayashi to comfortably shoot from close range without giving goalkeeper Musovic a chance to block, bringing a valuable goal for the "Carnations", reducing the score to 1-2.
The match was extended by 10 minutes of extra time, but it was not enough for the Asian representative to level the score. Losing with a final score of 1-2, the Japanese women's team said goodbye to the World Cup after the quarter-finals. However, the team from the Land of the Rising Sun deserves praise after a series of excellent performances.
As for the Swedish women's team, they will enter the semi-final match against Spain. The match will take place on August 15 at Eden Park Stadium in New Zealand./.
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