Well after 14 days of fast-paced action and 48 games, the group stage of the FIFA Women's World Cup has come to an end and my word, what an unbelievable fortnight it has been to date. The crowds have been outstanding across the majority of host cities and the excitement that a lot of people have felt watching it has been through the roof. There have been spectacular goals (Katie McCabe's Olimpico vs Canada, Marta Cox's free-kick vs France, any of Lauren James' goals), unbelievable moments of unbridled joy and several big nations have been left embarrassed and out of the tournament.
This here is my brief summary of each group: Group A: Qualified: Switzerland & Norway 3rd Place: New Zealand 4th Place: Philippines
Looking at this group coming into the tournament, it was expected that both Switzerland and Norway would qualify although both New Zealand and the Philippines threatened at various stages to upset that formline. Notable Moments: 1) New Zealand winning the opening match against Norway was a massive shock and that win could've been more comfortable if they converted a late penalty. It was my first experience of the joy of the tournament as I found myself cheering on New Zealand late in the game to hold on for the win
2) Philippines' first-ever World Cup win. Alen Stajic did an unbelievable job getting his girls to this tournament and seeing them defeat New Zealand to claim their first-ever win at a World Cup was an incredible moment. Stajic stepped down at the end of the group stage but what he did for them won't ever be forgotten.
In the end, the form line held but my word, the Norwegians threatened to upset that after their struggles in the first 2 matches. Ultimately a 6-0 win would send them through as group runners-up.
Group B: Qualified: Australia and Nigeria 3rd Place: Canada 4th Place: Republic of Ireland
This was a hard group to call and in fact, had been given the "Group of Death" label and it certainly lived up to its reputation. In the end, we had the first outrageous shock of the tournament as Olympic Champions Canada were the first big name to fall. For a brief moment, that could've been Australia but thankfully for us, it wasn't
Notable Moments: 1) Sam Kerr's calf! Injuring her calf the day before the first game against the Republic of Ireland threatened to turn this group upside down. No one was aware that anything was wrong until teamsheets were submitted for the first game. Never has a nation gone from excitement to absolute trepidation in one moment.
2) Nigeria 3 Australia 2. This was an astonishing match in every sense of the word. The Aussies took the lead late in the first half only to see Nigeria equalise and go into the break at 1-1. No one however could've predicted that Australia would implode in the second half where they had one of the worst defensive blunders of the tournament along with coach Gustavsson refusing to make a sub until the 85th minute. This isn't to take away from Nigeria though who were absolutely brilliant in that second half and fully deserved the win.
If you were looking at this, you would've gone Australia and Canada to qualify but ultimately the Canadians imploded in the last group game to lose 4-0 and become one of a few high-profile casualties at this cup.
Group C: Qualified: Japan & Spain 3rd Place: Zambia 4th Place: Costa Rica
This is one of the few groups that went to script with both Japan and Spain heavily favoured to qualify from the group and indeed they did so. The only thing at stake was who would finish 1st and who would finish 2nd and it was the Japanese who tore apart Spain 4-0 in the last group match to finish top.
Notable Moments: 1) Zambia won their first-ever match at the World Cup in their first attempt. Their 3-1 win in a dead rubber against Costa Rica was very impressive and having got here by finishing third at the African Cup of Nations, they didn't disgrace themselves. Unfortunately despite that, their campaign has finished in uproar after allegations of misconduct were made against their coach.
2) Japan 4 Spain 0. No one could've seen this coming at all. You can't even use rankings to justify what unfolded here either. The Japanese played the most ruthless counter-attacking game that you'll ever have the fortune to witness. They had 23% of possession in the WHOLE GAME and yet managed to score 4 goals against a Spanish team that just wasn't able to get going.
This group managed to follow the script although the Japan vs Spain scoreline was quite astonishing. While both qualified easily for the next round, the Japanese were by far the most impressive as they scored 11 goals while conceding 0.
Group D: Qualified: England and Denmark 3rd Place: China 4th Place: Haiti
This group was always going to be a case of England and Denmark/China and it turned out to be the Danes who would join the English in the second round. China's collapse in the final group game was completely unexpected as they still had a chance to make it out of the group while Haiti were the underdog throughout.
Notable Moments: 1) Haiti's competitive spirit. When you get drawn into a group against the 4th, 13th and 14th ranked teams while you're 53rd ranked, you are always on a hiding to nothing. In saying that though, the Haitians fought hard throughout in all three group games. They will be bemoaning the fact that they conceded a penalty in each group game but they absolutely scared England, took it right up to China and with a nothing to lose mentality, gave the Danes some real trouble. While they didn't score a goal, their fight and competitiveness were easy to see and unlike some teams, they didn't roll over.
2) Lauren James. Her performance against China would be one of the best I've had the fortune to witness. She scored 2 goals, provided a further 3 for teammates and also had a goal disallowed for offside. Her class and control were easy to see and the one thing that can be said about her, she doesn't like to score an average goal. Her 2 goals were all class and even the disallowed one was a technically exquisite volley. There was a sign from a fan in that game that said "Lauren James: Better than her brother." Based on the way she ran that England team against China, absolutely she is
This group played true to form but all three teams fighting it out for two spots found Haiti a very difficult team to play against. The England vs China result (6-1 England) was completely unexpected given their struggles in the opening two games and honestly, for the first time ever, here is an English national team that is hard to dislike.
Part 2 covering Group E - H will be posted tomorrow.
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