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Thirty-two has become 16 at the FIFA Women’s World Cup as we enter the knockout phase of the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
After 48 games that produced no shortage of goals, drama and upsets, three teams ranked in the world’s top 10 – Brazil, Canada and Germany – are going home early.
But most of the heavyweights are still standing, with the reigning champion United States surviving a big scare to scrape through Group E alongside the Netherlands.
Co-hosts Australia, third-ranked Sweden and Euros winners England all join them in advancing to the business end of a competition that looks increasingly wide open.
There are several mouthwatering ties in prospect in the round of 16, namely the Swedes taking on the Americans in Melbourne, the Dutch versus South Africa in Brisbane and Japan against Norway in Wellington.
But before we bid adieu to the group stage, here are some key facts and figures from a thrilling fortnight of football.
Sophie Ralph/AP
England’s Lauren James scores one of the 126 goals in the group phase, an average of 1.15 per game.
126
In total, 126 goals were scored during the group phase, at an average of 1.15 every 90 minutes.
Japan were the most prolific team with 11 goals from their three matches (3.25 per game), while their Group C rivals Spain had the most attempts on goal with a whopping 23.2 per match.
RYAN ANDERSON/Stuff
A record crowd for a women’s sports event in New Zealand watched the United States face Portugal.
42,958
That’s how many spectators crammed into Eden Park to watch the United States’ final Group E game against Portugal – a new record for a women’s sports event in New Zealand.
The colossal crowd shattered the previous mark set only 12 days earlier when the Football Ferns kicked off their home World Cup with a famous victory over Norway at the same Auckland venue before 42,173 fans.
Still, it’s nothing compared to the mind-boggling numbers across the ditch, where 75,784 saw co-hosts Australia struggle past the Republic of Ireland in Sydney on opening night.
Hamish Blair/AP
Nigeria’s Deborah Abiodun is shown a red card for her studs-up tackle on Canada’s Ashley Lawrence.
5
Five players were given their marching orders during the group stage, with the first red card shown to Nigeria’s Deborah Abiodun on matchday two after a VAR review of her studs-up challenge on Canada’s Ashley Lawrence saw it upgraded from a yellow.
Zambia goalkeeper Catherine Musonda was then sent off in the dying moments of their 5-0 loss to Japan for a second caution, with Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw, China’s Zhang Rui and Sophia Harrison of the Philippines completing the rogues’ gallery.
Portugal proved the most ill-disciplined side, picking up six of the 92 yellow cards dished out.
James Elsby/AP
Ibtissam Jraidi celebrates what proved to be the winning goal in Morocco’s 1-0 upset of South Korea.
55
That’s the number of places separating Group H rivals Morocco and South Korea in the FIFA world rankings.
Not that it mattered when the two sides met in Adelaide, the Atlas Lionesses making history by beating the 17th-ranked Koreans 1-0 courtesy of Ibtissam Jraïdi’s deft header.
In terms of ranking disparity, it was the biggest upset of the competition, Nigeria’s boilover of co-hosts Australia taking second spot (30 places between them).
3
Three teams made it through their three group stage fixtures without conceding a single goal – Switzerland, Japan and Jamaica.
The Swiss negotiated their way through a tricky Group A with a 2-0 win over the Philippines in their opener before back-to-back goalless draws with Norway and New Zealand, the latter result sending the co-hosts crashing out of their own tournament.
Japan were much more impressive in topping Group C, scoring five past Zambia, two against Costa Rica and then routing world No 6 Spain 4-0 in a stunning display of counter attacking football.
And Jamaica had goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer to thank for their great escape from Group F, making a string of super saves as the Reggae Girlz held big guns France and Brazil scoreless and beat minnows Panama 1-0 to reach the knockout rounds for the first time.
John Cowpland/AP
Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa leads the race for the golden boot after scoring four goals in the group phase.
4
Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa and Germany’s Alexandra Popp jointly lead the race for the coveted golden boot after scoring four times apiece in their three group games.
Miyazawa opened her account with a double against Zambia, bagging another brace in the Nadeshiko’s 4-0 rout of Spain.
The prolific Popp managed to find the net in all three of Germany’s matches, notching two in the 6-0 rout of Morocco and one each against Colombia and South Korea.
But the 32-year-old won’t be adding to her tally after the two-time champions’ stunning exit, while Miyazawa gets at least one more chance when Japan meet Norway at Wellington Regional Stadium in the round of 16.
9
France’s thrilling come-from-behind win over Panama in Sydney saw the back of the net bulge on no fewer than nine occasions as Les Bleues ran out 6-3 winners.
It was the most goals scored in a single game during group play, two more than the seven plundered in both the Netherlands’ rout of Vietnam and England’s 6-1 annihilation of China.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP
Vietnam were hit for seven by the Netherlands in Dunedin as they shipped 12 goals in three matches.
12
Making their first appearance at the finals, world No 54 Vietnam were given a brutal introduction as they slipped to three defeats, shipping a tournament-high 12 goals along the way.
Facing the defending champion United States in their opening game in Auckland, Mai Duc Chung’s side put in a spirited effort to only lose 3-0.
A narrow 2-0 defeat to Portugal followed before the Vietnamese were taken to the cleaners by a rampant Netherlands in Dunedin, going down 7-0 to end their maiden World Cup campaign on a sour note.
Panama and Zambia were the next worst defensively, conceding 11 apiece, though they did both score three goals and the Africans even got to taste victory on their World Cup debut.
Rick Rycroft/AP
French goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin can’t keep out Marta Cox’s stunning free-kick in Sydney.
69
There were just 69 seconds on the clock when Marta Cox strode up to the ball and unleashed a thunderbolt of a free-kick into the top corner to give Panama a shock lead over France.
Not only was Cox’s stunning 35-yard effort a bona fide goal of the tournament contender, it was also the fastest scored in the group stage (England’s Alessia Russo and Ireland’s Katie McCabe both needed a comparatively tardy four minutes to break the deadlock against China and Canada, respectively).
France’s Vicki Bècho and Denmark’s Sanne Troelsgaard share the honours for the latest strikes, both finding the back of the net 10 minutes into added time.
Hamish Blair/AP
Nigeria goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie turns away Canada veteran Christine Sinclair’s poor penalty.
4
Of the 22 penalties awarded at this World Cup – including one in each of the first eight matches – 17 have been converted for a 77.2% success rate.
While that’s all pretty standard, it wasn’t the case early on in the tournament when four of the first eight efforts from 12 yards were missed, including Ria Percival’s effort against Norway that struck the woodwork.
Normal service then resumed with the next 11 penalties scored – including three in that nine-goal thriller between Panama and France – until Morocco’s Ghizlane Chebbak fluffed her lines on the final matchday.
FIFA Women’s World Cup, round of 16 (NZ time)
Saturday
Switzerland v Spain, 5pm at Eden Park, Auckland
Japan v Norway, 8pm at Wellington Regional Stadium (Watch live on Stuff from 7.30pm)
Sunday
Netherlands v South Africa, 2pm at Sydney Football Stadium (Watch live on Stuff from 1.50pm)
Sweden v United States, 9pm at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Monday
England v Nigeria, 7:30pm at Brisbane Stadium (Watch live on Stuff from 7.20pm)
Australia v Denmark, 10:30pm at Stadium Australia, Sydney
Tuesday
Colombia v Jamaica, 8pm at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium (Watch live on Stuff from 7.30pm)
France v Morocco, 11pm at Hindmarsh Stadium, Australia
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