Women’s World Cup: Matildas Can Go All The Way!

Australia vs England

We’re down to the last four of the Women’s World Cup and hosts Australia are on course to record a spectacular home win; but first they must beat England to tee up a mouth watering finale.   

The winners will meet either Spain or Sweden in the decider and that will be a fitting end to a fantastic tournament which has provided bucket loads of spectacular action and plenty of shocks. The USA and Germany went out of the competition early and Australia, managed by Tony Gustavsson, saw off France in the quarter finals, so the door is opening wider as we speak.

Of course Sarina Wiegman’s England will have plenty to say about that and they will be keen to add the World Crown to their 2022 European Championship triumph. But the Lionesses haven’t looked entirely fluent this year, following a number of retirements last season and a key suspension in this tournament.  

The latest Women’s World Cup 2023 betting odds say this competition is wide open, with Spain the favourites at 2.50, England at 3.10, Australia at 4.50 and Sweden at 5.50; so it would take a brave person to pick the winner.   

Talking Points

Kerr can take Australia all the way

I’m backing the Aussies though! 

Ranked tenth in the world, the Matildas beat a team five places higher in the world rankings and now they must go one better by beating fourth rated England. The hosts came through 7-6 on penalties to break French hearts and reach the last four of the World Cup for the first time. The hero of the day was keeper Mackenzie Arnold who saved three French spot-kicks in the shootout and she has been crowned Queen Mackenzie by the Australia fans.   

Cortnee Vine was coolness personified as she stepped up to convert the winning penalty and send the home fans wild.  

Australia dug in, throughout the game, with 50 per cent possession and narrowly losing the shot counts by 21 to 15 and five to four on target and both Mary Fowler and Sam Kerr could have won the game in normal time. On the back of impressive wins over Canada and Denmark, this clash with Les Bleues was another serious test of the Matilda’s title credentials and they passed with flying colours; and with Kerr’s magic sure to provide some more Women’s World Cup 2023 highlights the host nation has every reason to believe they can go all the way. 

England still battling on

After struggling past Nigeria on penalties, England ground out a 2-1 victory over Colombia with a determined display and nobody will expect them to give any team an easy ride. Alessia Russo’ second half goal was enough to beat Colombia after the Lionesses had gone one down and levelled thanks to a howler from Colombian keeper Catalina Perez.

England were under pressure in the closing stages but hung on to set up a semi-final clash with Australia; and now they will need to continue improving to make it to the final. Wiegman’s girls will be without top scorer Lauren James, who is serving a two match ban for stepping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie and that gives the England boss an unwanted headache. 

History

While England are current European champions, this is Australia’s best showing at the World Cup, though they did reach the semi-finals of the 2020 Olympic Games and won the Asian Cup in 2010.

Both teams are in good form with five wins from the last six, and in terms of head to heads there is little to choose between them. Each has won two of the five meetings, and Australia are the only team to beat the Lionesses under Wiegman.

They met at Brentford’s Community Stadium in May and a goal and an assist from Kerr ended England’s 30 match unbeaten run.    

Betting tip

This game is a tough one to call with the Lionesses at SBOTOP odds of 1.59 to proceed and the Matildas at 2.26. As England know so well, you can’t overestimate the value of home advantage and that gives Australia a vital edge.

For a correct score line 1-1 and 0-0 are both priced at 5.03 while a 1-0 home win is 7.33.

England could do their cricket counterparts a favour as the England women’s cricket team lost to Australia in the 2022 World Cup and lost the Women’s Ashes this year. But a passionate home crowd and the absence of England’s most dangerous player means the Aussies can continue their dominance over the Poms.  

 

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