Quest for Gold: Semifinals of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Women’s Football

The Olympic Women’s Football tournament is down to the final four nations! Of these four, three will take home bronze, silver, and gold at Tokyo 2020. These semifinals will determine who will make it to the gold medal match, and who will make the bronze medal match. Here’s a preview of the final four’s Quest for Gold: Semifinals!

Quest for Gold: Semifinals

Australia, Canada, Sweden, and USA are the final four nations competing for the Gold in Women’s Soccer at Tokyo 2020. The matchups showcase four teams in the top ten of the FIFA women’s rankings. They’ll have the opportunity to get to a match that would be for either gold or silver at these games. The matchups themselves showcase one team that has dominated the other in their previous meetings. Will these matches show more of the same, or will there be some upsets ahead of the medals matches?

USA renews rivalry with Canada for shot at taking Gold or Silver

USA is starting to wake up at these Tokyo 2020 games. Their group stage was not the best as they fell to Sweden, beat New Zealand, and drew Australia. However, their spirited quarterfinals win on penalties over the Netherlands showed that this team can compete for the gold. Their opposition in the semifinals is a nation they’re very familiar with.

Canada made their way through their group stage looking good, but not great. They beat Chile and drew Great Britain and Brazil. CANWNT followed that performance by keeping Brazil scoreless in a quarterfinal that also had to be decided by penalty kicks. Canada now gets to face a rival they haven’t beaten in a very long time for a chance to keep their quest for gold alive.

This match will be one that will have plenty of fireworks! Over the last seven matches, the USA has dominated their rivals to the north! Canada has lost six of the last seven and drawn once against the USWNT. This stretch of woes for Canada runs all the way back to the semifinals in the London 2012 Olympic games. Whenever USA and Canada go head to head in the Women’s game it’s a heated affair. The USWNT has beaten up on the CANWNT in games of consequence for almost a decade now. Will this one be more of the same, or can Canada break out of their funk and beat their rivals on the Worlds stage?

Australia looks to build off quarterfinal confidence vs Gold-medal favorites Sweden

Australia is the lone third-place team still alive at Tokyo 2020. They had a rough group stage beating New Zealand, losing to Sweden, and drawing the USA. in their quarterfinal against Great Britain, they stormed back to force extra time. Australia then scored twice in those 30 minutes to secure a spot in the semis. The Aussies get to play the team they lost to in the group stage for a chance to compete for gold.

Sweden has been the best nation in this tournament. They started off their campaign by beating USA 3-0. That set the rest of their tournament in motion. The Swedes took care of Australia 4-2 and blanked New Zealand to complete the group stage. They then took care of the host’s Japan in the quarterfinals with ease. In the all-important semifinal, they get to play Australia again for the chance to keep their gold-medal-favorites status alive.

These two nations are both in the top ten of the Women’s FIFA rankings, but that doesn’t mean it will be a close contest based on rankings. Australia has never won a match against Sweden. They have lost to the Swedes three of the five times they’ve met, drawing the other two times. These two did meet in this tournament’s group stage, where Sweden won 4-2. Australia was up 2-1 in that match, but Sweden put on an onslaught in the second half. This match should be another high-intensity game as it was in the group stage. This time it’s a win-or-go-home match. Can Australia build off of their confidence after beating Great Britain, or will Sweden continue their dominance and win their fifth straight game at Tokyo 2020?

The action takes place tomorrow morning

And then there were four 👀

🇺🇸 vs 🇨🇦 coming up Monday for a spot in the Gold Medal Match! pic.twitter.com/tJHijkYJeC
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 30, 2021

The medal matches beckon as these four nations are ready to show what they can do. The idea of a Sweden vs USA final is there, which many wanted to see after their group stage match to open the tournament. Sweden dominated USA, and it would be very fitting to see those two meet in the gold medal match of these games. Don’t discount Canada or Australia though, both nations have the heart and the skill to beat their opposition and make it to a match for gold or silver! Here’s a look at the matches:

USA vs Canada | Monday, August 2 @ 4:00 am EST
Australia vs Sweden | Monday, August 2 @ 7:00 am EST

The action kicks off on Monday morning bright and early. Don’t miss the action and come back to Philly Sports NEtwork as we recap all the action and look forward to the medal matches!