Olympics Women’s Football Tournament Semifinals Recap

The Olympic Women’s Football Tournament keeps rolling on with the Semifinals. Canada, USA, Australia, and Sweden all knew they were in a position to keep their quest for Gold going. However, only two would actually do that and play for the Gold after the semifinals. Here’s a semifinals recap of all the action.

Mandatory Credit: US Soccer via @USWNT on Twitter

Semifinals Recap

In the semifinals, USA and Canada met in a rivalry dominated by the USWNT. This one had a lot of action, but not many chances to score.

Across the bracket, Sweden looked to keep their dominance going over a hungry Australian team ready to shock the world. This match was another low-scoring affair that had action but lacked goals.

Would we see a USA-Sweden Gold Medal match that some had been wanting since the first day of the group stage? Or would Canada and Australia pull off major upsets to play for the Gold?

Canada beat USA for first time in 20 years

USA has had a very up and down tournament at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. They did not look great at all in their group, taking only four points. The USWNT then looked like a totally changed team against the Netherlands. It was a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final, which had the US up for the match. Against Canada, things changed back to how things looked in the group stage.

Canada had a decent group stage. They did enough to get out of their group in second place. In their quarterfinal against Brazil, it looked like they were going to be able to hang with good teams. They went to penalties and beat the Brazilians and knew they’d be playing their hated rivals in the semifinals.

The match between the USA and Canada in the semis was an interesting one. The USA looked disjointed as they did for most of the group stage. Their play didn’t flow well to their attack. There was little attacking sequences the concluded with a shot for the USA. That and star goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher had to be subbed off with an injury in the first half. Canada looked the better team for most of the game, but couldn’t get any shots off. Their only shot on goal was a penalty that Jessie Fleming put home.

The match would end 1-0 in favor of Canada. They beat the USWNT for the first time in 20 years and deserved to win as they were able to capitalize on a big chance while the USA could not. Canada goes for Gold, while USA will play for Bronze.

Sweden continue unbeaten run besting Australia 1-0

Australia was able to get a win against New Zealand in the group stage. But, they lost to Sweden and drew the USA. They still were able to make the quarterfinals against the formidable Great Britain. The match took 120 minutes to decide a winner, but Australia ground their way to a win. They now got to have a rematch against the only team they lost to at Tokyo 2020 in the semifinals, Sweden.

Sweden had a perfect group stage. They beat USA, Australia, and New Zealand on their way to the quarterfinals. They kept their perfect run going in the Quarterfinals as they bested the host nation Japan. They had a semifinals date with a team they already beat in the tournament in Australia.

Sweden and Australia played a fun match that was all about whose tactics would drive their team to a win. In the first half, there was not much going on, but as the second half kicked off things changed. Sweden scored one minute into the second half. Their goal shocked Australia, and the Aussies couldn’t get a goal back. Sweden won 1-0. They continue to show that they are a superpower in the Women’s game, while Australia is falling off a bit.

Sweden will look to win every single game they play at Tokyo 2020 in the Gold Medal match against Canada. Australia will look to best another team they’ve already played in this tournament in the USA.

On to the Medal matches

The matchup is set.
?? vs. ?? // Thursday // 4am ET pic.twitter.com/5WSczOXCs7
— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) August 2, 2021

The medal matches are set! USA will take on Australia for the bronze medal, while Sweden and Canada will duke it out to take win Gold. Here’s a look at the matches and the dates and times:

Bronze Medal Match | USA vs Australia | Thursday, August 5 @ 4:00 am EST
Gold Medel Match | Sweden vs Canada | Thursday, August 5 @ 10:00 pm EST

These matches will be a fun time as Sweden looks to keep the winning streak going to take Gold. Canada will look to continue unlikely rise to claim Gold. USA will be upset not to be playing for Gold, but they can still win a medal at these games despite not playing well. Australia will look for the Bronze as a way to gain confidence for their team moving forward.

We’ll have a preview of these two matches tomorrow, and keep coming back to Philly Sports Network for more on who is able to win Gold, Silver, and Bronze as this Olympic tournament comes to an end!