Nouwen was among the substitutes as the Netherlands overcame South Africa by two goals to nil in Sydney in the early hours of Sunday morning. This victory for the Dutch sees them progress to the quarter-finals where they will face Spain on Friday.

In Melbourne, the second game of the day saw two powerhouses in the shape of Sweden and reigning champions the United States go toe-to-toe. Our Swedish Blues Musovic and Johanna Rytting Kaneryd returned to the starting line-up for the Group G winners who had a 100 per cent record Down Under.

Safe hands

Both sides enjoyed early spells of possession in the opening 15 minutes, sizing each other up but without creating any clear-cut chances. USA began to settle into their rhythm and saw their first sight of goal when Trinity Rodman let fly from range, but Musovic was equal to the effort.

There was an increased pace and intensity to the game with half an hour played. Musovic needed to be alert once again to palm away another powerful effort from Rodman, before Lindsey Horan connected with a corner but saw her header clip the crossbar.

USA looked the most likely to open the scoring but Musovic was in fine form and her safe hands came to Sweden’s rescue on three occasions. It was a predictably tight opening 45 minutes with everything to play for with extra-time and penalties a possibility.

Finely poised

Shortly after the restart, Musovic produced her best save yet. Horan struck a fierce effort which looked destined for the bottom corner, but for the fingertips of our Swedish goalkeeper who got down quickly to make another impressive stop.

It was a cagey affair for the majority of the second half and Sweden made a double change which saw Rytting Kaneryd make way after 80 minutes. In the final knockings of normal time, Alex Morgan’s goal-bound header was brilliantly saved by Musovic who was keeping her country in the tournament.

After 90 minutes, there was nothing to separate the sides. USA had by far the better chances while Sweden had managed only one effort on target. The Swedes had Musovic to thank for taking the game to extra-time and keeping their hopes of progressing alive.

Dramatic finale

Musovic refused to be beaten during extra-time and made further saves to deny Lynn Williams and Sophia Smith, leaving the game all square after 120 minutes and forcing a penalty shoot-out to decide who would progress to the quarter-finals.

Five perfect penalties saw USA take a 3-2 lead in the shoot-out but this early conviction was followed by four consecutive misses. Hanna Bennison drew Sweden level before USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher gave them a 4-3 lead.

Magdalena Eriksson picked out the top corner to make it 4-4 and then watched as Kelley O’Hara hit the post for the States. Lina Hurtig stepped up and sent Sweden through in dramatic fashion as VAR intervened to confirm the ball had crossed the line by the finest of margins.

What’s next?

The Netherlands will take on Spain at the quarter-final stage in Wellington on Friday 11 August, with kick-off scheduled for 2am (UK time).

Sweden progress to the quarter-finals where they will face Japan in Auckland on the same day, with kick-off set for 08.30am (UK time) and places in the semi-finals up for grabs.

Our World Cup stars will return to domestic action when the Women’s Super League season begins in October. Click here to view our ticket bundles and find out how to secure your seats for 2023/24!