Matchday 2 Recaps

Matchday 2 of the 2019 Women’s World Cup kicked off on Wednesday with three matches, starting with Nigeria and South Korea.

Nigeria vs South Korea

Both teams lost their opening matches in Matchday 1, Nigeria to France and South Korea to Norway. Nigeria captured their first win of the World Cup with a 2-0 victory to open Wednesday’s match day. VAR came into play on South Korea’s own goal, it was determined that there was no handball by the Nigerian forward and the goal would stand. Nigeria’s Oshoala sealed the win by pushing off the defender and getting around the South Korean keeper. Both teams play next Monday, Nigeria will take on the home side France and South Korea will play Norway to close out Group A.

Germany vs Spain

One of the more anticipated matches on Wednesday finished with a relatively low score with Germany’s Däbritz scoring the lone goal in Valenciennes. Spain looked like the better team despite the result, particularly dominating the first half before conceding before the halftime whistle. Germany’s win was not a convincing one considering they are one of the favorites for this tournament. They will struggle if they play one of the top sides as they did against Spain. Group B will conclude next Monday with Germany taking on South Africa and Spain against China.

France vs Norway

Norway opened their campaign with a 3-0 win over Nigeria, but dropped Wednesday’s match against the hosts France 2-1. France would score 3 goals in the match, with France’s Renard tapping in an own goal. Eugénie Le Sommer picked up her second goal of the tournament with a penalty kick. France remain perfect heading into Matchday 3 against Nigeria and Norway look to advance with a win over South Korea.

Matchday 2 Previews

Australia vs Brazil

Two more evenly matched squads will clash on Thursday in Montpellier. Brazil hold the all-time head-to-head in the Women’s World Cup between these two nations, with 2 out of 3 wins. Australia lost 2-1 in Matchday 1 to Italy while the Brazilians captured a convincing 3-0 win over Jamaica.

Time: Thursday, 6 p.m CEST

Venue: Stade de la Mosson (Montpellier)

South Africa vs China

Neither of these countries have a point yet with South Africa losing to Spain and China losing to Germany. These could be the two nations that miss out on advancing from Group B with Germany and Spain proving to be tough group-mates. South Africa will be missing left back Nothando Vilakazi after she picked up a late red card in Matchday 1. China are heavily favored in this matchup.

Time: Thursday, 9 p.m. CEST

Venue: Parc des Princes (Paris)

Japan vs Scotland

A Group D matchup where Japan are favored quite considerably. Japan drew 0-0 with Argentina, yet to score in this tournament. Scotland lost 2-1 in their United Kingdom duel with England. A win here for Japan could help them significantly since Argentina have a tough match with England.

Time: Friday, 3 p.m. CEST

Venue: Roazhon Park (Rennes)

Jamaica vs Italy

Group C’s Matchday 2 shows a matchup where Italy are expected to most likely take a win from Jamaica. Italy won a close match over Australia while Jamaica dropped a 3-0 loss to Brazil. With a win, and depending on what happens between Australia and Brazil on Thursday, Italy could be up towards the top of Group C in great positioning for Matchday 3.

Time: Friday, 6 p.m. CEST

Venue: Stade Auguste-Delaune (Reims)

England vs Argentina

Another match where England could see a win as they are heavily favored over the Argentinians. England are one of the favorites for this year’s World Cup so it should be no surprise they are favorites here. England needs the win before they face a top Japan side in Matchday 3.

Time: Friday, 9 p.m. CEST

Venue: Stade Océane (La Havre)

Netherlands vs Cameroon

Saturday will open up with a Group E match between a highly-favored Netherlands and Cameroon. Netherlands won their first match against New Zealand, breaking their hearts with a late goal in stoppage time. Canada won their match in Matchday 1 against Cameroon so the Netherlands will be looking to fight for the group lead with a win over Cameroon.

Time: Saturday, 3 p.m. CEST

Venue: Stade de Hainaut (Valenciennes)

Canada vs New Zealand

The other Group E match of the day is Canada facing off against New Zealand. The Canadians are the favorites after defeating Cameroon 1-0 and the Kiwis losing their first match of the tournament rather disappointingly.

Time: Saturday, 9 p.m. CEST

Venue: Stade de Alpes (Grenoble)

Sweden vs Thailand

The weekend will conclude with two Group F matches, the first being between Sweden and Thailand. Sweden are the favorites here, not only because of great skill but because of the absolute drubbing Thailand took against the United States in Matchday 1. It’s going to be very hard for the Thai to recover from that heartbreak they suffered. Sweden won their match against Chile and are looking well set up for this tournament.

Time: Sunday, 3 p.m. CEST

Venue: Allianz Riviera (Nice)

United States vs Chile

This may just be the most anticipated match of Matchday 2 just based on the bashing the USWMNT gave to Thailand. No doubt the US are the favorites here, they’re the favorites to win the whole tournament and they’re also the defending champions. On top of that, Chile have already suffered defeat and the United States have already scored 13 goals. The US broke two World Cup records against Thailand, a team record of most goals (13) in a match and a personal record of most goals (5) in a match by an individual player now held by Alex Morgan. The US will look to somehow top a 13 goal win while Chile will look to fend off a monster in hopes of getting points.

Time: Sunday, 6 p.m. CEST

Venue: Parc des Princes (Paris)