The first four days of the World Cup have produced a string of curiously narrow score lines for some of the tournament favorites. A scoreless tie for Canada. A 1-0 win for England, the European champion, against the World Cup newcomer Haiti. The United States’ 3-0 victory over Vietnam.
Sunday brought the prospect of the tournament’s first true shocker. And then just like that, it was gone.
The scare came courtesy of South Africa, and striker Hildah Magaia, who bundled a rebound into Sweden’s goal three minutes into the second half to give her team a stunning 1-0 lead against Sweden, the world’s third-ranked team. The South African players could hardly believe their luck, and were soon celebrating with a dance. Their coaching staff poured off the bench and then dissolved into a series of bear hugs.
But then Sweden stormed back. Fridolina Rolfo tied score with a goal at the back post in the 65th minute, and defender Amanda Ilestedt got the winner with a header off a corner kick in the 90th.
Much was made before the World Cup of the potential gap between the eight first-time entrants and the traditional powers. The first week has shown the talent gap might not be as yawning as some think.
The Netherlands, Sweden and France are the teams to watch on Sunday, the fourth day of the Women’s World Cup. Sweden, the world’s third-ranked team and a semifinalist at last year’s European Champion, are a regular contender at major tournaments and got a win against South Africa on Sunday. The Dutch were the runners-up at the 2019 World Cup, and they still have many of their core players from that tournament on their roster. The French have a new coach but are familiar faces in late stages of international tournaments.
Netherlands vs. Portugal
The Netherlands have been a force in international soccer for several years. It won the 2017 European Championship, reached the World Cup final in 2019 and took the United States to a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Its first opponent in this World Cup is Portugal, which needed 13 qualification games to clinch its spot in the 32-team field, the most of any team competing. Portugal is one of the eight teams appearing in the Women’s World Cup for the first time.
That experience gap favors the Netherlands, but of course the matchup’s placement in Group E — with the United States — puts heavier pressure on both teams to post an early win if they want to make it to the knockout rounds.
The Dutch, who lost to the Americans in that World Cup final four years ago. will face the U.S. again on Thursday in Wellington, New Zealand (Wednesday night Eastern time). The game is one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the group stage, and the winner will face a far easier path in the knockout rounds. But first things first, and that’s Portugal.
France vs. Jamaica
Despite a successful run in international play over the past few years, France has been in turmoil behind the scenes. In March, the French federation fired its longtime coach, Corinne Diacre, after players complained of an unhealthy environment on the team.
Hervé Renard, a well-traveled coach but one who had never led a women’s team, has worked to steady the ship. But if his pedigree coaching women is thin, his World Cup pedigree is long: Most recently, he coached Saudi Arabia in the men’s World Cup in December, a run that included a famous win over Lionel Messi and Argentina.
France lost a disappointing semifinal to Germany in the 2022 European Championship and failed to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. After what they have been through, a win in the first game in Australia could help stabilize the team — and set it on the path for a deep run.
Standing in the way is Jamaica, a team playing in its second World Cup. Jamaica had to use crowdfunding websites to raise money for the team’s trip to Australia and New Zealand. The Jamaicans lost all three of their games in the group stage in 2019.
To a small subset of devoted soccer fans, Sophia Smith’s goal celebration during the United States’ 3-0 victory against Vietnam would have looked familiar.
After her second goal in the U.S. team’s 3-0 victory over Vietnam, Smith ran her fingers across her lips to zip them and then threw away an imaginary key. It was the same goal celebration her good friend and former Stanford teammate Katie Meyer used during a penalty shootout at the 2019 N.C.A.A. championship game. The gesture by Meyer, Stanford’s goalkeeper and team captain, quickly went viral.
When Stanford won the penalty shootout that day, Smith ran to Meyer and leaped onto her, causing them both to tumble to the ground.
Just over two years later, in March 2022, Meyer was found dead in her dorm room only a few months before graduation. She had killed herself.
“That was for Katie,” Smith said after the Vietnam game, explaining that she and another former Stanford player on the U.S. team, Naomi Girma, had planned the goal celebration in the days leading up to the World Cup. Both have dedicated this tournament to Meyer.
In Meyer’s memory, Smith and Girma also launched a mental health care initiative with the nonprofit Common Goal that included filming a public service announcement with several of their U.S. teammates. “We just want to honor her in every way,” Smith said.
Vulnerability is a sign of strength, not weakness. My teammates and I are determined to make sure everyone has the support they need.
Launching the first mental health initiative of its kind with my friends at @CommonGoalOrg.
This one’s for you Katie ❤️ pic.twitter.com/AoGLUcxeMU
— Naomi Girma (@naomi_girma) July 18, 2023
Smith said Meyer’s death “changed everything” about her life. It has helped her value her friendships more, she said, and put other issues into perspective.
“Now I don’t take things too seriously,” said Smith, who left Stanford two years early to play professionally. “I realized that there’s so many more important things happening and the little things that stress me out take a toll on me.”
France arrived in Australia as a World Cup favorite on the mend. Torn apart by bitter feuds, it has in recent months lost players, welcomed them back, and then lost them again. It has changed coaches, changed approaches and changed tactics. And now it has asked Hervé Renard, a respected 54-year-old with a decorated men’s World Cup résumé but no previous experience coaching women, to carry it at least as far as the semifinals.
He started the process, he said, by being open about what he did not know.
“For me everything was new because I didn’t know women’s football, how to manage the girls,” he said. “I was lucky because on our staff a lot of people were already working with women’s football. So I was listening.”
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