Asllani’s stunning second-half strike sealed victory for Sweden as they beat Australia to finish third at the Women’s World Cup.
Kosovare Asllani was on target for Sweden in their 2-0 victory over Australia as they finished third at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Kosovare’s stunning strike from the edge of the box doubled Sweden’s lead and they again won the bronze medal at the World Cup.
Even after the loss, the Matildas should be proud of themselves as this was their highest ever World Cup finish.
Claire Hunt took down Stina Blackstenius in the penalty box and after a VAR check the penalty was awarded to Gerhardsson’s side. Fridolina Rolfo stepped and converted the penalty to give her side the lead.
Blackstenius was also involved in the second goal as sqaured a pass to Asllani, who rifled the ball past the goalkeeper to double their lead.
Matildas’s fourth place finish is their best result at the World Cup but they would be disappointed with their tired performance as even their star player Sam Kerr struggled to get involved in the game and had the fewest touches in the first half.
The two good chances that they were able to create, both were thwarted by Zecria Musovic Sweden’s goalkeeper.
Autralia were also the first host nation to reach semifinals of the World Cup since USA twenty years ago.
Their semifinals match against England was the most watched TV event in their history with a mammoth 11.15 million viewers.
Sweden picked up their fourth third place finish at the World Cup. They have made semifinals five times in their history having won only once to make the finals in 2003, where they eventually lost to Germany.
They completely dominated the game and were the best team on the pitch.