Australia Proceed To Quarter-Finals After Beating Denmark

Hosts Australia reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup by defeating Denmark in the round of 16 in a stadium packed with Australians.

Caitlin Foord put the Matildas ahead in the 29th minute, finishing from a tight angle after Mary Fowler’s beautiful pass.

Heile Raso added a second goal in the 70th minute with a motivational finish after Emilie van Egmond’s excellent combination.

Australia will face France or Morocco in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Australia has only reached the quarter-finals once before, in 2015, and has lost four more knockouts over the years.
They got off to a slow start against Denmark, but Sydney’s Australian Stadium burst onto the scene after Fowler’s swing and a long pass opened the scoring for Foord at the end of the first half.

Encouraged by his goal, Matildas dominated for the rest of the half with another Forward try deflecting off Danish defender Ricky Sevky and narrowly falling.

With the Danes pressing after the restart, Faure broke in on the left and passed the ball to Van Egmond, who tipped Real Madrid’s Raso to coolly score the third goal of the tournament.

With the game seemingly over, Australian coach Tony Gustafsson brought in captain Sam Kerr, who received a standing ovation when he substituted Raso with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Top scorer Matildas played the opening minutes of the tournament after injuring his calf in pre-competition training.

And she shone in the final moments, rushing in from the right and firing a thunderous shot over the bar.
Australia celebrates in front of the home fans

The Matildas’ victory was watched by 75,784 fans, a record crowd for a women’s match in Australia
Second best danish in sydney
Denmark, which is participating in the World Cup for the first time since 2007, has reached the round of 16 for the first time in 28 years.

They had their best opening exchange with ex-Chelsea midfielder Pernell Harder hitting Australia goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold as he was slotted into a suitable position in the 16th minute.

Doubles quarter-finals have more possession than their opponents but create very few scoring opportunities after falling behind. Harder flew very wide in the last minutes, but by that time Denmark’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals were slim.

Australia will discover their final eight rivals when France take on Morocco on Tuesday (12:00 GMT).