Hosts Australia Seek Yet Another Quarter-Final at the Women’s World Cup
by Joseph King | by Joseph King
Is This Finally Australia's Year?
Australia are through to the knockout stages for the fifth consecutive World Cup after topping Group B. This continues the trend of the host nation advancing from the group which has now occurred in all nine iterations of the tournament. Australia will now be setting their sights on qualifying for the final eight for the fourth time in the past five World Cups. 2019 saw the Matildas eliminated in the round of 16 on penalties to another Nordic opponent in Norway. The result snapped a streak of three straight quarter-final appearances for Australia in this competition.
Despite this recent consistency, Australia have never managed to make it past the quarter-finals. They will fancy their chances of making history this time around however, as they have received a very manageable draw. A matchup against fourth-ranked France will likely be waiting for Australia in the quarters if they can prevail against the Danes. Will Australia reach the final eight yet again or will the hosts’ run end here? Remember to check out our experts' opinions on the latest matches over on our Women’s World Cup predictions page, completely free of charge!
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Returning Kerr Could Make the Difference
The major news surrounding Australia for this entire tournament has been the status of their star player Samantha Kerr. The Chelsea forward missed out on the entirety of the group stage after sustaining a calf injury in training just one day before Australia’s opening match against Ireland. The injury to Kerr was just one aspect of the rollercoaster of a group stage that the Aussies experienced. They were able to grind out a 1-0 win over Ireland in their opener thanks to a second half penalty which ended up being their only clear cut scoring chance of the game. Australia would then go on to suffer a shock 3-2 loss to 40th-ranked Nigeria in the second match.
This left Australia entering their final fixture of the group stage against seventh-ranked Canada with the serious possibility of being eliminated. Sam Kerr was named as a substitute for the encounter and was reportedly available for an emergency selection should her team really have needed her. The jewel of Australian football was afforded some more valuable recuperation time as her teammates cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Canadians, securing the top spot in the group. It was a huge confidence-boosting result for Australia as they showed they can comfortably beat a top-10 ranked side without their best player on the pitch.
The status surrounding Sam Kerr is still questionable as it seems things will be touch and go right up until kickoff. However, the 29-year-old has recently confirmed to a reporter that she will take part in the match against Denmark. Whether she’s in the starting lineup or comes on as a second-half substitute still remains to be seen.
The rest of the Australian squad will be confident of getting the job done with or without their nation’s all-time leading goalscorer. However, it is undeniable that having Kerr on the field gives a massive boost to the Matildas’ qualification chances. Eventually, if Australia is to go on to qualify for their first ever semi-final appearance and potentially even the final, they will need their talismanic striker fit and back in the team. Follow along with the round of 16 action by heading over to our Women's World Cup Live page!
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Will the Betting Favorites Progress?
Standing in the way of Australia reaching yet another Women’s World Cup quarter-final is 13th-ranked Denmark. The Danes finished second in Group D behind the now-tournament favorites England with two wins and one loss for six total points. The Red and White were able to put an end to a 28-year drought of qualifying from the group stage with the last occurrence coming way back in 1995.
Led by Sam Kerr’s former Chelsea teammate Pernille Harder (pictured above), Denmark will attempt to win their first ever knockout stage match at the Women’s World Cup. The previous two instances of Denmark making the quarter-final were back when the competition only had 12 participants.
The oddsmakers have Australia as the favorites to advance with odds of 1.40 to qualify for the quarter-final according to Unibet. The host nation is also favored to win the match in 90 minutes with a price of 1.93 on the three way moneyline. These two countries actually have a recent history against one another as they faced off in November of 2022. The Australians won that friendly fixture by a score of 3-1, coming from a goal down in the first half to score three unanswered in the second half.
As for Australia’s chances on the whole, Vbet has the Matildas listed at odds of 14.00 to win the Women’s World Cup. Australia’s path to the final will likely have to go through England as the Lionesses have received an immensely favorable draw. We quite like the bet of Australia to be eliminated in the semi-final at an attractive price of 7.00 on bet365. They’ll likely be looking at a matchup with fourth-ranked France in the quarter-finals but Hervé Renard’s team has certainly looked beatable. If they can get past the French, then a meeting against the tournament favorites England likely awaits in a difficult semi-final fixture.
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