August 11, (THEWILL) – The Swedish women’s national team defeated Japan 2-1 on Friday, to advance to the semi-finals of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Sweden took control early and held on late to knock out the 2011 champions.
Sweden came out strong in the first half, outshooting Japan 11-0. The breakthrough came in the 32nd minute when defender Amanda Ilestedt finished off a free kick to put Sweden up 1-0. The Swedes continued their dominance after the break and earned a penalty kick when the ball struck Japanese defender Fuka Nagano’s hand in the box. Filippa Angeldahl converted the spot kick in the 53rd minute to give Sweden a 2-0 advantage.
Japan attempted to battle back in the second half behind some substitutions by manager Futoshi Ikeda. The Japanese earned a penalty of their own late in the match, but striker Riko Ueki hit the post on the attempt. Japan finally got on the board in the 87th minute when midfielder Honoka Hayashi scored to cut the deficit to 2-1. However, it was too little too late for Japan.
Sweden’s defence held strong in the closing minutes to close out the victory. The Swedes will now face Spain in the semi-finals after Spain knocked off the Netherlands 2-1 earlier in the day, as THEWILL reported.
The win extends Sweden’s stellar run in the tournament after needing penalty kicks to get past the United States in the quarter-finals. Japan exits in the quarters again after making it to the same stage in 2015 and 2019.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
