Just like that, the 2023 World Cup has already hit the semifinal stage.
Frankly, it’s been a blur featuring a mix of less well-known teams announcing themselves to the world, while numerous highly-rated sides never looked quite right before stumbling out early. The U.S. women’s national team was not alone on that front.
Despite all that, no true underdog is still in the mix. The teams that are left include three of the five Pro Soccer Wire highlighted as major threats to the USWNT to win the whole thing, and the only semifinalist not mentioned in that piece (Sweden) is the one who sent the U.S. packing.
Curiously, though, it’s been a World Cup in which no one has quite revolutionized the game. England keeps winning, but only just barely. Australia has survived in a series of scrappy, even games. Spain is the rare team to lose a game 4-0 and make the semifinals in the same World Cup. Sweden…all right, well, Sweden are Sweden.
With all of that in mind, let’s get into where each team is heading into the massive pair of semifinals coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday.