- As Round of 16 starts tomorrow
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
The business end of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Australia and New Zealand will start tomorrow when the tournament’s first knock-out phase will commence two matches between Spain and Switzerland on one hand and Japan versus Norway later in the day.
At Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand, Switzerland will take on Spain at 5 pm local time and 6 am in Nigeria. Switzerland finished top of Group A, with five points.
They beat the Philippines 2-0 in their opener, before drawing 0-0 against New Zealand and Norway.
Also, Spain finished second in Group C, with six points. They began their campaign with 5-0 and 3-0 victories over Zambia and Costa Rica, respectively, but lost their final group-stage match against Japan 4-0.
Meanwhile, high-scoring Japan will face Norway in the second game of Saturday in Wellington Regional Stadium, New Zealand. Japan won all three games to top Group C with nine points. They first beat Zambia 5-0, and continued their perfect record with 2-0 and 4-0 wins over Costa Rica and Spain, respectively. READ ALSO:
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Norway, on the other hand, were the runners-up of Group A with four points. They suffered a 1-0 loss to New Zealand in their opener, before playing a goalless draw against Norway and dispatching the Philippines 6-0.
At this stage of the competition, it is required that should a winner fail to emerge in the regulation time, extra time of 15 minutes each wiil be adopted and should a winner still not emerged then penalty shootout will be used to decide the winner and quarter-finalist.
