FIFA Women’s World Cup: Jamaica’s Win over Panama is their first win in the World cup

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is heading into its third week of games and is getting more intense by the day. Let’s recap some of the latest games and history made over the weekend!

Starting off strong with Jamiaca’s win over Panama this past Saturday (July 29). This game marked the first time in the Women’s World Cup history that two Concacaf teams met in the group stage. Jamaica won 1-0, playing with high energy. No goals were made in the first half as Panama had the intensity to keep up by saving an open shot by Jamaica’s Drew Spence. In the second half, Allyson Swaby scored the goal that brought them ahead and produced another history marker for Jamaica. This was Jamaica’s first time holding the lead in a World Cup match and their first win in the Women’s World Cup. Jamaica d their best progress so far in their team’s history. Panama lost 4-0 to Brazil but didn’t let that shake them as they stayed strong and gave their best efforts, but despite that, this loss has left them unable to advance. Jamaica will face Brazil on August 2nd.

Canada is out of the World Cup after losing 4-0 to Australia today. It’s a rather challenging and sad loss for the team as it’s the first time a defending Olympic champion team has failed to make it out of the group stage. Hayley Raso scored two goals in the first 10 minutes, putting Canada behind and struggling to keep up. Raso scored again around the 39th minute mark, then 20 minutes later, Mary Fowler’s strike up the score up to 4-0. Australia is heading to the 16-team elimination round playing on August 7th and is waiting to hear who their opponent is. “Reality is setting in,” said head coach Bev Priestman. “This is the end of our World Cup road… It’s going to be difficult, but we have to bounce back,” she continued. Canada will be looking to qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The youngest player on the team, 18-year-old Olivia Smith, made her World Cup debut subbing in for Adriana Leon after she received a concussion. This game was the last for midfielder Sophie Schmidt, who announced her retirement from the national team ahead of the tournament. She has made 224 appearances. This game also marks captain Christine Sinclair’s end to her career. She was subbed off at halftime. This game was her 24th Women’s World Cup appearance. Sinclair missed a penalty in the opener against Nigeria, which caused her to fall short in her run to become the first person to score a goal at six World Cups straight. She has a record of five and shares the record with Brazilian player Marta and Portugal men’s captain Cristiano Ronaldo.

The 16-team elimination round is around the corner. Spain, Australia, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and Nigeria are seven of the 16 qualified teams. As the group round-robin finishes, the scheduling for the next round is currently being made, and these games will take place later this week.

This tournament keeps surprising viewers, and the clock is ticking as we will soon see some of the most intense, high energy and unpredictable games thus far.