United States 2-0 Netherlands

This is the first match that the US has played in the tournament without scoring in the first 12 minutes.

The worse mistake Netherlands made was Stefanie van der Gragt high kicking Alex Morgan in the penalty area at 60 minutes. Van der Gragt drew a yellow card and the US was awarded a penalty kick. Enter Megan Rapinoe and the US is up by 1. The Oranj goalie, Sari van Veenendaal, had been a brick wall in the first half, but Rapinoe finds a way. This was only the second penalty kick in a WWC final and the only one that found the net. Rapinoe is now tied with Alex Morgan with 6 goals for the tournaments, and the US has set a new record of 26 goals for the tournament.

At 69 minutes Rose Lavelle’s goal was one of the finest single efforts of the tournament. She dribbled through the Oranj defense and found the hole Megan punched through van Veenendaal’s ‘brick wall’.

Update: Megan Rapinoe was awarded the Gold Boot for the most scoring in the least amount of time and the Gold Ball as the best player in the tournament. Rose Lavelle won the Bronze Ball as the third best player.

England 1-2 Sweden

The First Half was the game. At 11 minutes Sweden’s Kosavare Asllani scores and 10 minutes later her teammate Sofia Jakobsson finds the net as England’s defense wobbles.

Fran Kirby brings England back into the game with a great shot at 31 minutes, but two minutes later Ellen White has her second goal of the tournament voided by the VAR (video-assisted referee) and that’s the way things ended.

England wasn’t ready initially and Sweden found openings. England got back in the game, but melted after White’s goal was disallowed. Sweden was the better team on the pitch.

Netherlands 1-0 Sweden

The action starts at 2 PM CDT.

Defense is king in this battle that may end with a penalty shootout.

The game has gone full time with a tie, and they will now play two 15 minute periods of “Extra Time”.

At the 99 minute mark, Jackie Groenen of the Oranj put one into the lower corner out of reach of Sweden’s goalie, Hedvig Lindahl.

The US and the Netherlands will meet in the Final on July 7th, and England will face Sweden to decide third place on July 6th.

England 1-2 US

The US scored the first goal at 10 minutes with a Christen Press header. Ellen White equalized for England 9 minutes later with her 6th goal. Alex Morgan regained the lead for the US with a header at the 31-minute mark. That was Morgan’s 6th goal and her present to herself on her 30th birthday.

Megan Rapinoe is reported to have a hamstring injury and is ruled out of the game. It has to be frustrating because she was tied with Ellen, Alex, and Sam Kerr with 5 goals for the tournament.

US Goalee Alyssa Naeher’s saves were the difference for the win. In the second half, the US shifted to a five-player defense and protected their goal. Another US final. Ellen White of England was barely offsides for what would have been the equalizer, but the VAR caught it and her second goal was called back.

Italy 0-2 Netherlands

All of the scoring was the result of Sherida Spitse’s free-kicks in the second half that were converted by headers from Vivianne Miedema and then Stefani van der Gragt. After an even first half, the Oranje Leeuwinnen (Orange Lionesses) took control of the pitch from Le Azzurre (The Blues). It is the middle of a heat wave in Europe which slowed things down. The Italian defense was pounded by 21 attempts, so they held up their end allowing only 2 goals in set pieces by the current European champion Oranje.

Germany 1-2 Sweden

The DFB Frauen struck first and led in possession 60-40, but the Blågult (Blue & Gold) did a better job of penetrating the German defense. It was hot and there were cooling breaks during the match, but the play was not nearly as spirited as it would have in the Fall in Berlin or Stockholm. Germany was missing Dzsenifer Marozsán, their star midfielder who is not 100% after an injury in an earlier game. She came in later in the game but the Frauen didn’t adjust to change in their game.

Les Bleues controlled the ball 60% of the time and looked great, but they couldn’t get the ball in the goal. The US had speed, reaction, and Megan Rapinoe. The US shifted to a five women defense at the end to maintain their lead and it worked.

This is the eighth consecutive Women’s World Cup in which the US reached the semi-finals.

Update: BBC Sports selected Crystal Dunn, US fullback, ‘Player of the match’ for shutting down the French offense.

Apparently stunned by a quick Lioness goal (2 minutes 7 seconds), the Grasshoppers couldn’t get their game together. They had opportunities but were thwarted by the England defenders. Norway is a better team than this game would lead you to believe.

England looked very confident and ready to go the distance.

Netherlands 2-1 Japan The Netherlands are through to the quarterfinals due to a Japanese mistake that led to a penalty shot. Japan was the better team for most of the match, but at this level of play, it only takes one mistake.

Spain 1-2 USA The Roja’s Hermoso scored the first goal against the US in this World Cup. US scoring was two penalty shots by Megan Rapinoe. Spain is ready to play at this level. It wasn’t an elegant win by the US, but it was enough to move on to the quarterfinals.

England 3-0 Cameroon. This was another example of people upset with calls being reversed by the use of VAR (video-assisted referee). When you learn to play under one set of rules and conditions, and then have to adjust to a different system for the most important games you play, mistakes are made and people get angry.

FYI: the little ball indicates the player scored. A green triangle indicates a substitute. The yellow rectangle is a yellow card and the red rectangle is a red card.