by our intern Emilia Beutel

As the last teams are fighting for a place in the Round of 16, today Portugal played against the USA, Vietnam against the Netherlands, China against England, and Haiti against Denmark.

Portugal and USA ended 0-0. USA had more shots on goal than Portugal, but Portugal had more possession than the USA. Portugal had a strong defence in this game, and their goalkeeper Pereira, also put in a strong performance. Despite their good performance against the USA, Portugal is still in third place and the USA is in second, meaning that despite the draw, the USA moves into the last 16.

At the same time, Vietnam also played against the Netherlands. This match had a clear winner, and that was the Netherlands. They kicked Vietnam out of the first group stage with a score of 7-0. After losing three games, Vietnam missed their chance to reach the last 16. Nevertheless, the Netherlands was able to advance to the round of 16 as the first-placed team in its group.

In the afternoon, China played against England. England are not easy opponents and have proven why they are number one in their group. England have not lost any of their games so far and are a very strong team going into the last 16. China did manage to score one goal, but the Chinese women´s team had a tough time against the English women, which gets clear when you have a look at the score of 1-6 for England. After this game, England has to face Nigeria on the 7th of August in the Round of 16.

The last of the four matches for today was Denmark against Haiti. Even with extra time, Haiti could not get anything out of the game and was beaten 2-0 by Denmark. Despite Denmark´s victory, the match was relatively even. The Danish women were the stronger team in the end and thus deserved to be the second in their group to enter the eight finals. So, they will have to face Australia in the Round of 16 on the 7th of August.

Tomorrow we can expect some interesting matches as Argentina faces Sweden, South Africa faces Italy, Panama faces France, and Jamaica faces Brazil.

In the game between Argentina and Sweden, Sweden are the favourites, while the Italians are considered favourites against South Africa. Sweden is leading Group G, followed by Italy. In the same group, a win for Argentina will not be enough to make it to the next phase. We’ll be in for a very exciting game, as South Africa still has a chance of reaching the last 16 if they win against Italy.

In the match between Panama and France, the latter are favourites as they are on top of Group F together with Jamaica. The match between Jamaica and Brazil will be decisive for both teams to qualify, as Jamaica is just one point above Brazil.

There will be many exciting games in the Round of 16. The last teams of the best 16 will be determined by Thursday, and then it´s all about the entry into the quarterfinals.