Olympics Group Stage Recap and a Preview of the Quarterfinals

July 29, 2021
By Rohtas Wadera

From a USWNT perspective, the Tokyo Olympics have not gone quite as expected. But, as for the rest of the competition, there’s been an incredible amount of action. Brazil and Netherlands played to an exciting 3-3 draw, a new star from Zambia was born, and the teams that were expected to advance did. So, let’s delve deeper into the Group Stage at the Olympics and look ahead to the Quarterfinals and beyond.

Group Stage Recap

The major news that we must get out of the way is, of course, the end of the 44-game unbeaten streak for the USWNT. However, it’s not about the streak ending as much as it is about losing in the way they did to Sweden. Sweden’s defensive prowess makes them the kryptonite to this USWNT. The Swedes are always tough to break down. When the Americans can’t score, it leaves them open to be caught on the counter. Not only that, but they are strong with set pieces which can neutralize how good the USWNT is in the air.

Despite the 3-0 loss, the USWNT never panicked and smashed New Zealand 6-1 in the next game to boost their goal difference. However, their result against Australia comes more as a surprise. Both teams have great offenses, but it was definitely not expected for the match to be 0-0. In the end, that result was enough for the USWNT to finish second in the group and advance.

Before getting into the Quarterfinal matchups, it’s important to give a shoutout to Barba Banda, the breakout star of the Olympics. Scoring back-to-back hat tricks has never been done at the Olympics before, and to do it against the Netherlands and China is an outstanding feat. Surely, this caught the eye of a bigger club, and we’ll see her on the world stage more often.

Quarterfinals Preview

In terms of the Quarterfinals, there were no surprises. All eight teams made it that were expected to. These are the matchups:

Fri, Jul 30 Quarterfinal 4:00 AM ET

Canada vs. Brazil

Fri, Jul 30 Quarterfinal 5:00 AM ET

Great Britain vs. Australia

Fri, Jul 30 Quarterfinal 6:00 AM ET

Sweden vs. Japan

Fri, Jul 30 Quarterfinal 7:00 AM ET

Netherlands vs United States

Every single one of these matchups is going to be incredible. Canada and Brazil could really go either way, and the matchup looks even on paper. The Matildas are always dangerous, but Great Britain is expected to get the job done and advance in that game. Sweden and Japan are an intriguing matchup because both teams are technically and tactically sound. Sweden is favored to win, but Japan is playing in Tokyo and generally does well as the underdog. Lastly, the United States take on the Netherlands in what will be an epic rematch from the World Cup final in 2019.

Led by Lieke Martens and Vivianne Miedema, Netherlands will always be a threat to score. Yet, we know what the goal is for the USWNT, and they’d be at least a little disappointed not to end up with a Gold Medal. Based on how the draw looks, if the USWNT can stay solid at the back and get past the Netherlands, they have a winnable match against the winner of Brazil/Canada. Following that would likely be a rematch with Sweden in the final or their other rival, Great Britain. Although, there is still a lot of soccer coming up, and results remain to be seen.

Hopefully, the USWNT worked out the kinks in the preliminary round and will perform better against the Netherlands. However, it will not be easy considering they only collected one win in three games against teams they were supposed to beat. Nevertheless, these Olympics have not disappointed, and a win for the USWNT would be a nice boost since Team USA is coming up short in some of the other events.

Featured image via @uswnt on Instagram