The Round of 16 of the Women’s World Cup is still open as there is a changing of the guard in the sport

[1/3]Soccer Football – FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 – Round of 16 – England v Nigeria – Brisbane Football Stadium, Brisbane, Australia – August 7, 2023 England’s Rachel Daly and Georgia Stanway celebrate during the penalty shootout REUTERS/Dan Peled

SYDNEY, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Few could have predicted which eight teams are still standing as the Women’s World Cup begins for three weeks – and, even more surprisingly, which teams are no longer there.

At the widest-open World Cup in history, Colombia and France were the last two teams to secure a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night. They joined Spain, Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Australia and England and finished the stunning first two rounds full of delicious twists.

When the tournament expanded to 32 teams, there were concerns that lower-ranked teams would be able to compete at this level. But the exact opposite happened. A change of guard dispelled concerns about an explosion.

Japan is the only remaining former world champion to stand on the podium in 2011.

Gone are four-time champions USA, who became the first team to aim for three consecutive wins but were eliminated from the tournament before the semi-finals for the first time in history.

Also gone are two-time world champions Germany, 1995 winners Norway, reigning Olympic champions Canada and Brazil, who haven’t been eliminated from the group stage since 1995.

“Nothing is easy in this tournament,” said coach Sarina Wiegman after England survived a shock against Nigeria in the round of 16 to win on penalties.

“It’s very exciting because we see that women’s football has improved so much. As you saw in the group stage, many games were the same and it’s not like the expected teams always won.”

At the end of an era, the elimination of the USA, Canada and Brazil meant an unfortunate World Cup final for some of the game’s greatest pioneers, Megan Rapinoe, Christine Sinclair and Marta.

Others such as Colombia’s stunning teenager Linda Caicedo, Spain’s solid midfielder Aitana Bonmati and France’s always excellent striker Kadidiatou Diani have taken the spotlight.

It is unclear who will win now.

Japan’s “Nadeshiko” – named after a pink flower symbolizing Japanese beauty – has made it his mission to erase the memory of their knockout round four years ago and is the tournament favorite after beating Norway 3-1 in the round of 16 .

They will show their qualities against Sweden on Friday, who ejected the USA with a decisive millimeter penalty.

The Spaniards La Roja have already made history by reaching the quarter-finals in three attempts. They recovered from an ugly 4-0 defeat by Japan and defeated Switzerland 5-1 in the round of 16.

La Roja are on Friday in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands, who were unbeaten in the group stage of their ninth World Cup appearance, including a 7-0 win over Vietnam in the tournament’s most lopsided result.

Australia’s Matildas had a superb run to the quarter-finals despite being without the team’s top scorer, Sam Kerr. She came on as a 78th-minute substitute in the hosts’ 2-0 Round of 16 win over Denmark and is set to start Kerr in what looks set to be an exciting quarter-final against France on Saturday.

Les Bleues are desperate to bury their heartbreaking knockout round four years ago in France and manager Herve Renard said the pressure from the hosts could weigh heavily on Australia.

“We hope Australia goes through what France went through as hosts in 2019,” Renard said after Les Bleues’ 4-0 win over Morocco on Tuesday.

Fourth-placed England, unbeaten in 36 of their last 37 games, appear Saturday favorites against Columbia, who are the lowest-ranked team in the last eight with 25 games, but the Lionesses stumbled into the quarters and had lucky to repel an attack Great Nigerian team took 120 minutes to win on penalties.

The Lionesses have more big-game experience as reigning European champions, but Colombia enjoy better fan support than any team other than Australia. England are also without top scorer Lauren James, who received a red card for a stamp on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie’s back.

Reporting by Lori Ewing; Edited by Michael Perry

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