As the knockout stages of the Women’s World Cup beckon, England Women will be taking a look and knowing that they may not have a better chance of winning the competition.
After their stunning demolition of China in their final group game, confidence will be high amongst Sarina Wiegman’s squad, and though they don’t want to get ahead of themselves, the Lionesses are playing themselves into this tournament.
Italy’s loss against South Africa and Brazil’s unbelievable draw against Jamaica has seen the two giants of world football out at the group stages.
With the USWNT not playing at anywhere close to their best, if Wiegman’s famed tactical brain can get things right against Nigeria in the Round of 16 and results go their way elsewhere, England can be considered serious contenders.
At this stage, Japan and Sweden would appear to be the teams to beat. Both ended up as winners of their groups with nine points each and only one goal conceded between them.
France and the Netherlands clearly can’t be discounted either, though England are in that top bracket of teams.
If the players are able to draw on the belief they showed when winning the European Championship and not the slight blip earlier this year, where they failed to score against Australia and Portugal, there’s no reason why they can’t go all the way.
It’s a tough ask of course, however, with Wiegman at the helm to guide them, whose to say that this golden generation of women won’t emerge victorious.