Women's World Cup: Sweden shuts out Argentina, advances to face USA in knockout stage

Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Sweden scored twice in the second half to shut out Argentina, winning Group G on Wednesday in Hamilton, New Zealand and advancing to the Round of 16.

The No. 3 Swedes will meet the top-ranked Americans in the knockout stage Sunday at AAMI Park in Melbourne.

Striker Rebecka Blomqvist and midfielder Elin Rubensson scored in the 2-0 victory at FMG Stadium Waikato.

Sweden owned a 44% to 38% edge in possession and outshot the No. 28 Argentines 7-6. They held a 449-326 advantage in passing and 20-11 edger in crosses.

Blomqvist then beat Argentina goalie Vanina Correa in the 66th minute to end the deadlock and give Sweden an initial edge.

Midfielder Hanna Bennison started that play with a dribble between midfield and the Argentina box. She then cut her dribble and slid a pass toward the right corner of the box.

Winger Sofia Jakobsson took control of that pass and dribbled toward the end line. She the curled in a cross, finding Blomqvist at the far post. Blomqvist finished the play with a header from just a few yards out.

Argentina and Sweden logged a few close attempts down the stretch, but didn't find the net until Rubensson netted a penalty kick in the 90th minute.

The midfielder chipped that attempt into the left side of the net, sealing the victory and matchup with the Americans in the Round of 16.

The Americans and Swedes will face off at 5 a.m. EDT Sunday on Fox. The winner will face No. 11 Japan or No. 12 Norway in the quarterfinals.

The Swedes beat the Americans 3-0 in the group stage of the 2020 Summer Games, held in 2021 in Tokyo, in their most-recent major matchup. They went on to lose to Canada in penalty kicks in the gold medal game.

Sweden also beat the Americans in the 2016 Summer Games quarterfinals.

No. 54 South Africa upset No. 16 Italy 3-2 in the other Group G finale Wednesday in Wellington, New Zealand. The South Africans, who were winless in their previous eight Women's World Cup matches, advanced to the Round of 16 because of their second-place finish (1-1-1) in Group G.

Group F also was settled Wednesday, with No. 5 France (2-0-1) beating No. 52 Panama 6-3 in Sydney. Panama went 0-3 in the group stage.

No. 43 Jamaica and No. 8 Brazil played to a scoreless draw in Melbourne. Jamaica went 1-0-2 in the group stage to advance to the Round of 16. Brazil (1-1-1) failed to reach the Round of 16 for the first time since 1995.

France will face the runner-up from Group H in the Round of 16. Jamaica will face the Group H champion to open the knockout stage.

No. 25 Colombia (2-0-0) leads Group H, followed by No. 2 Germany (1-1-0). No. 72 Morocco (1-1-0) and No. 17 South Korea (0-2-0) round out the group.

Colombia will battle Morocco at 6 a.m. Thursday in Perth, Australia. South Korea will meet Germany at the same time Thursday in Brisbane, Australia.