5 things we learned from Group B at the 2019 Women’s World Cup

Group B featured one European giant, one ambitious side, one team that has fallen by the wayside lately, and one debutant. Germany, Spain, China, and South Africa were the four sides in Group B, and from the outset, just like in Group A, most picked the two European teams to come out as the top two seeds.

Here’s what we learned from Group B.

Even at less than 100 per cent capacity, Germany still manage to come out on top

Germany earned a perfect nine points out of nine, but until thrashing debutants South Africa 4-0, die Nationalelf looked far from fully assured. Even their victory over South Africa was more like just a formality, as they were expected to beat them comfortably. Anything less would have been a big let-down.

Certainly, against Spain, no one expected them to blow them out of the water, but they seemed to labor more than anticipated versus China. Remember, Germany have never lost to the Steel Roses, and have never conceded a goal against them, either. So at least, they maintained their perfect run by picking up a tenth straight victory – albeit China actually made things a lot more difficult than expected.

Still, finishing top of Group B gave them a choice pick in the round of 16. Nigeria, who finished third, will be their upcoming foes, and despite not being at 100 per cent capacity, Germany will be very confident in seeing off the West African side, who have dominated in Africa but have failed to replicate the same kind of showings on the bigger stage.

China plodding along, but still getting results

It seems like a life-time ago that the Steel Roses finished as runners-up at the 1999 edition, which was settled on spot-kicks. Since then, they haven’t been able to get past the quarter-finals.

China are back in the fold, but their form leading up to the World Cup has been less than solid. Although they won two cups – the Meizhou Four Nations Tournament and the Wuhan International Tournament – they served as hosts for both, and their opposition included Nigeria, Romania, Croatia, South Korea, Russia, and Cameroon. None of those teams are ranked in the top ten by FIFA. South Korea, who are 14th, are the highest-placed side – and they even outrank China, who sit in 16th.

When pitted against tougher opposition in the Algarve Cup, China unfortunately came up short. However, they have managed to step up where it really counts. They only narrowly lost to Germany, and earned a deserved scoreless draw with Spain after a dogged defensive showing. And despite their win over South Africa not setting the pitch alight, it was enough to give them the result they needed.

Spain continuing their steady rise to enter football’s elite

Despite being in the shadow of the men’s side for much of their existence, La Roja have started to make waves, especially at the youth level. The senior team were also quite impressive during qualifying as they played all ten matches sans defeat (nine wins, one draw) and outscored their opponents by a whopping 42 to two.

Spain made their debut at the Women’s World Cup four years ago, but failed to get out of the group stage. This time around, despite stumbling to a scoreless stalemate with China and having to really fight hard against debutants South Africa, Jorge Vilda’s side did enough to earn their spot in the round of 16.

They did fall a goal behind versus South Africa, but their superiority came through in the second half as they rallied back to earn a 3-1 victory. However, finishing as runners-up came at a very high cost, as they will now take on reigning champions USA in the round of 16.

That really looks to be a bridge too far for La Roja to cross, as the Stars and Stripes have been in simply brilliant form, but expect the ambitious Spaniards to give it their all, nonetheless as they continue their steady rise to establish themselves among football’s elite.

A difficult learning experience for South Africa, but worth it nonetheless

One of several teams making their debut this summer, South Africa knew that coming into this contest they were just looking to try to help elevate the profile of the women’s game on the big stage. And that’s exactly what they did. They were given a faint glimmer of hope as they went 1-0 up against Spain, but their inexperience at this level soon became painfully apparent in the second half as they conceded three goals sans reply.

Their 4-0 loss to Germany was hardly shocking, but in an odd way, it was still respectable given how the Germans have showed no mercy to other opponents in the past (just remember their 11-0 thrashing of Argentina back in 2007). In addition, seeing how Thailand were utter humiliated 13-0, South Africa certainly will be relieved and happy that at least they were not beaten into submission by a vastly superior opponent.

Who is expected to progress?

Without a shadow of a doubt, Germany. The two-time World Cup winners have gotten a really favorable draw and should have no problems handling Nigeria in the round of 16.

Spain are the rank underdogs against the USA, and with how strong Jill Ellis’s side have looked, it’s hard to see La Roja getting anything out of that match. That’s despite their strong showings in qualifiers, but the fact that they lost to Germany, the no. 2 ranked side, makes it hard to see how they can beat the top team in women’s football.

And finally, China will find things tough against an Italian side who, despite the bitter disappointment of their narrow 1-0 defeat to Brazil, have been one of the best sides so far at this summer’s World Cup.