The round of 16 of the Women’s World Cup is underway and the United States’ bid for a three-peat ended in a penalty shootout loss to Sweden in the round.
Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the quadrennial tournament for international soccer’s most coveted trophy kicked off July 20 and has featured an expanded field of 32 teams, up from 24. There are 64 matches during the tournament.
European champion England advanced to the quarterfinals beating Nigeria on penalty kicks on Monday. The round of 16 match ended 0-0 after regulation and extra time, but England won the shootout 4-2. England became the title favorite after the defending champion U.S. team was eliminated Sunday.
Australia advanced to the quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Denmark. Goals from Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso ensured Australia wasn’t the latest big name to crash out of a tournament that has already seen the United States, Germany and Brazil eliminated. Kerr returned from a calf injury to make her first appearance at the tournament.
On Tuesday, Colombia takes on Jamaica in Melbourne at 6 p.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), and the round of 16 wraps up with France against Morocco in Adelaide at 8:30 p.m. local time (7 am. ET).
The quarterfinals kick off on Friday with Spain against Netherlands in Wellington at 1 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET, Thursday) and Japan against Sweden in Auckland at 7:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET).
Fox holds the English-language media rights in the United States for the Women’s World Cup. Telemundo holds the Spanish-language rights.
Fox will broadcast a record 29 matches over the air on its main network and the rest of the games will be aired on FS1. All matches will be streamed on the Fox app.
FIFA struck a collective deal with the European Broadcasting Union in mid-June, ending a standoff with broadcasters in five major European television markets. The deal guarantees the games will air in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain.
The once-dominant Americans crashed out on penalties in the earliest exit ever for the four-time tournament champions. With the rest of the world catching up in skill and physical conditioning, the future of the team could look dramatically different.
The daughter of reggae legend Bob Marley is the “fairy godmother” of the Jamaican players at the tournament. Cedella Marley has been a tireless advocate and fundraiser for the Reggae Girlz and helped rescue the team after it was disbanded in 2008. Jamaica plays against Colombia on Tuesday night in the round of 16.
The defending champion U.S. team’s round-of-16 exit leaves England as favorite to win the title at +200 heading into the quarterfinals, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Spain is listed next at +340, followed by Japan at +430, Australia at +550 and France at +750.
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AP Women’s World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup