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SPORT

Sweden secure World Cup bronze with 2-0 win over home team Australia

Sweden claimed the bronze medal at the 2023 Women’s World Cup after beating home team Australia 2-0 in Saturday’s third-place match in Brisbane.

Sweden, World Cup
Sweden players celebrate after beating home team Australia to claim the third spot in the 2023 Women's World Cup. Photo by Patrick Hamilton / AFP

In front of a crowd of nearly 50,000, Sweden took the lead with a 30th-minute penalty by Fridolina Rolfo and doubled their advantage with a powerful strike from Kosovare Asllani just after the hour.

Ranked third in the world, this is the fourth time Sweden have finished third in the tournament.

“It was an incredibly important match and the final 10 minutes were really tough,” coach Peter Gerhardsson said.

“So when that final whistle went and we won, there was a great sense of relief and it was a wonderful feeling,” he added.

“It’s great to win a match of this magnitude – there’s been a lot of attention paid to this tournament back in Sweden.”

The Swedes fully deserved their win against the hosts, dominating the midfield and keeping talismanic Australian striker Sam Kerr relatively quiet.

Australia’s other dangerous attacker, Mary Fowler, had a night to forget as she struggled physically against the size and power of the Swedish defenders.

By contrast, Sweden striker Stina Blackstenius caused havoc among the Australian defence during her 63 minutes on the pitch and had a hand in both goals.

Player of the match Fridolina Rolfo said: “We showed from minute one that we were the better team. We deserved [to win] this match.”

The Swedes opened the game with far more intent than the Matildas and dominated for most of the first period.

Much like England in their 3-1 semi-final win over Australia on Wednesday, the Swedes slowed the ball down and controlled the midfield.

Sweden, World Cup

Australia’s defender Clare Hunt and Sweden’s midfielder Johanna Kaneryd fight for the ball during the 2023 Women’s World Cup third-place match. Photo by Patrick Hamilton / AFP

Australia only really looked dangerous on the transition and for much of the time they seemed to be chasing shadows, struggling to get any meaningful possession.

The Swedes had a golden chance to take the lead in the first 60 seconds when Blackstenius shot low across goal.

Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, who had another excellent night, parried the ball away and Ellie Carpenter did well to clear it from in front of an open goal.

The Matildas didn’t have their first shot until the 24th minute when a Hayley Raso drive drew a good save from Sweden keeper Zecira Musovic.

But minutes later Sweden took the lead when VAR ruled that Clare Hunt had clipped Blackstenius’s heel after yet another dangerous run into the box from the Swedish striker.

Australian coach Tony Gustavsson made an attacking change on the 60-minute mark, bringing on Emily van Egmond and Cortnee Vine, but it was Sweden who continued to control the match.

They went some way towards silencing the home crowd when Blackstenius laid a ball across goal for Asllani, who smashed a powerful strike past a diving Arnold.

It was their last contribution of the night as both were subbed almost immediately.

Australia tried desperately to breach the Swedish defence in the last 20 minutes with deep crosses into the box but Musovic was largely untroubled and kept a clean sheet in the end.

Some of the Australia players were in tears at the end of the match, but this was still the co-hosts’ best World Cup ever.

“We wanted to have some hardware to take home, it wasn’t to be,” said Kerr, who did not start a game at the tournament until the 3-1 semi-final defeat to England due to injury.

The skipper attempted to look at the bigger picture, saying: “We’ve proved to the world – and also within Australia – that we are a footballing nation.”

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EURO 2024

How to watch the Euro 2024 tournament in Sweden

From TV schedules to bars and cafes, here are your options for watching all matches of the Euro 2024 football tournament in Sweden.

How to watch the Euro 2024 tournament in Sweden

The Euro 2024 tournament kicks off in Germany on June 14th, with 24 teams vying for the title currently held by Italy, who beat England in the final at Wembley on penalties last time around.

Unfortunately Sweden hasn’t qualified this year, but that won’t stop bars and cafes showing it on the big screen.

The John Scott’s and O’Learys chains of sports bars up and down the country are always a good bet, as well as local sports bars like Retro in Stockholm and Glenn in Gothenburg.

You can also try calling your local pub to ask if they’ll be showing the matches – many of these pubs or pizzerior don’t update their websites regularly, so this is probably the best way to find out.

Malmö Live will be showing some matches in their Skybar, and Stockholm under stjärnorna will be showing them on their rooftop bar.

You can also search your city plus EM 2024 storbildsskärm to find out places near you showing matches on the big screen.

The first match will be Germany vs Scotland on June 14th, with the final exactly a month later on July 14th in Berlin.

Matches will be shown for free on TV4 and SVT, as well as on their respective catchup services: TV4 Play (paid) and SVT (free).

Here’s the TV schedule as we understand it, right now. All times are CEST.

Friday, June 14th

9pm: Germany-Scotland (Group A) TV4

Saturday, June 15th 

3pm: Hungary-Switzerland (Group A) TV4

6pm: Spain-Croatia (Group B) SVT

9pm: Italy-Albania (Group B) SVT

Sunday, June 16th

3pm: Poland-Netherlands (Group D) SVT

6pm: Slovenia-Denmark (Group C) TV4

9pm: Serbia-England (Group C) TV4

Monday, June 17th

3pm: Romania-Ukraine (Group E) SVT

6pm: Belgium-Slovakia (Group E) TV4

9pm: Austria-France (Group D) TV4

Tuesday, June 18th

6pm: Turkey-Georgia (Group F) TV4

9pm: Portugal-Czech Republic (Group F) SVT

Wednesday, June 19th

3pm: Croatia-Albania (Group B) TV4

6pm: Germany-Hungary (Group A) TV4

9pm: Scotland-Switzerland (Group A) TV4

Thursday, June 20th

3pm: Slovenia-Serbia (Group C) TV4

6pm: Denmark-England (Group C) TV4

9pm: Spain-Italy (Group B) SVT

Friday, June 21st

3pm: Slovakia-Ukraine (Group E) SVT

6pm: Poland-Austria (Group D) SVT

9pm: Netherlands-France (Group D) SVT

Saturday, June 22nd

3pm: Georgia-Czech Republic (Group F) TV4

6pm: Turkey-Portugal (Group F) TV4

9pm: Belgium-Romania (Group E) TV4

Sunday, June 23rd

9pm: Switzerland-Germany (Group A) SVT

9pm: Scotland-Hungary (Group A) SVT

Monday, June 24th

9pm: Albania-Spain (Group B) TV4

9pm: Croatia-Italy (Group B) TV4

Tuesday, June 25th

6pm: Netherlands-Austria (Group D) TV4

6pm: France-Poland (Group D) TV4

9pm: England-Slovenia (Group C) SVT 

9pm: Denmark-Serbia (Group C) SVT

Wednesday, June 26th

6pm: Slovakia-Romania (Group E) SVT

6pm: Ukraine-Belgium (Group E) SVT

9pm: Georgia-Portugal (Group F) TV4

9pm: Czech Republic-Turkey (Group F) TV4

ROUND OF 16

Saturday 29th June 6pm: SVT

Saturday 29th June 9pm: TV4

Sunday 30th June 6pm: SVT

Sunday 30th June 9pm: TV4

Monday 1st July 6pm: TV4

Monday 1st July 9pm: TV4

Tuesday 2nd July 6pm: SVT

Tuesday 2nd July 9pm: SVT

QUARTER-FINALS

Friday 5th July 6pm: TV4

Friday 5th July 9pm: SVT

Saturday 6th July 6pm: TV4

Saturday 6th July 9pm: TV4

SEMI-FINALS

Tuesday 9th July 9pm: TV4

Wednesday 10th July 9pm: SVT

FINAL

Sunday July 14th on TV4

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