The final round of games are underway and that means maximum drama and chaos. It’s bloodbath for the two qualification spots in the groups. The scenarios are endless and this gives rise to some of the most memorable games.
Today was no different. Two of the most anticipated games of the round ended with a 4-0 win to teams from AFC and we have our first two fixtures for the round of 16.
With all the games in a group starting at the same time, it’s impossible to watch each and present the tactical insights from. So for the final round of games I will choose to write about two games from the day and maybe add some fleeting thoughts about the rest of the games.
Today’s selection was: Spain vs Japan and Australia vs Canada.
And while the scoreline was similar, the approaches couldn’t be more different and goals, they paint this story very well.
So let’s look at the goals and the gameplan!
Match 35: Japan 4-0 Spain
Spain and Japan went head to head to decide the winner in group C after having dominated the first two games. Both teams sat on six points each had kept a cleansheet in their previous games.
It was touted as the battle between two of the best possession sides in international football. The outcome, however, wasn’t two sides battling for bragging rights on the possession chart.
Japan obliterated Spain by playing the anti-thesis of possession football. Nadeshiko adapted while La Roja perished.
Japan started in their 3-4-3 but made some key changes. Yui Hasegawa, Aoba Fujino and Mina Tanaka were all on the bench having impressed previously. The rapid Hinata Miyazawa was back in the lineup.
Spain were in their typical 4-3-3 with Rocio Galvez replacing club teammate Ivana Andres at center-back. Jenni led the line along with Marional Caldentey and Salma Paralluelo.
Futoshi Ikeda’s vision for this game had some basic ideas
Sit in a mid to low block 5-4-1 with Riko Ueki as the focal point and support around her to jump on the counter, being comfortable conceding possession. However this did not mean conceding territory in dangerous position.
Not engage in a high press but deny Spain the penetrative passing option by using a player-to-player marking scheme to cut off passing lanes to immediate options. This would force them back or insist on playing a riskier linebreaking pass resulting in a turnover in middle third.
The execution on these was perfection.
This sequence of play highlights how Japan marked the immediate passing option and have thus managed to force the on-ball player to go backwards, nullifying the danger. They would force the opposition to take the riskier option and attempt a line breaking pass only to then close them down quickly and force a turnover.
A quick look at Spain’s loss of possession map and this becomes more clear. Japan didn’t press high to cause turnover in the opposition half. A lot of the turnover arise towards the left of the pitch by the touchline in Japan’s own half (an area similar to the above sequence). Ikeda’s side let the opponent come to them before cutting off their passing options and forcing turnovers.
The effectiveness of their block in denying penetration can be viewed from another lens. Spain had 19 sequences with 5+ passes that entered the final 40% of the pitch during the game. Just three of them managed to breach the penalty area.
Japan, in comparison, had THREE that entered the final 40% of the field & just 1 breached the penalty area. That was the opening goal.
To understand how different this approach was by Japan we just need to look at these numbers against a non-possession domiant side.
Against Zambia: the 2011 World Cup winners had 20 sequences of 5+ passes reached final 40% of the pitch and 50% of them breached the penalty box.
Against Costa Rica: Japan had 13 sequences of 5+ passes that reached the final 40% of the pitch and 10 of them breached the penalty box.
Japan showed flexibility in adopting a playing philosophy starkly different from their normal approach and their first half goals were the best examples of it.
Let’s look at the goals and see the attacking ideas.
GOAL 1: 12th minute, Hinata Miyazawa
This was the longest sequence of passes that Japan had with which they managed to reach the penalty box (8) passes. Japan harnessed the natural width on offer in a back three formation. Jun Endo (at the bottom of the video) receives hugging a touchline.
This sets some things in motion. Endo’s pass recetption is couple with some excellent counter movement to bait the press. Here Naomoto (#8) drops off from the last line to offer as a passing option and in return dragging Irene Paredes out of position with her.
Endo shows has class to pick out a peach of a pass and Miyazawa turned the afterburners to leave Olga (at the top of your screen) for dead. Olga wasn’t attentive to a lot of the runs being made down her channel. Once in 1v1 situation, Miyazawa was ruthless.
GOAL 2: 29th minute, Riko Ueki
The second goal was about forcing Spain to go for the penetrative pass to force the turnover and then have good supporting structure to attack on the break.
Here Ueki has excellent support from Fuka Nagano via her positioning to then quickly release Miyazawa on the break with some just three one touch passes.
It was a clinical display from the Nadeshiko who scored three goals from three touches inside the penalty box in the first half, having spent just 27 seconds in the opposition third.
GOAL 3: 40th minute, Hinata Miyazawa
The third goal was again a combination of marking out immediate options once Spain are near the touchline to force them back and into attempting linebreaking pass to cause a turnover and spring forwards into an attack.
Look at how Japan are denying Spain the time on the ball once the reach the opposition half while marking out the immediate passing options and marshalling them back. Here Spain look to make the linebreaking pass, misplace it.
The 2015 runners-up have excellent support around the ball once it’s recovered and once again spring into life via Miyazawa who makes it count. Simple principles but precisely executed.
With a brace in the first half, Miyazawa was the standout player with her pace and clinical ability in front of goal but Endo and Ueki were equally brilliant in the game.
Ueki provided the triangulation in attack around which everything bounced off of. She was the first vertical pass in these goals and was able to relay it to her teammates accurately with a player on her back. Helped out massively without the ball with her shadow-blocking of passing lanes.
Endo was once again at her creative and technical best. The 23-year-old forward displayed her impeccable vision to pick out passes (see the first goal) and used her excellent close control to release opponent pressure. Defensively she was switched on, reading play and being the first to loose balls. She has been a standout player at the tournament so far.
Nadeshiko Japan had the lowest share of possession for a winning side at the FIFA Women's (since 2011) against Spain (23%). This game showed that while Japan love to keep the ball, they are not married to a single philosophy.
Ikeda’s side can adapt to the in-game demands and use their squad. They have used the second most number of players in the tournament so far (20) giving them the ability to be malleable.
Japan are the chameleon of the World Cup, constantly evolving and adapting to their opponents. Spain on the other hand seem riddled with the same issues of the past and seem incapable of taking a blow and bouncing back within a game.
Japan will face Norway next while Spain await Switzerland’s challenge in the round of 16.
Match 36: Canada 0-4 Australia
The co-hosts were up against Olympic gold medalists Canada and needed a win to secure the ticket to the next round.
This was a litmus test for the Matildas who were without their star striker, Sam Kerr. Safe to say the Tillies didn’t crack and produced arguably one of the most memorable nights in Australian football history. They didn’t hide away but rose to the occasion.
The Matildas were boosted by the return of Mary Fowler into the starting XI. Tony Gustavsson started the game in a 4-4-2 setup but this time with Caitlin Foord on the left unlike the previous game. This was a defining change in the game.
The left flank of Catley and Foord showcased brilliant synergy in their movements and was the primary source of threat for Gustavsson’s side.
The Matildas used a simple gameplan: Overload and switch.
Australia would consistently look play via their left flank in order to enter the final third, using the ball carrying and the running of their two stars.
The co-hosts would then play the ball across the penalty box for the late run from the far side winger (Raso) at the far post, having drawn the opposition ball side. The far sided winger would have a lot of space at the far post to get on the end of these chances.
We can note the left bias in Australia’s threat creation map as well. There are two bright spots in the heatmap, one is close to the touchline while the other is close to the byline inside the box. It’s down to the tendencies of Catley and Foord.
While Catley looked for the cross from near the touchline, Foord would carry the ball into the ball forcing her maker back and look for the cutback instead. Different execution but the idea was the same, draw your opponent ball side and then switch.
In the passing network as well we see how aggressively Gustavsson pushed the left side of Catley (#7) and Foord (#9) in comparison to the right side of Ellie Carpenter (#21) and Hayley Raso (#16). The slightly reserved nature of the right flank allowed for them to arrive at the far post unmarked.
An interesting bit from the above data viz is the midfield duo of Kyra Cooney-Cross (#23) and Katrina Gorry (#19) for Australia. The duo appears to be very narrow but that wasn’t actually the case. The reason for their average central position is because they took turns to operate on the left side of the pitch.
Part of the reason for this is probably workload management given the aggressive closing down and attacking shown by Matildas down the left. Both midfielders covered excellent ground provided good support during possession sequences.
Let’s take a look at the goals to better understand how Matildas manifested this gameplan.
GOAL 1: 9th minute, Hayley Raso
It took just nine minutes to see the gameplan in action when Foord played the ball over for Catley by the touchline and her cross into the box was met by a late arriving run from Raso at the far post.
It is also important to note the runs from the front two of Fowler and Emily van Egmond, who operate in the line of vision of the defenders, drawing their attention leaving the Real Madrid winger on the right unmarked.
It’s a very tidy finish from Ribbons, who scores her first World Cup goal.
GOAL 3: 58th minute, Mary Fowler
The third goal is a nod to the bright spot at the byline in the threat creation heatmap above. Catley plays the ball over the top for the run of Foord who drives with the ball into the box and maintains her composure before playing the cutback from the byline.
Once again Raso arrives unmarked at the far post and we see some good double movements from Fowler to free herself.
Has to be noted however that the defending on both these goals was pretty dreadful from Canada.
GOAL 2: 39th minute, Hayley Raso
I’ve included this goal just for the corner delivery from Cooney-Cross. The delivery causes chaos, the goalkeeper fails to punch it clear while being crowded and Raso bundles home.
Cooney-Cross’ corners are a valuable asset that Gustavsson should be looking to exploit given the nature of tournament football.
Raso rose to the occasion and dazzled Canada with her ribbons. She was electric and could have had a hattrick to her name.
Arsenal teammates Foord and Catley were incredible throughout the game. Foord in her natural left sided role thrived and produced her best football of the tournament. This allowed her to run at the defenders and attack the byline to create chances while Catley was great at providing the support on overlap or underlap.
The Hammarby midfielder finally showcased her brilliance in possession. Cooney-Cross was able to retain and recycle possession while being press resistant to evade the incoming challenges. Her positional awareness allowed her to recover a lot of loose balls providing good screening presence in tandem with midfield partner Gorry.
Canada were bad on the footballing pitch but the reasons for that go beyond the tactics and manager. This is a team in an ongoing battle with their federation over better working conditions.
The side has been severly underfunded and thus underprepared for the World Cup because the federation could reportedly not afford friendlies. They played just four games in 2023 before the World Cup. Another story of a federation failing a women’s football team internationally.
Matildas will face either England, Denmark or China from group D in the next round.
Highlight of the day
Zambia’s Barbra Banda scored the 1000th goal in Women’s World Cup history. Zambia might be knocked out but they etched their name in the history books.
Matildas' overplay on the left hand side was not a traditional overload play in terms of positions, but rather a half transition play and go style, on the courtesy of Canada's failed ball clearances in the first three goal conceding cases.