The ninth edition of FIFA Women’s World Cup began with 32 teams. We are halfway through the tournament with 16 teams remaining.
The knockouts have begun, every game from here on is a final. It’s four games to the most coveted trophy in women’s football.
The round of 16 began with a clash between Switzerland-Spain and Japan-Norway for a place in the quarter-finals. Each of these games had a striking difference between the teams involved.
Spain’s passing synergy against Switzerland’s lack of identity. Japan’s cohesion against Norway’s turmoil.
Let’s break down today’s games!
Match 49: Switzerland 1-5 Spain
Neither of these teams had ever won a knockout round at a major tournament.
This was Spain’s fifth attempt at getting a win in the knockout stage of a major competition and with each passing tournament, that first win has felt closer than ever. For Switzerland, this was their fourth shot at progressing past the first knockout round.
So new grounds were on the cards eitherway.
It became clear really quickly which way the game is going to go and it was pretty much one way traffic all game.
Spain generated 3.4 xG in the game, registering 26 shots and having 69% of the ball. They dominated the ball and the territory in this game and the Nati often looked like passengers in the game.
The lopsided nature of the game is evident in the game flow map above as well. Spain were consistently more threatening throughout the entirety of the game, so much so that they scored all six goals in this game.
Switzerland had two shots all game and the second one came in injury time. Grings’ side accumulated 0.3 xG all game.
Switzerland were in 4-3-1-2 formation with Bachmann behind Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic and Seraina Piubel playing ahead. They weren’t interested in pressing and neither took the initiative in attack or to impose themselves on the ball. It was all very passive.
Spain made some big calls following their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Japan. Misa, Olga, Rocio, Mariona and Alexia all dropped out of the lineup and Esther, Alba Redondo, Laia Codina and Cata Coll started in their place, retaining the 4-3-3 shape.
The introduction of Alba Redondo allowed Spain to be a lot more vertical in their approach and have a clinical goal threatening edge to them. Europe’s top goalscorer, Redondo, started from a wide right position and consistently came narrow to attack the far post and provide a threat in behind and in the box. She was rewarded with a goal as well.
It was all too easy for Spain to generate chances from wide overloads with the help of a midfielder and Switzerland felt like a step or two behind with their passive 4-4-2 block.
While Spain moved with and without the ball with a vision to penetrate the opposition box, Switzerland merely existed on the field.
Spain scored three times in the opening 18 minutes, twice in the opposition net and once in their own, and never looked back.
Barcelona’s fullback, Ona Batlle, was impressive with her overall game despite playing out of position in the left back spot. Her crossing was great, as she often cut back onto her right foot to create better angles for them. She was stationed high up and looked to provide penetration with her ball carries and asserted in technical advantage in 1v1 situations. The former Manchester United player was robust against the ball in 1v1 duels.
Bonmati was the protagonist of the game. She scored two spectacular goals from inside the box, sending the opposition defenders for a hotdog. Her passing and vision allowed her to break lines but it was her aggressive box occupation with her trailing runs that was really threatening. Defensively she is a massive part of Spain’s counter-pressing scheme and helped with recoveries higher up the pitch.
Switzerland are a weird team. They are not necessarily bad but they don’t really stand out in any department either. They are the definition of just existing at the moment and feel like an influx of new ideas would do them good. They have a very intriguing U17 generation coming up and that could bring a certain cutting edge that the senior side lack.
Spain will face 2019 finalists, Netherlands, in the quarter-finals in a bid to make back-to-back knockout wins.
Match 50: Japan 3-1 Norway
This was a game between a side that excels with their cohesion on and off the pitch and another who has looked disjointed and broken on and off the field.
Japan have firmly established themselves as the best tactical side in the competition following their displays in the group stages. All three of their wins came with a slightly different approach and an understanding of the squad and player’s profile.
Norway were the opposite. Hege Riise’s choices looked like suboptimal utilization of their player pool. The Nordic nation hadn’t scored a goal until the last gameday which seems scarcely believable given their talent.
And yet everything seemed possible with how knockouts work.
Japan started in their 3-4-3 with three changes as Mina Tanaka, Yui Hasegawa and Aoba Fujino all came back into the lineup following the 4-0 win against Spain. Nadeshiko looked like they had tweaked the system again to exploit their opposition.
Norway made one change, a defensive one, with Frida Maanum dropping out of midfield in favor of Ingrid Engen. The idea seemed to have more defensive solidity to deal with the various ways Japan tend to attack their opposition.
While the idea seemed clear the execution was surprising.
Riise chose to drop Engen in between the center-backs and make it a 5-4-1 deep block against the ball. in the screenshot above, you can see how narrow and compact the block was. This was a new challenge for Japan as this allowed Norway to deal with Nadeshiko’s channel run much better and created parity in terms of numbers between Japan’s attacking line and Norway’s defensive one.
Engen was tasked with closely tracking Tanaka’s movements. The Japanese forward is known for dropping deep to receive to feet and disrupting the opposition shape by dragging defenders.
You can notice the task at hand for Engen in the sequence above. Tanaka is constantly moving making it difficult for the defenders to follow her and thus dragging Ingrid with her as she drops to receive in the left half-space. Ingrid tries to aggressively close her down but commits a foul in this case.
Pay special attention to the movements made by Tanaka as Japan look to build play. She is constantly going in front, dropping, slipping into the blindside just to catch the defender off balance before she receives.
The problem, however, with following Tanaka closely is that Futoshi Ikeda’s side has excellent counter movements. When a space is vacated in the last line, it’s quickly occupied by a darting run from a midfielder (usually Hasegawa vs Norway). This makes the choice between following the forward or staying in position very tricky.
We saw these movements in action multiple times. In the sequence above as Tanaka drops and vacates the space, Hasegawa is prompt to attack the blindside of Engen. This allows for a cross to be played into the box targetting this run, this is how the first goal was created.
The Barcelona midfielder was unable to deal with the incoming cross and turned it into her own net.
Japan’s second goal is another interesting blend of these aforementioned movements.
As the ball is played out wide to Endo, we can notice Fujino’s excellent decoy movement to open up the passing lane to Miyazawa in the half-space. This is perfectly executed thanks to the disguised pass from Endo as well. She opens up her body suggesting she might play the pass out wide and catches them off with a pass into the half-space.
With no central figure in the box, Hasegawa is the first to react and makes a run to occupy that central space with Tanaka (#9) disengaged and deeper during the sequence.
The presence of that vertical option then creates chaos and eventually the goal with Boe Risa giving the ball away cheaply.
The synchronized counter-movements from the players is a major part of Japan’s success. Ikeda has not just maximized his side with his ideas but he has a full buy-in from these players as well.
The idea to consistently occupy the last line with five or more players stays the same and the execution depends on the movements of the players in a given situation. Norway dealt with the basic five player occupation but Nadeshiko’s dynamism in this department made it difficult for them to cope.
Japan have such amazing technicians in their ranks that breaking lines comes naturally to them. Despite Norway’s 5-4-1 deep block, Japan were able to break lines frequently, especially as the game went on and gamestate effect took over with Norway chasing the game. The vision and execution of these passes is a delight to watch. Enjoy a few samples from the Norway game.
The third goal was another interesting excercise in understanding Japan’s approach. While Ikeda’s side don’t normally press high, they are still excellent at generating turnovers and thus transition situations.
Look at the sequence in the lead up to the third goal:
Japan are sat in their 5-4-1 midblock set-up and Ueki is scanning and blocking the passing lane (by standing there) to Engen (the deepest midfielder during buildup). This blocks the passing option to her and forces Norway to go wide.
However as soon as Norway decide to go wide, the near sided winger (Fujino in this case) is quick to jump and block the lane there, leaving the Nordic side with no option but to go back to the goalkeeper and try to build again.
Eventually with all immediate and wide passing options marked, Norway go long and this generates a turnover.
Japan promptly play the ball vertically trying to maximize their advantage in these situation and create a goal. Ruthless and effective.
To be fair to Norway, despite the result, it was a sound approach to field a back five against one of the most tactically astute sides in the world. Japan found solutions and gamestate affected Norway’s approach but the idea to have parity in the backline against Japan’s attack was novel. It’s difficult to break down a well drilled 5-4-1 deep block.
Endo has arguably been the most consistent player at the World Cup this year. In her wingback / wide creator role, the 23-year-old has been able to showcase her passing skills while being adept at performing the unglamarous defensive duties. She has a brilliant disguise pass on her which allows her to exploit passing lanes that don’t exist to normal eyes. The weight and curl on her final balls is perfect more often than not and with Japan’s usage of the wingbacks, she is consistently able to attack the box as well.
Hasegawa bossed the midfield once again and displayed her class on and off the ball. While her on-ball trickery and vision is evident very easily, her off-the-ball nuanced movements is what really elevates her appeal as a midfielder in any role. The Man City midfielder consistently plugged gaps and made some spectacular counter movements on top of being a wizard on the ball. Her defensive acumen has gone up a notch this season as well.
Japan will now await the winner of USA-Sweden in the quarter-finals of the competition and those two teams will pose a different threat (set-pieces and physicality) for Ikeda’s side to deal with.
Highlight of the day
Let’s all remember the Spanish tradition of conceding a spectacular own-goal in the round of 16 of a major competition.
Another tremendous and well detailed analysis. I am looking forward to watching the Sweden USA game and then reading your analysis.