Women’s World Cup co-hosts Australia didn’t even need to put Sam Kerr on the pitch as they thrashed Olympic champions Canada 4-0 to reach the last 16.
After a disappointing defeat to Nigeria, the Matildas needed a win to ensure qualification, without requiring a favour from already-eliminated Ireland, and they settled the nerves of the crowd early on when Hayley Raso capitalised on some poor defending from a usually solid Canada side.
There’s no way around it – this was a catastrophic result for Canada. They were a mess defensively, completely unable to deal with balls into the box at the start of the game and they never recovered from there. They also made unwanted history, becoming the first team ever to crash out in the Women’s World Cup group stages while being the reigning Olympic champions.
