Women's World Cup Round of 16: Canada up against familiar foe Sweden

Sweden and Canada have faced each other once in the World Cup during the 2003 semifinal, with the European side emerging victorious.

GRENOBLE, FRANCE - JUNE 15: Nichelle Prince of Canada celebrates with teammates after scoring her team's second goal during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France group E match between Canada and New Zealand at Stade des Alpes on June 15, 2019 in Grenoble, France. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Finishing second in their respective groups, Sweden and Canada will go head-to-head in the last-16 of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019, at Parc des Princes in Paris on Monday.

Sweden comes into knockouts having clinched the second spot in Group F, failing to get the better of the title favourite American side in its final group stage fixture. Canada, drawn in Group E, finished just below table topper Netherlands, which it lost to in its last group stage match.

Sweden and Canada have faced each other once in the World Cup during the 2003 semifinal, with the European side emerging victorious- before losing to Germany in the final. Apart from this, the two sides have also met in the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Algarve Cup, international friendlies, and the Summer Olympics - in the last seven years.

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In the group stages at France this year, Sweden stuck as many as seven goals in three matches. Of this, two were scored by proficient striker Kosovare Asllani. Sweden put five past Thailand in its second group stage match, but also conceded one- which was Thailand's lone goal of the tournament.

Conceding goals has been a concern for Sweden - it has not kept a clean sheet in a knockout match at the World Cup since its 4-0 win over Germany in a third-place playoff match in 1991. Since, Sweden has been guilty of leaking 17 goals in nine matches.

As for Canada, it has scored few and conceded few too. However, all four of its goals were scored by different players, including Christine Sinclair - who, with her strike against Netherlands, became only the second player to score at five World Cup tournaments (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019), along with Brazil's Marta.

While Canada has progressed to the last-eight on two occasions - beating China 1-0 in the 2003 quarterfinal and Switzerland 1-0 in the last-16 in 2015 - it has struggled against European oppositions. In its 13 previous meetings with European nations, Canada has lost 11 matches, drawing one and sealing just one.

The familiar foes will fight to set up a last-8 clash with Germany, in Rennes on June 29.

Road to knockouts

SWEDEN

In its campaign opener, Kosovare Asllani and Madelen Janogy downed a resilient Chile as Sweden claimed a 2-0 win in a game temporarily halted due to severe weather. ( Match report )

Thumping Thailand 5-1 in a landslide victory, the Swedes booked their last-16 spot in its second match. Linda Sembrant, Kosovare Asllani, Fridolina Rolfo, Lina Hurtig and Elin Rubensson scored a goal each. ( Match report )

However, its winning record couldn't be extended beyond the second game, as Lindsey Horan's opener and a Joanna Andersson own goal saw Sweden fall to a 2-0 loss. ( Match report )

 

CANADA

Kadeisha Buchnan's strike just before the break meant Canada got off to a winning start, beating Cameroon in its campaign opener. ( Match report )

In the second match, Jessie Fleming and Nichelle Prince scored second half goals as Canada sealed a spot in the last 16, thanks to a 2-0 win over New Zealand. ( Match report )

At Reims in its final group stage clash, Christine Sinclair scored a historic goal but Canada finished second behind Netherlands in Group E after Lineth Beerensteyn scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 win for the Oranje. ( Match report )