So we know all the four semifinalists:
LIVE:
SWEDEN HAS DONE IT! They've come from behind to beat Germany ( a favourite here) 2-1. They're going to the semifinals. It's going to be one colourful semifinal, when the yellow shirts of Sweden take on the orange shirts of Netherlands (Please play in your home colours).
Sweden reaches the World Cup semifinals for the first time in 14 years. And they're going to celebrate tonight. They've surpassed expectations by reaching the semifinals and by beating the powerhouse, Germany.
Two-time champions Germany are out. Coming into the knockout stages with an impeccable record of not conceding a sngle goal, they didn't really hit that level today. But take nothing away from Sweden, who took their opportunities and made Germany pay for its mistakes. Blackstenius is my player of the match. Or Jakobsson, can't decide. Oh, FIFA has given it to Jakobsson.
Substitution: Rolfo goes off. Hurtig replaces her.
90+3' Oh nooo, Hegering! It's a perfect cross from the right and Hegering is at the far post. She's under pressure from Glas and her header's high. What a chance for Germany !
90' A mix-up in the Swedish defence almost costs them dearly. But the clearance is not good enough and it's back with Germany, just around the box. Oberdorf dribbles down the left to keep possession in the box and plays it back to Dabritz at the edge of it. Her shot is straight at Lindahl.
Six minutes of added time
89' On the other end, Blackstenius lets fly a dangerous shot from 30 yards out and it's just over the bar. Almost killed the tie, there.
88' Maroszan whips in a free-kick from the right. It's perfect as it goes over Lindahl and falls to Oberdorf. It's wide. Phew, that's close.
Subsitution: Nathalie Bjorn replaces Elin Rubensson.
85' Sweden can't afford to make even the tiniest error now. It's true, Germany hasn't been at its best today, but a moment of brilliance or luck could arise any time.
82' Germany remains patient in the build-up. It has to, especially when Sweden's keeping the shape at the back well. It almost finds a way through as Maroszan plays a good cross in. Lindahl crashes into Popp. Popp's offside, though. But there's still a VAR check for penalty.
No penalty. Popp comes back onto the field after getting some treatment.
78' CHANCE! Jakobsson looks so confident. She runs through the defence and gets into the box, feints to beat a defender and shoots but it's saved. Sweden seems to have come out the cooling break with more vigour.
75' Cooling break! A break will do good for Germany, which needs to regroup. Sweden, meanwhile, needs to hold on only for 15-odd minutes and it's through to the semifinals.
Almost missed this one. Schuller is replaced by Oberdorf. Germany makes its final substitution in the regulation 90 minutes.
71' Blackstenius comes close to scoring her second. She's shown space down the left and darts into the box. But Hegering gets there in time to block her shot.
69' Change in personnel for Germany: Schueller is replaced by Oberdorf. Germany is yet to have a real chance this second half! And need we remind you, the winner of this game will take on the mighty Netherlands in the semifinal next week.
66' Uh oh, looks like Fischer has picked up an injury will not play the remainder of this match. She limps on the sidelines and Amanda Ilestedt replaces her.
60' Germany has switched to keeping the ball and slowly building from the back, but there's no action of note. Sweden, meanwhile, is waiting to pounce on the counter.
Aren't we all, Junho (on AFCON duty)?
56' Rolfo gets booked for her studs-up challenge on Magull. This means she'll miss the semifinals if Sweden makes it there.
51' That was a second goal in two matches for Stina Blackstenius. She hadn't scored an international goal for a year before her goal against Canada. The things that happen at World Cups.
48' GOALLL!! BLACKSTENIUS SCORES. And Sweden has come from behind against Germany.
It's some brilliant play from Sweden and cluelessness from Germany. Jakobsson plays a good cross from inside the box, Rolfo directs the header on goal but Schult dives to get her hand on it. It comes off her and falls kindly to Blackstenius who buries it in the net.
From not conceding any in the tournament, Germany has gone on to concede two goals in this match alone.
45' The players are back on the field and there's news! Dzenifer Maroszan comes off the bench to replace Linda Dallman. That's Germany's second substitution. And we're underway.
Since we're waiting for play to restart, let's talk about the Netherlands team that reached its first ever Women's World Cup semifinal earlier beat. Or take a look at it yourself. IN PICTURES | Netherlands clinch first-ever Women's World Cup semifinal spot
Half time: The scores are level at the break. Lina Magull put Germany ahead with a 16th minute goal, executed to perfection, but Sofia Jakobsson pulled it level for Sweden six minutes later. The German defence has finally been breached and it has looked shaky under the hot Rennes sun.
45' The loser of this match will not be going to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Only the three top European teams from the World Cup qualify, and with England and Netherlands already there, there's only one spot left. Germany OR Sweden.
43' It's another long ball over the top that has the German defence confused. That needed some last-ditch defending. And it's a third corner for Sweden. The corner leads to a bit of pinball in the box as Schult comes off her line and can't get a hand on it. Germany clears but it's back again and Blackstenius, who has looked dangerous today, unleashes a shot from a tight angle. It's over the top, literally.
Subsitution: Simon, who was getting treated on her knee, gets replaced by Maier.
39' Neither defence has looked great today. Again! That's a poor pass at the back from Simon. Germany has given the ball away 65 times this game. This stat belongs in a museum.
36' We're back and the Germany defence is breached almost immediately. Blackstenius takes the shot but it's saved buy Schult.
Cooling break!!! Ahh, much needed for the players
and me. Wonder how the fans are doing.
32' A counter-attack from Sweden. Asllani plays it to Blackstenius who has no support up front. She does well to keep hold of it until she finds Jakobsson. Sembrant gets the ball and takes a shot from distance. Ambitious.
28' Germany finally conceding one seemed to have shocked the team a bit. But they've regrouped and it's Sweden that's looking unsure at the back. More mistakes. We could see another goal before the end of the half.
22' GOALLL!!! JAKOBSSON equalises for Sweden. And Germany finally concedes in this World Cup.
Jakobsson, who else? She latched on to a long pass from Sembrant and blasts it past Schult from the edge of the box.
16' GOAL! MAGULL SCORES. What a move. Germany leads.
First of all it's poor defending from Sweden to give Lina Magull the space to run through the middle unmarked. Dabritz plays a perfectly weighted pass and sublime execution from Magull.
Shoutout to Dabritz.
12' CHANCE! Jakobsson makes a great run behind the German defence. (Was that offside?) Schult keeps the shot out with her feet and it's a corner. Erkisson heads over the bar from the corner.
10' On the other end, Sweden finally joins the party after an invite from Simon. She makes two mistakes at the back, gifting the ball to Sweden in dangerous positions. Despite a mix up between the goalkeeper Schult and Hegering, the cross in is dealt with.
8' It's been all Germany so far. Sweden has done well to keep the attacks out.
Maroszan starting on the bench isn't really a surprise. A broken toe kept her out of the opening games and although she has recovered, she's probably not fit enough to start, She's available if they need her.
6' Magull takes the free-kick from the edge of the box. It's straight to the 'keeper.
4' That's a first shot on target for Germany. It's from a corner resulting from a move started by Dabritz. Popp gets her head to the corner kick but it's straight into the arms of Lindahl., who was down with hay fever. She looks fit and well now.
3' Just noticed. Sweden is wearing its away jersey, the dark blue one, for the first time this tournament. I prefer the yellow for the summer.
1' KICK OFF! The national anthems are done and Germany gets the ball rolling. Things could heat up soon, as if it wasn't hot enough.
- Germany is yet to concede a goal this tournament. Quite a defence. It has scored 9 goals, too. Sweden, meanwhile has scored 8 and conceded three. Sara Dabritz, with three goals, leads the scoring charts for Germany.
Will Germany concede its first goal in the Women's World Cup 2019 today?
- There's quite a bit of history here. Germany vs Sweden is a repeat of the 2003 World Cup final. Here's how that went.
- Less than 20 minutes to go for kick-off. The girs are out warming up. Would that mean just lying down under the hot sun in Rennes? The players seem to be cooling off by standing in the spray of the pitch sprinklers.
France is seeing its worst summer, with temperatures in Paris touching 45 degrees celsius yesterday! Some would say the Women's World Cup did that (by turning up the heat, geddit?).
It's 31 degrees is Rennes now.
The line-ups are out!
GERMANY: SCHULT, SIMON, HEGERING, SCHÜLLER, HUTH, POPP, DÄBRITZ, GWINN, DALLMANN, MAGULL, DOORSOUN
SWEDEN: LINDAHL, SEMBRANT, GLAS, FISCHER, ERIKSSON, ASLLANI, JAKOBSSON, BLACKSTENIUS, SEGER, ROLFÖ, RUBENSSON
Germany's star player Dzenifer Maroszan has been left on the bench. An injury had kept her out of most of the tournament and it doesn't look like she's completetly fit. Martina Voss-Tecklenburg has made two changes to the starting line-up that faced Nigeria in the round of 16 . Carolin Simon replaces Verena Schweers and Linda Dallmann comes in for Melanie Leupolz.
The question, however, is if Germany will abandon the 4-4-2 formation that has served it well after the injury. Can Dallmann play the Marozsan role in a 4-2-3-1 with Daebritz back in centre midfield and Schuller on the wing?
Sweden starts with the same team that started in the 1-0 round of 16 win over Canada. There's a slight change in formation, though (or at least looks like it). In a 4-3-3, Sweden's star player Kosovare Asllani could start in an attacking midfield role.
Head to head: 20-7 to Germany
Germany and Sweden face off for the 29th time and the Germans lead the overall head-to-head series with 20-7 . The pair have drawn just once, 0-0 in the UEFA European Women’s Championship 2017.
The most recent encounter took place on 6 April, with Germany securing a 2-1 friendly win following goals from Kathrin Hendrich and Linda Dallmann, plus a Caroline Seger penalty.
Sweden will also be going up against a wretched history after failing to defeat the Germans since its loss to them in the 2003 World Cup final. They have suffered defeats in the World Cup, European Championship and the Olympics since then.
Preview
Before we go into the match, here's a little about the teams:
With four wins, eleven goals and four clean sheets to its name, Germany is in prime form heading into its quarterfinal clash against Sweden in the Women’s World Cup at the Roazhon Park in Rennes. Germany is the only team yet to concede this tournament.
On the opposite end, Sweden has toiled in its path to the last-eight stage. The side put five past a hapless Thailand side but has struggled for creativity in its other contests against superior opponents.
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