LIVE:
That's all from the third-place match here in Nice. The best though is yet to come as USA takes on Netherlands in the big finale tomorrow. You DO NOT want to miss that one. Join us again tomorrow as I take you through the biggest game of the tournament. Until then, it's goodbye and goodnight from us at Sportstar.
Sofia Jakobsson has been named player of the match.
"We came into the tournament to win it and not to finish fourth," says England coach Phil Neville.
It's a sad end to a good campaign for England but it will regroup as Great Britain in the Olympics next year.
Phil Neville is giving his girls a pep talk. The English are in tears. It's been a great campaign but they have fallen short when it mattered the most.
And it's over. The Lionesses will have to stay content with a fourth place finish. Sweden will walk away with the bronze after a hard-fought win over England. The English players look distraught, the second consecutive loss for the girls in this tournament.
FT ENGLAND 1 - 2 SWEDEN
The Swedish contingent is all out on the touchline, waiting to charge out. What a performance. Early strikes and a good defense.
90'+1' GREAT SAVE BY TELFORD!
Zigiotti pulls away from Houghton on the edge of the box but slips as she goes to take her shot. She gets back up before hitting her shot and the keeper makes a great diving save to keep her team in it late on.
Fans are beating drums in the stands. Perfectly sums up how nervous these four minutes are going to be. England has four minutes, four crucial minutes to give itself a chance to make it to that podium. Sweden looks in charge though.
Four minutes of time added. Sweden is four minutes away from a bronze medal.
90' OFF THE LINE!
Sweden doesn't clear its lines from a corner and the ball bounces in front of Bronze. The right-back hits the shot on the volley and Fischer was in the right place on the goal line to head it away.
England has never lost consecutive World Cup matches but if things go the way they are going, the Lionesses seem well on course to lose not just the semifinal but the third-place playoff too.
85' Lindahl receives the first yellow card of the game for time wasting.
I am sorry but this is making me laugh.
83' Final substitution (Eng):
Daly in place of McManus.
81' GREAT CHANCE FOR WHITE! Taylor can't bring the ball down butmanages to knock it into White's path. She hits her shot firsttime, but Fischer makes an important block to put it out of play.White kicking that ball after the whistle has blown is telling of just how desperate England is for a goal at the moment.
Carney has also played in Chelsea silks. True legend of the game. Here's what Phil Neville had to say about her.
"A player that was two days away from kicking her last ball actually still went down to the pitch to practise her skill before everybody else got there. While she will not want a fuss, Karen is someone who deserves total recognition and respect as a true legend of the game."
76'
Jakobsson is being given a lot of space down the right wing and she puts a brilliant cross into the middle of the box. She's looking for Blackstenius but Bronze makes an important interception. Bronze has been quite today and it doesn't help the Lionesses to see the stars stay low. Time is ticking for England now, Sweden looks comfortable.
74'
Substitution (ENG): Nikita Parris comes off and in comes Karen Carney. This will be her last international game. Can she make it count? This is her 144th international appearance.
70' Bjorn is down on the edge ofher box at the minute after a collision with her own player. Themedical team are signalling to the bench though and she won't beable to carry on.She's replaced byIlestedt in Sweden's final change.
Bjorn comes off but her replacement is not on yet. A 10-woman Swedish side is on now.
Swedish players aren't the only ones who need to take a leaf from the English book. Even the supporters could use a little inspiration from the English on how to support their side. The English supporters have been phenomenal ever since that 'cup of tea' woke them up in the first half. [See what I did there?]
- Sloppy passes from Sweden. Will it cost them the game?
- It's been Kirby's day today. She has been giving Sweden some trouble in midfield and its showing. No change to the scoreline though. England needs to think quickly and do what it has to do fast. Kirby and Taylor have been good for England. Let's see how soon that translates into a change in the scoreline though.
58'
Kirby has been the player making things happen for England today and she plays a one-two with Parris to get to the byline on the right. She squares the ball back into the six-yard box, but it's a comfortable save for Lindahl.
54'
Both teams have been quite sloppy in possession so far in thesecond half and have been giving the ball away needlessly which isstopping them from getting into the final third and causing someproblems.
52'
Lindahl came out of her box to try and clear the ballaway from Taylor but she misses. Fischer is marking the substitutetightly though and she keeps calm and reaches it first to touch itaway from Taylor and onto Sembrant.
-
England: Taylor comes on in place of Mead. First change for England. Remember this is Carney's last game and we will see her come on as well in a bit.
- Sweden: Asllani, who opened the scoring, has gone off and Zigiotti is on in her place.
And we're back for the second half. Couple of substitutions.
Was it a goal? Was it not? Twitter seems divided.
Meanwhile, did you spot Ellen White sipping some tea as she celebrated that goal? Morgan must have smirked at that VAR decision. Football is a brutal game that way.
After a rather slow start to the game, we saw 20 minutes packed with drama as Sweden quickly took a 2-0 lead, courtesy heroics from Kosavare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson. Fran Kirby was not going to sit back and watch the Swedes celebrate and pegged one back after catching the Swedes off guard in their half. It would have been 2 - 2 after White found the back of the net, but there came VAR to trample over the English party, disallowing the goal after it found the ball touching White's arm. England has come back well post that disappointment and I won't put it past them to find the net a few more times. Can Sweden wake up and match up? I will know when you do, when play resumes in a few minutes. Stay tuned.
45'+6'
CHANCE FOR WHITE! England quickly counter-attacks and Parris plays a good throughball to White who pulls away from her defender to get one-on-one with Lindahl. She aims her shot low and the keeper gets a boot to it to deny her. I always get nervous watching White get a straight shot at the goal but Lindahl is no amateur. Saved and put away.
45'+4' OPPORTUNITY THERE FOR BLACKSTENIUS! The forward put Houghton under a lot of pressure to win the ball back and then tried to lob her effort over the out-rushing Telford. She couldn't get her angles right though and the ball landed on the roof of the net.
45'+2'
Mead is down receiving some treatment now after a fairly heavy collision with Sembrant. It looks like it was just an impact injury though and she should be able to carry on.
We can hear Phil Neville shouting out, "You can do it, you can do it" from the touchline and I am oddly inspired. Can I order my dinner in five minutes? According to Neville, YES I CAN.
White was visibly furious about how she couldn't help her arm touching the ball. Rules are rules though, whether the crowd seems to like it or otherwise. 2- 1 to Sweden, it looks like for now. Unless England manages a cheeky goal now. The momentum is clearly with the Lionesses though.
Minimum of five minutes added to this half.
- Dramatic first half this. Sweden is letting an advantage slip quite visibly. England is not backing down. The Swedes need another one to swing the energy in their favour. England will want one to avenge that disallowed goal.
41'
Parris fizzes the ball into the box where four England playersare waiting. It misses everyone though and Greenwood can't pick outany of them with her follow-up cross either.
39'
Sweden hasn't really been able to get on the ball in the last few minutes or soas the momentum has swung in England's favour. When it does winback possession, it is slow to move out and forcing it intomaking errors.
- Phil Neville does not look happy but England is all fired up now.
- The Swedes need to realise here that they've been handed a lifeline by the disallowed goal. They've been caught sleeping and England will not let too many of those chances go to waste. Meanwhile, Alex Morgan can heave a sigh of relief there as the goalscorers (White) are still level in the race to win the Golden Boot.
35' DISALLOWED. HANDBALL. OH THE DRAMA.
The referee has gone across to have a look at the monitor herself to have a look at the incident. In the slow-motion replays, it shows the ball bouncing off White's arm, but it doesn't look like she could've done much about it. The goal is disallowed though. Still 2-1 Sweden.
33' ENGLAND has equalised!
It was a powerful cross into the box from Mead and White does really well to bring it down. She turns her defender before poking the ball past Lindahl and into the net. 2-2! VAR are having a look at it now though as there was a possible handball in the build-up.
31' KIRBY PULLS ONE BACK FOR ENGLAND!
She times her run perfectly to stay on time and takes the ball around Sembrant before curling her low shot into the far bottom corner and Lindahl didn't even move on her line. 2-1!
28'
Some brilliant build-up play gets England into the box and Parris squares the ball back to Kirby on the penalty spot so she touches it onto Mead. Her first-time shot is cleared off the line, but she was offside so it wouldn't have counted anyway.
- Is this a break in momentum for the Swedes? England looks to dominate almost instantly.
27' Substitution (SWE):
Rolfo cannot continue. The crowd chants, "Lina, Lina." In comes Hurtig.
25' Rolfo is off the field and receiving some treatment which has been going on since Bronze's chance and it looks like she's in quite a bit of pain. Asllani has also just gone down after being caught in the eye, but it looks like she'll be able to carry on after some treatment.
- Why was Jakobsson marked so poorly? We all know what she can do given a little bit of space in the final third. Asllani and Rolfo, meanwhile, look very uncomfortable. Rolfo looks like she's in tears there.
- Whistle blows and drinks are on. Unofficial break here for the girls. It looks hot and uncomfortable here in Nice and the break is welcome. I would like some of the heat honestly as I am sitting here with a congestion. A good time to order in some soup perhaps?
22' BRILLIANT FINISH BY JAKOBSSON! She plays a one-two with Blackstenius and drifts to the edge of the box when she gets the ball down. She wasn't closed down and curled her effort around Houghton and Telford into the back of the net.
2-0 Sweden!
Sweden is in total control of this game and hasn't managed a shot on target yet. Uncharacteristically uncoordinated here, the Lionesses.
16' GREAT CHANCE FOR JAKOBSSON! A long ball over the top caught England out again and Jakobsson was one-on-one with Telford. She drives her shot on goal and the keeper palms it onto the post and it bounces onto her back before going out for a corner.
13' England just isn't able to get out of its own half at the minute as Sweden continues to push forward. It's having to commit more players back in defence to block the space ahead of its opponents.
- Coming off that injury, it must be so rewarding for Kosavare Asllani to net that one for the Swedes. It clearly means a lot to the girls. Smiles everywhere. She was stretchered and strapped off the field before and she has arrived in style in this playoff.
- The team that has scored first in all the previous third place playoffs has gone on to win. Sweden and Asllani are going to be happy with this. The Lionesses have gifted Sweden this goal. Poor.
11' ASLLANI GIVES SWEDEN THE LEAD!
Houghton is still off the field but England created its own problems there. It's a great cross into the box by Rolfo and Greenwood tries to clear it but only gets it as far as Asllani on the edge of the box. She takes a touch before hitting her off the post and over the line.
1-0 Sweden!
7'
Manchester United's
Greenwood is looking good today. She has been matching up to Jakobsson on the right quite well. Meanwhile, Houghton is down.
6' England has been playing out from the back whenever it gets the chance, but has been sloppily giving the ball away to Sweden and inviting pressure onto itself. It needs to do better here. Sweden is standing strong in its half.
- If the Lionesses haven't irritated Lucy Bronze with all the bronze references this weekend, are they even good teammates? I am tempted to drop a pun here as frequently as I can but I'll spare you the horror.
- England finished third in the 2015 World Cup, beating Germany in that edition. The last team to finish third in consecutive editions was USA in 2003 and 2007.
- Sweden has scored 10 goals in this World Cup.
1'
Kickoff and it's a lively start from both sides.
- Ellen White
needs to score today to give Alex Morgan some competition in the Golden Boot race. Can she? England has scored in its last 12 games. This game should be no different.
- 20th appearance in a World Cup Final for Hedvig Lindahl, a record for the keeper. It is also the 200th international appearance for Caroline Seger. Can she top the milestone with a bronze?
- Spot on third-place record:
England is looking to earn its second consecutive bronze medal at the World Cup, after beating Germany in extra-time to finish third in 2015. Sweden has won both of its previous third-place games beating Germany in 1991 and France in 2011. This game will be a first loss in that record for both sides.
- HEAD TO HEAD:
This is the first time these two teams face each other in the World Cup. They have faced off 25 times otherwise with Sweden losing just two of its last 17 meetings. (W11 D4 L2).
- The flags have been unfurled now. Minutes remain for the national anthems to be sung. The first thing we see is Lucy Bronze's smiling face. Sign of things to come?
World rankings:
England (3) Sweden (9)
- The final of the Women's World Cup
will take the attention back to Parc Olympique Lyonnais, where defending champion USA will take on the Netherlands for the trophy. What a game that promises to be. England and Sweden can tell you why these teams together promises to be a riot. Before that though, we have a third place game in hand and these teams are no less. England and Sweden have both had impressive runs in this tournament and the fight for bronze won't be an easy one.
WHERE YOU CAN WATCH THE GAME: For those of you who wish to watch the game live, the match will be televised in India on Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 2 HD from 12:15am. Alternatively, fans can also live stream it on Sony Liv.
- It's a bittersweet game today as we are probably going to see some of these players wearing their national colours for the last time on a football pitch. England’s Karen Carney is one of them. She announced her retirement yesterday and this playoff will be her last game.
Read more about this here.
- The lineups are out
and quite a few changes here to take stock of.
- For
Sweden , the good news is that Kosavare Asllani is fit to start. She took a nasty blow to the face in the final few minutes of the semifinal against Netherlands and seemed to land awkwardly. She had to be stretchered off the field, with a neck brace in place. An all-clear from her end is a great sign for the Swedes.
It seems like the only high temperatures we will see today will be on the weather scale. Bjorn has recovered from that fever that took her out of the semifinal in the last minute. Fridolina Rolfö is back from her suspension as well.
- England has made four changes to its starting XI. Ellen White will start right out while Carly Telford will patrol the goal. Alex Greenwood returns at left-back, in place of Demi Stokes. Fran Kirby and Jade Moore take Rachel Daly and Keira Walsh's place in the midfield. Millie Bright is out of the match, courtesy a red card in that semifinal against USA. Abbie McManus has taken her place in the starting XI.
Welcome back to our live coverage of the Women's World Cup. We are a day away from the end of this tournament and what an incredible journey it has been! Action moves to Nice this evening where the Lionesses take on a hurting Blagult outfit for a third place finish. We have lots to talk about. But first let's see the journey to the playoffs for both England and Sweden.
England and Sweden will be aching from their narrow defeats to USA and Netherlands respectively, bowing out at the semifinal stage of the Women’s World Cup. Also, the third-place match offers nothing tangible for the two semifinalists, except that the winner goes home with a medal.
For the players involved, it is another international appearance and it’s another potential 90 minutes for the likes of Ellen White to pip a rival to an individual award — the Golden Boot.
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