World Cup update: Quarterfinals here we come!

We made it through the first knockout round of the 2019 Women’s World Cup, and what a round it was.

Late goals, penalty kicks, drama, and of course VAR all featured in a very exciting round. And, when the dust settled, all of the quarterfinalists except for the USA are European.

We tend to see this in Men’s World Cups, where countries do better if the World Cup is on their home continent.

Not sure if there is a correlation in this case, or if all the European teams are just performing very well regardless.

In this Round of 16, Germany beat Nigeria 3-0, and Norway overcame Australia on penalty kicks after drawing 1-1.

England took down Cameroon 3-0, while France outlasted Brazil 2-1 after extra time.

The U.S. got past Spain 2-1, and Sweden beat Canada 1-0.

And on the final day of the Round of 16 yesterday, Italy beat China 2-0, and the Netherlands got a last-minute penalty kick goal to survive against Japan 2-1.

In the Quarterfinals, Norway faces England on Thursday.

Then the big match we’ve all been waiting for, the USA takes on France on Friday in Paris.

The last two matches are on Saturday, when Italy faces the Netherlands, and Germany squares off against Sweden.

Hopefully the quarterfinals are as exciting as the Round of 16 (and hopefully VAR is not involved much at all).

What do you think? Leave a comment below!