On Saturday, the round of 16 of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off with Switzerland taking on Spain at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.
Switzerland came into the game as the Group A winner after posting a perfect 0–0 record in that competition.
The second-place team in Group C, Spain, were not concerned and scored four goals (plus an own goal) before halftime to take a commanding lead over Switzerland.
It was the first time since the 2015 Women’s World Cup final when a side scored four goals in the first half of a knockout stage game.
At the beginning of the round of 16 encounter at Eden Park in Auckland, Switzerland got the most bizarre goal of this World Cup when Spain’s Laia Codina, a centre back for Barcelona, passed the ball into her own post from beyond the centre circle.
Codina scored from such a long range that the ball took almost four seconds to cross the goal line after catching some air under an attempted backpass to custodian Cata Coll (who was making her international debut that night). But of course, the Swiss were truly outmatched and in need of assistance.
Aitana Bonmat gave Spain the lead in the fifth minute after the Spanish team had began the game by dismantling Switzerland’s defence. Six minutes after Codina’s assist, Spain regained the lead with a goal by Alba Redondo in the 17th minute.
More goals were scored in the first 17 minutes of this game than in any of Switzerland’s three Group A matches, where Inka Grings’ team coasted to a 2-0 win over the Philippines and two consecutive 0-0 draws against Norway and New Zealand.
The onslaught continued before the Swiss could get themselves organised. In the 36th minute, Bonmat scored again, seemingly because the rest of Spain’s players didn’t agree with Codina’s move which assisted the Swiss in order to make the game closer.
After being overruled, Codina got with the show and put La Roja up 4-1 by scoring a goal at the other end, where she beat almost the entire Swiss defence to hammer in a corner in the dying minutes of the first half.
One of Spain’s top scorers, Jennifer Hermoso, coming into the game extended her hot streak with a torpedo blast into the left corner of the net, putting Spain up 5-1 and making Switzerland pay for a giveaway.
Thereafter, Spain triumphed easily for the first time in the World Cup’s knockout round, advancing to take on the winner of the Netherlands vs South Africa match.
Upnext is Japan vs Norway at Sky Stadium in Wellington…
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