Fridolina Rolfo scored one and set up the other as Sweden secured third place with a deserved 2-0 victory over Australia at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
The victory, sealed by Kosovare Asllani’s superb second-half strike, maintains the Scandinavians’ remarkable 100 percent record in four FIFA Women’s World Cup bronze-medal matches and earns them a fifth podium finish – second only to the USA (8).
It also provided a sad end to a memorable campaign for the Matildas, who had been hoping to enhance their best-ever display at the global finals and finish on a high in Brisbane. The tone, though, was set just inside the opening minute when Sweden carved through the leaden-footed Australia defence to set up Stina Blackstenius for a right-foot shot that forced an excellent save from Mackenzie Arnold.
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It would prove to be the first of many opportunities for a team that looked fresher and faster throughout, and it was no surprise when the Swedes moved in front on the half-hour mark. Clare Hunt’s clipping of Blackstenius’s heels inside the box was identified following a VAR review and, despite Australia’s best efforts at gamesmanship, Rolfo dispatched a textbook left-foot penalty low and hard into the right-hand corner.
The Matildas did have their moments, and Zecira Musovic was twice called upon to keep out powerful efforts from Hayley Raso and, later, Sam Kerr. Sweden, though, remained the game’s most potent attacking force, and they made sure of a fourth Women’s World Cup bronze on 62 minutes when Rolfo teed up Asllani for a wonderful first-time shot that flashed low beyond the helpless Arnold from the edge of the area.