Women’s World Cup as it happened: Sweden books spot in semi-final after 2-1 win over Japan, Spain defeat Netherlands 2-1 after goal in extra time

Well, that’s all from me tonight, and what an epic two games of football we had.

First Spain’s 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in extra time, and then Sweden’s dominant 2-1 victory over Japan.

Despite late resurgences from both Japan and the Netherlands, they’re now out of the World Cup in 2023.

We have two epic quarter-finals to come tomorrow night before we race ahead to the semi-finals next week.

Roy Ward will be on to take you through the ups and downs of those two matches, but until then, enjoy your night.

World Cup fans now have more options to watch the Matildas take on France, as Rod Laver Arena is set to screen the quarter-final match live.

The quarter-final will be shown on the big screens in the Melbourne Park precinct on Saturday, the first time the site has been open to crowds during the tournament.

Up to 12,000 people are invited to watch the match at Rod Laver Arena on a first-come, first-served basis, following a decision from the Victorian government on Friday.

Acknowledging the popularity of the live site at Federation Square, Sports Minister Steve Dimopoulos said more fans can now be part of the excitement.

“The level of support we’ve seen for the Matildas is off the charts,” Dimopoulos said following the government’s announcement.

The Rod Laver Arena live site will open from 4pm, welcoming crowds through gates three and four.

Japan were the last standing previous World Cup winners left in the tournament.

Now they’re gone, a new nation will be lifting the trophy for the first time.

Japan won the tournament back in 2011 with a win over the USA in a penalty shootout thriller.

Past winners USA (three-time winners), Germany (two-time winners) and Norway were all booted in previous rounds.

So, who will lift the trophy in 2023?

Heading into the game, Japan were the most impressive team of the tournament so far.

They defeated Spain 4-0 in the group stages, and they were on track to play them again...all they had to do was defeat Sweden.

But Japan didn’t have a single shot on target in the first-half, and by time they found their mojo, Sweden were ahead 2-0.

Now, ABBA’s Dancing Queen is ringing out across Eden Park and the Swedes have booked themselves a date with Spain on Tuesday,

Sweden has defeated Japan 2-1 in Auckland and will play Spain in the semi-final on Tuesday.

It looked to be a comprehensive victory for the Swedes, after Amanda Illestedt scored in the 32nd minute, followed by a goal for Filippa Angeldal, but a comeback from Japan in the final 15 minutes had Swedish fans on the edge of their seats.

It took Japan 87 minutes to get their first goal, but when Honoka Hayashi put the ball in the back of the net, the Japenese were invigorated and put Sweden on the back foot with a relentless attack in their third of the field.

But Sweden’s early dominance meant the comeback was too great, and the Scandinavians now march to the pointy end of the competition.

Full-time: Sweden 2, Japan 1