Sweden capped off their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign with a third place trophy after a 2-0 beating of host Australia on Saturday night at the Brisbane Stadium in Australia.
Fridolina Rolfö and Kosovare Asllani connected a goal each for world No. 3 ranked Sweden as they duplicated their bronze medal finish during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Sweden broke the scoreless deadlock in the 30th minute as Rolfö connected a penalty kick with a left-footed shot following a penalty foul conceded by Australia’s Clare Hunt three minutes earlier.
The lead was doubled for Sweden in the 62nd minute as Asllani knocked in a right footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner from an assist by a running Stina Blackstenius.
It was a fitting consolation for the Peter Gerhardsson-mentored Sweden, which failed to break their FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinals curse with a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the Final Four last Tuesday.
The fourth-place finish, on the other hand, was an improvement for Australia after being knocked out by Norway in the round-of-16 of the competition in France four years ago.
