Australia boots No. 7 Canada from 2023 Women's World Cup
July 31 (UPI) -- Hayley Raso scored twice to lead Australia to a 4-0 shutout of Canada in a Group B finale at the 2023 Women's World Cup on Monday in Melbourne. The loss resulted in Canada's elimination from the competition.
Mary Fowler and Stephanie Catley also scored for the Australians, who went 2-1-0 to win Group B and move on to the knockout stage. Nigeria claimed the group's second ticket to the Round of 16.
"Reality is setting in," Canada manager Bev Priestman told reporters. "This is the end of our World Cup road. All the credit to Australia.
"They were the better side."
Catley sparked the first score in the 9th minute. The Australian left back fired in a cross from the left side. The ball deflected off the defense and fell to Raso about 15 yards from the goal. The midfielder finished the play with a shot into the left side of the net.
The goal was initially ruled offside, but overturned after VAR review. Fowler appeared to double the lead in the 34th minute, but that goal was disallowed because of an offside call.
The Aussies converted for their second score less than 6 minutes later. Midfielder Kyra Cooney-Cross took a corner kick from the left side to start that sequence.
The feed fell in the box, where Canada goalie Kailen Sheridan swatted it down. The ball then fell to Raso, who finished from point-blank range in the 39th minute.
Australia led 2-0 at the break. Fowler scored another Australia goal in the 58th minute. Left winger Caitlin Foord raced up the left flank to start that scoring sequence.
She then cut her dribble into the box and sent a pass to her right, finding Fowler. The Aussie forward finished the play with a one-touch shot behind Sheridan.
Catley scored the final goal of the game in the 94th minute. She blasted the penalty kick attempt into the left side of the net.
No. 7 Canada outshot No. 10 Australia 10-9, but put just three attempts on target. The 2020 Summer Games champions failed to reach the World Cup Round of 16 for the first time since 2011.
Australia will face the second-place team from Group D in the Round of 16. No. 4 England (2-0-0) currently leads Group D, followed by No. 13 Denmark (1-1-0), No. 14 China (1-1-0) and No. 53 Haiti (0-2-0).
No. 40 Nigeria (1-0-2) advanced out of Group B with a 0-0 draw with No. 22 Ireland (0-2-1) on Monday in Brisbane, Australia.
Japan beat Spain (2-1-0) 4-0 to improve to 3-0 and win Group C on Monday in Wellington, New Zealand. Zambia (1-2-0) beat Costa Rica (0-3-0) 3-1 in the other Group C match, but both of those teams failed to advance.
The top-ranked U.S. women (1-0-1) will finish Group E play with a match against No. 21 Portugal (1-1-0) at 3 a.m. EDT Tuesday in Auckland, New Zealand. The game will air on Fox.
The No. 9 Netherlands (1-0-1) will face No. 32 Vietnam (0-2-0) in the other Group E finale.
