Women’s World Cup: Sweden and Spain set up a semifinal date

Sweden and Spain are marching on in the women’s World Cup, right into a semifinal matchup with each other on Tuesday with a spot in the gold-medal game on the line.

The other side of the bracket will be determined early tomorrow morning, following the final two quarterfinal games. Host Australia will take on France, and England will play Colombia.

Following Japan’s elimination at the hands of Sweden, all former women’s World Cup champions have been eliminated from the field, meaning that whichever country is crowned victor on Aug. 20 will be wearing that crown for the first time.

» READ MORE: The USWNT’s long era of success is over, but a new one could be on the horizon

Spain inched past the Netherlands to advance to the semifinal round for the first time in team history. Spain had never advanced past the round of 16 at the women’s World Cup.

The match remained scoreless for 81 minutes, and it was Spain that broke the stalemate with a penalty kick off the foot of Mariona Caldentey. The Netherlands rebounded quickly, however. Dutch defender Stefanie Van der Gragt, playing in her last World Cup, evened the score in the 91st minute to push the game to extra time.

» READ MORE: Vlatko Andonovski liked how the U.S. played vs. the Netherlands, but not many other people did

In the second period of extra time, Salma Paralluelo played the hero for Spain, coming off the bench and finding the back of the net to send her country to the semis.

Days after sending the U.S. home, Sweden had another tough test in a matchup with yet-undefeated Japan. However, Japan looked uncharacteristically sluggish in the quarterfinal, and Sweden was able to capitalize. Swedish defender Amanda Ilestedt opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, and Filippa Angeldal doubled the lead in the second half.

A missed penalty in the 76th minute by Japan’s Riko Ueki was the nail in the coffin for Japan. While Honoka Hayashi did get on the board 11 minutes later, it wasn’t enough to get by Sweden, and the 2011 champion saw its tournament come to an end.

Spain 2, Netherlands 1

Sweden 2, Japan 1

The 19-year-old came up huge for Spain, breaking the 1-1 deadlock in extra time and securing a historic win for her country. Paralluelo came in as a substitute in the 71st minute, and her first goal at the World Cup couldn’t have come at a better time.

The teenager cut inside, evaded two Dutch defenders and fired a strike into the net to write her name in Spain’s history books.

Japan’s players bowed to their fans as a show of respect after being eliminated by Sweden:

A 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit Wellington, New Zealand, an hour before Spain and the Netherlands kicked off on Friday, but Spanish coach Jorge Vilda didn’t let that distract his team from its preparations.

“We were so concentrated. Yes, it was a middle [moderate] shake, an earthquake, but not today. The earthquake was the victory of Spain,” Vilda said.

» READ MORE: After Sweden eliminates U.S., England and Spain are World Cup favorites

Your subscription powers our newsroom and journalism like this. Support our work by visiting inquirer.com/supportsports and receive unlimited access to Inquirer.com, The Inquirer App, and e-Edition at a special price: $1 for three months.