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The Women's World Cup 2023 quarterfinals will be decided on Sunday by the winner of the match between Sweden Women and the USA Women.
The USA placed second in Group E behind Netherlands while Sweden won their group after earning all three possible points from all three games.
Sweden progressed through the gears in their second group match against Italy, cruising to a 5-0 victory to book their spot in the round of 16 with one game remaining, after leaving it late to claim a narrow victory against South Africa in their tournament debut.
They made nine changes to their lineup for the match against Argentina on Wednesday, yet they still managed to win 2-0 and earn all three points.
Rebecka Blomqvist, a striker for Wolfsburg, scored the game's first goal in the 66th minute, and Elin Rubensson, who had just come off the bench, added a late penalty.
Sweden will be attempting to extend their winning streak against the reigning world champions. They are one of just three teams that have won all three of their group games in the competition.
They might be able to draw encouragement from their most recent encounter with the USA, which ended in a convincing 3-0 victory during the Olympic group stage in Tokyo in 2021.
Despite starting the tournament with a 3-0 victory over Vietnam, USA has struggled through the group stage in contrast to their opponents.
The USA knew they needed to avoid defeat against Portugal in order to move to the round of 16 after picking up a point against the Netherlands thanks to Lindsey Horan's equalizer in the second half.
The Portuguese player Ana Capeta hit the post in stoppage time, saving the Stars and Stripes from elimination and guaranteeing a scoreless draw.
Despite their disappointment with their group stage performances, they have won 10 of their past 12 international games (W10, L2), proving that they are a difficult squad to beat.
The USA has never lost at the tournament since losing to Japan on penalties in the 2011 final, and they have never been eliminated before the semi-final stage.
