After their loss on penalties to Norway sent them out of the tournament, sixth-ranked Australia found themselves headed home unexpectedly early. It’s a disappointing showing from a team many picked as an ascendant force in world soccer after their famous victory over the USWNT in 2017 and one that has the best player in the world in Sam Kerr.
The Matildas have had well-publicized issues in defense, but most surprising this tournament has been their inability to generate offense against teams at their own level. Outside of a lopsided win against Jamaica, the only goals the team scored in open play were a Caitlin Foord tap-in that Brazil’s defense made an obvious error in failing to clear and a long shot from Chloe Logarzo in the same game that went through an entire defense without getting touched.