Will the football fairytale continue for the host country?

The Women’s World Cup is slowly coming to an end. With Spain, England, Australia and Sweden, only four teams are still fighting for the title. In the second semi-final, the Australians will meet the English. The roles seem clearly distributed, because while the Lionesses are the favourites to win the World Cup, the Matildas reached the semi-finals for the first time at a World Cup. For this reason, the bookmakers’ betting odds between Australia and England also tend to favour a victory for the host nation.

The fairytale of the Australian women continues. A World Cup in one’s own country is always very special and Australia showed that at this tournament as well. Tony Gustafsson’s team reached the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time and made history. However, Australia are only tenth in the all-time World Cup table, behind England. For this reason, the bookmakers’ odds between Australia and England favour a win for the Lionesses.

England is currently in sixth place and is one of the biggest football nations. If Sarina Wiegman’s team wins the next two matches, they could even overtake Brazil. A place in the final also seems realistic, as the Lionesses have only lost seven of their 31 World Cup matches. However, given their current form and recent mediocre performances, the final is not a foregone conclusion.

We recommend a draw between Australia and England. The English women are superior in terms of play, but their performances in the last two games have been rather disappointing. Since the Australians have the home advantage and therefore also the fans on their side, we expect a match on equal terms. It would therefore not be a surprise if the score is still tied after 90 minutes.

Australia – Statistics & current form

Australia beat Ireland, Canada and Nigeria in Group B as expected. Tony Gustafsson’s side took six points from three matches, losing only to the Nigerians. Despite the defeat, the Matildas went on to win the group.

The Australians then met Denmark in the round of 16 before knocking France out of the tournament in the quarter-finals. The host country is now only two wins away from a major sensation. England, however, is their strongest opponent so far in the semi-finals.

Best Performance

The Matildas played their best game by far in the quarter-final against France and excelled. In regulation time, Australia were even the slightly better team and would have thoroughly deserved the victory. It was not until the second half of extra time that the Australians ran out of steam, allowing the French to gain the upper hand and almost score the late winner.

Defensively top

Tony Gustafsson’s side have conceded just two goals in the current competition, making them one of the best defensive lines in the tournament so far. In addition, the Matildas have already kept the score level four times and even lead this statistic. Goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold has played a crucial role so far and has already been named in the team of the week once. However, she can also thank her back four for that, because they have hardly had much to do so far.

Always dangerous

With nine goals in five games, Australia has the weakest attack of the four remaining teams. However, that does not mean that Tony Gustafsson’s team cannot provide a scoring threat. On the contrary, even against France, the Matildas created four great chances.

The most striking player in the Australian team so far is clearly Caitlin Foord. The Arsenal attacker has already scored three times at this World Cup and is the team’s top scorer along with Hayley Raso.

Predicted line-up of Australia:

Australia (Expected line-up) 4-4-2

England – Statistics & current form

England were one of the few teams to win all three of their matches in the group stage. As expected, England beat Haiti, Denmark and China in Group D. Anything else would be a big surprise. But anything else would have been a big surprise.

In the round of 16, however, the Lionesses had serious problems and only advanced against Nigeria in a penalty shoot-out. However, they did not really deserve to advance. And Sarina Wiegman’s team did not make a confident impression in the quarter-finals against Colombia either.

Mediocre performance

In the end, England deservedly won 2-1 against Colombia to advance to the semi-finals. Sarina Wiegman’s team was superior in terms of play, but they failed to dominate the match. The Colombians even had more attempts inside the penalty area and more shot attempts overall. Against Australia, the English should therefore go one better.

A bit minimalistic

With ten goals in five World Cup games, England’s attack seems to be working well, but appearances are deceptive. England scored just four goals in their four games against Haiti, Denmark, Nigeria and Colombia, only adding to their goal tally with a 6-1 win over China.

By far the best player in Sarina Wiegman’s squad is Lauren James. The Chelsea FC attacker has already scored three goals and collected three assists. However, she blew a fuse in the match against Nigeria and will not play another game at this World Cup due to a red card.

Hard to crack

Sarina Wiegmann’s team has only conceded two goals in the tournament so far and is very compact. Nevertheless, England have conceded at least one big chance in every game and that could be too much in a semi-final. Australia is the strongest opponent in the current competition so far. Up to this point, the Lionesses have had pretty good luck with their draw.

Predicted England line-up:

England (Expected line-up) 3-4-1-2

Australia vs England Direct Comparison / H2H Balance

The direct comparison between the two teams is completely even. Australia won two duels against England, while one match ended in a draw and the Lionesses also picked up two victories. The last time the two teams met was in a Test match in April 2023. The Australians came out on top 2-0. For this reason, we expect a very exciting and close semi-final. Therefore, our prediction between Australia and England speaks in the direction of a goal bet.

Australia – England Tip

We play the tip on “both teams score – yes” between Australia and England. The hosts have played a strong tournament so far and have improved significantly over the course of the competition. The offense keeps creating chances, while the defense does a great job as well. With England struggling against Nigeria and Colombia, we trust the slight underdogs to score at least one goal.

We believe in the big miracle and therefore trust the Australians to make it to the final. The team has constantly outgrown itself, defended with a lot of passion and can also play really good football. England’s performance in the knockout rounds has been rather poor and they are missing their best player, James. Therefore, we recommend the odds for “Australia qualifies” between Australia and England