Germany, Brazil and Canada are all out after a dramatic group stage but England reaped rewards of pragmatism
Having 32 teams in the Women’s World Cup rather than 24 made for a brilliant group stage. Just about every group went to an exciting last round. If there’s a key message to take from the opening fortnight, it’s that the biggest mistake any established nation could make would be to underestimate a smaller team.
There have been three major casualties already. A couple of others were on the brink. Why? It’s likely a combination of some nations developing fast but also some big nations really underperforming. Canada, Brazil and Germany have real quality, especially Germany, and yet all three have flown home.
