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The Women’s World Cup Semifinals are set. While almost everyone expected to see Spain and England playing in this round, Australia and Sweden are much bigger surprises. The Swedes have defeated the United States and Japan in the Knockout Round thus far, while Australia advanced 7-6 on penalties in their victory over France. Neither Spain nor England have looked particularly unbeatable. Could Sweden and Australia pull off one more upset each to set up an improbable final?
Here are the best bets for the Women’s World Cup Semifinals.
Best 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Semifinals Bets
Australia vs. England
Australia to Advance (+120)
Australia has advanced to the semifinals for the first time in the nation’s history, and their run is not going to end here. Australia’s defense has been the strength of the team, and they will take on an England side that has been inconsistent at this World Cup and will still be without Lauren James.
Australia has held their opponents scoreless in four of their five games this tournament, and they have looked sharp since their 3-2 loss to Nigeria. Many are probably going to side with England because of their pedigree and the fact that they defeated the Nigerian team that handed Australia their only loss this tournament.
Yet, Australia will not be intimidated. In the last three meetings between these two nations, Australia is 2-0-1. They defeated England 2-0 on April 11th of this year, despite maintaining possession of the ball for just 29% of the game. Australia’s defense is going to hold England to very little in this game, and if they can force penalties, it would be foolish to bet against them.
Under 1.5 Goals (+150)
The Australians haven’t given up a goal in three consecutive games, while England have scored more than one goal just twice this tournament. It is safe to expect England to control the tempo for most of this match, but Australia did maintain about 50% of the possession against France.
As long as Australia’s defense can stand firm and withstand the brief onslaughts they are bound to face, then it is hard to imagine multiple goals being scored in this one. Australia’s offense has been solid, but so has England’s defense. The English have shut out three of their opponents this tournament, and they allowed just one goal on 15 shots against Colombia.
Australia did score twice in their last friendly against England, but those two goals also came on their only two shots of the game. We don’t expect that same efficiency in this round. And with Lauren James playing a part in five of England’s 10 goals this tournament and still out for this match, we expect a low-scoring 90 minutes that may actually go scoreless.
Spain vs. Sweden
Spain (+105)
Sweden has been a thorn in the side of bettors for this entire tournament. They took out the United States, then followed that performance up with a 2-1 victory over a Japanese side that had looked dominant this tournament. But will they really pull off three huge upsets in a row?
We don’t believe so. Spain needed extra time to defeat the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, but they dominated that game everywhere except the scoreboard. They had 62% of the possession and 28 shots, eight of which were on goal.
Japan proved to be a good matchup for Sweden, as the style of the Japanese prevented them from being able to dominate the time of possession and keep consistent pressure on Sweden’s back line. Spain will be a different beast. They will dictate the pace of this game, and if they take the lead, Sweden will find themselves behind for the first time since their opening game of this tournament. They’re a poised team, but playing catch-up against a team that dominates possession, is no easy task.
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Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.
