Women's World Cup Results 2015: Group Scores and Monday Twitter Reaction
The 2015 Women's World Cup dream will end for at least two teams Monday.
Normally, once the group stage wraps up, the bottom two teams in each group are eliminated. In the Women's World Cup, the fourth-best third-place finishers will advance as well, so a small handful of countries won't know their collective fates until the entirety of the group stage is played.
Below, you'll find brief recaps and reaction from Monday's games and how those games impact the next round.
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Monday Scores
| B | Thailand | 0-4 | Germany |
| B | Ivory Coast | 1-3 | Norway |
| A | China | 2-2 | New Zealand |
| A | Netherlands | 1-1 | Canada |
Monday Recap and Reaction
Germany Wins Group B with 4-0 Win over Thailand
Germany earned first place in Group B on goal differential with a 4-0 victory against Thailand on Monday.
Entering the game, German national team coach Sylvia Neid denied before the game that her side would take it easy on Thailand considering the talent gap between the two teams.
"Mercy is a funny term," Neid said, per the Agence France-Presse (via Yahoo Sports). "Of course we want to show mercy but not when you're in a soccer match in a World Cup. All your thinking about is to seize the opportunities you have. In the end it's about feeling self-confident after the game and going into the next game being in the round of 16."
Neid's team didn't let its foot off the gas Monday, constantly barraging the Thailand defense with wave after wave of attack.
The Germans had a 1-0 lead at the halftime break following a 24th-minute goal from Melanie Leupolz, and a rapid-fire brace from Lena Petermann in the second half put the game out of reach for Thailand. Sara Daebritz added a fourth goal for Germany in the 73rd minute for good measure.
The final score doesn't illustrate just how dominant Die Nationalelf were for 90 minutes. Not only did they have 65 percent of possession, but they also unleashed 36 shots in total, 16 of which were on target. Germany also had 14 corners over the course of the match.
It outclassed Thailand in every sense of the word.
That's not to say that the War Elephants lost for a lack of effort. NBC Sports' Jeff Kassouf thought that the losing side left everything on the field:
Andrew Das of the New York Times added that it's almost impossible for a team like Thailand to properly prepare to face a world-class side like Germany:
The Germans are no strangers to the knockout stages. According to ESPN's Paul Carr, they're one of only two countries to have made it out of the group in every edition of the Women's World Cup:
Ann Odong of the Women's Game wondered if Germany will even see any sort of lull as the next generation of stars moves in:
The European giants had a bit of a hiccup against Norway, but they won their other two matches by a combined score of 14-0. They'll be serious players in the title discussion once the knockout rounds begin.
On the other side, all is not lost for Thailand. If Sweden loses and Spain fails to win, then its three points will be enough to make it one of the four third-place teams to advance.
The Women's World Cup may not have seen the last of Thailand.
Norway Settles for Second Group B
The Norwegians may have picked up a 3-1 win over the Ivory Coast, but it wasn't enough to overtake Germany for first in Group B.
Ada Hegerberg notched a brace, scoring in the sixth and 62nd minutes, and Solveig Gulbrandsen tacked on another for Norway in the 67th minute. Ange N'Guessan got the Ivory Coast on the board in the 71st minute. The African side exits the Women's World Cup with its head held high.
N'Guessan's superb goal was the biggest topic of discussion after the game. It will certainly go down as one of the best in the tournament. Roughly 25 yards from goal, she uncorked a right-footed shot that curled just under the crossbar and into the top-right corner.
This was the first time the Ivory Coast played in the event, and its maiden voyage was a bit of a mixed bag. Things looked dire after Germany beat it 10-0 in its first match, but Cote d'Ivoire played both Norway and Thailand pretty tough.
ESPN FC's Andrea Canales argued that both of Group B's debutantes earned their keep in Canada:
Norway is one of the more fringe title contenders. It isn't one of the best teams in the world, but if everything clicks, the Norwegians are certainly capable of making a deep run in the knockout stages.
Their 1-1 draw with Germany shows they can go toe-to-toe with the best.
China Advance at Cost of New Zealand
China and New Zealand played to a 2-2 draw Monday night, which meant the Chinese are through to the knockout stages and the Ferns are heading home with just two points in three matches.
Rebekah Stott put New Zealand ahead in the 28th minute, but Wang Lisi canceled out that goal from the penalty spot in the 41st minute. In the 60th minute, Wang Shanshan put China ahead 2-1, and four minutes later, Hannah Wilkinson provided the equalizer.
Unfortunately for New Zealand, they were unable to find the breakthrough over the final 26 minutes plus injury time.
The biggest talking point from the game was China coach Hao Wei not so subtly impeding Ria Percival as she attempted to take a throw-in in the 91st minute. Hao attempted and failed to catch the ball as he flew out of play. As Percival reached down to pick the ball up, Hao acted as if his forward momentum was pushing him into Percival, making her unable to actually grab the ball.
The match official sent Hao off, which means he'll be unable to coach China in their next match. New Zealand coach Tony Readings also declined to shake Hao's hand after a match, per Dan Lauletta of the Equalizer:
They were all a bit surreal and took away from the action on the field.
Canada Flatter to Deceive, Still Win Group A
Canada proved that winning a group at a World Cup isn't necessarily indicative of a team's strength. By all accounts, the hosts have labored heavily throughout this tournament. They needed an injury-time penalty to beat China and followed that up with a scoreless draw against New Zealand. On Monday, they drew 1-1 with the Netherlands.
Fortunately for the Canadians, their five points were enough to capture Group A. Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl remains unimpressed by what he has seen from Canada so far:
Ashley Lawrence and Kirsten van de Ven were the goalscorers. Lawrence put Canada ahead 1-0 in the 10th minute, and Van De Ven tied the game in the 87th.
In the end, a draw was the fairest result. Both teams had the same number of shots on target (five) and shots total (16). The Dutch also had just one more corner than the Canadians.
The result wraps up Canada's underwhelming group stage, even with their advancement. Rather than being buoyed by the home crowd, the hosts almost seem to be weighted down by expectation.
Their fans have reason to expect more since Canada are one of the tournament's stronger teams, more than capable of making a deep run. Coach John Herdman may need to make some tactical tweaks in order to light a fire under his players.
