Sweden Hold off England to Win 2019 Women's World Cup 3rd-Place Match

Sweden picked up the bronze medal at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup on Saturday by beating England 2-1 at the Allianz Riviera in Nice.

An entertaining first half saw Sweden take a firm grip on the game after going 2-0 up 22 minutes into the match thanks to goals from Kosovare Asllani and Sofia Jakobsson.

The Lionesses pulled one back on the half-hour mark through Fran Kirby, while Ellen White saw an equaliser chalked off for handball minutes later after a VAR review.

Phil Neville's side saw plenty of the ball in the second half but struggled to carve out clear goalscoring opportunities.

Lucy Bronze went closest with a shot that was headed off the line by centre-back Nilla Fischer with stoppage time looming as Sweden held on to clinch third place.

England were forced into changes for the match. The suspended Millie Bright was replaced by Abbie McManus in defence, while there were also starts for Alex Greenwood, Kirby and Jade Moore.

Sweden brought back Fridolina Rolfo in attack after suspension and also handed Nathalie Bjorn a start on the right of midfield:

Peter Gerhardsson's side settled into the match the quicker of the two teams and took the lead after some poor defending from the Lionesses.

Rolfo swung in a cross from the left that Greenwood could only direct straight to an unmarked Asllani who rifled a low shot past goalkeeper Carly Telford (U.S. only):

Sweden then took complete control and doubled their lead 10 minutes later. Jakobsson was allowed to stride into the penalty area unopposed and curled a shot past Telford and into the far corner:

England responded well to going two goals down and pulled one back through a fine effort from Kirby. The Chelsea forward was played in down the right, cut inside and curled a low shot home to halve the deficit.

The Lionesses thought they had equalised minutes later. White chested the ball down in the area, turned past her defender and slotted home but saw her effort disallowed for handball:

Football commentator Jacqui Oatley offered her view of the incident:

White then went close again in stoppage time at the end of the first half. Nikita Parris sent the Manchester City forward through on goal, but goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl stuck out a boot to block her shot.

England looked the sharper team after half-time as they sought an equaliser but struggled to cause Sweden too many problems defensively.

Bronze had the Lionesses' best chance with just seconds of normal time remaining. She thumped a shot goalwards from inside the penalty area but was denied by Fischer's headed clearance.

The result means Sweden pick up a World Cup bronze medal for the third time, while England have to settle for fourth in a disappointing end to their tournament.

What's Next?

United States play the Netherlands in the final of the World Cup on Sunday, while England and Sweden will return to action in September. The Lionesses will play a friendly in Norway, and Sweden will take on Latvia in a UEFA Women's Championship qualifier.