Key events
This is a lovely piece from my (Kiwi) colleague Julia Hollingsworth, on what seems to be quite a not uncommon sentiment these recent days. Who’d have thought, but it turns out us football-loving folk have been onto something all these years!
My player to watch tonight? Ramona Bachmann. The Barcelona forward has looked good so far, and will be expected to pose problems for the Ferns’ back line in Dunedin.
Back to Dunedin, where we might expect a decent atmosphere – the stakes are high, and the design of the stadium means it can get loud. They call it “the Glasshouse”, apparently, given its see-through roof, but to me it’s more of a giant indoor sports hall.
It’s just finished in Adelaide and Morocco have rebounded from a inauspicious start to their campaign with a famous win over South Korea in Group H!
Switzerland lineup
And here’s how the Swiss will line up – they are unchanged.
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1 Gaelle Thalmann
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19 Eseosa Aigbogun
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5 Noelle Maritz
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2 Julia Stierli
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8 Nadine Riesen
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13 Lia Waelti
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11 Coumba Sow
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6 Geraldine Reuteler
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17 Seraina Piubel
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9 Ana Crnogorcevic
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10 Ramona Bachmann
New Zealand lineup
The Football Ferns have made a couple of changes – Longo and Chance come into the starting XI as Indiah-Paige Riley and Betsy Hassett drop to the bench.
Group A permutations
Switzerland have manoeuvred into a strong position and are arguably favourites to go through now – they are yet to concede, and held Norway to goalless draw after beating the Philippines 2-0.
Co-hosts New Zealand won their first World Cup match last week, memorably against Norway, before a shock defeat to the Philippines tempered expectations a bit.
I’ll be forever grateful to my colleague Sarah Rendell for putting this together, so my head didn’t have to hurt. Here’s what will happen if:
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Switzerland win – through
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Switzerland draw – through
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Switzerland lose – they would need the other game to draw or for Norway to win by less than three goals.
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NZ win – through
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NZ draw – they would need the other game to draw or for Norway to win by a goal (they would then be tied on points and goal difference so it would come down to amount of goals scored, then head-to-head)
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NZ lose – out
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Norway win – would need Switzerland to win or the other game to draw and win by more than a goal
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Norway draw – out
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Norway lose – out
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Philippines win – through
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Philippines draw – need Switzerland to win
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Philippines lose – out
Preamble
Mike Hytner
Hello again and welcome again. Has it already been 11 days since the World Cup began? Time is flying and today marks the beginning of the end of the group stage, with Group A to be decided with simultaneous kick-offs in Dunedin and Auckland.
At Eden Park, Norway take on the Philippines (you can follow the build-up to that game with our other live blog over here, helmed by my colleague Sarah Rendell), but it is the game at the giant greenhouse they call Forsyth Barr Stadium between the co-hosts New Zealand and Switzerland that will be the focus of this blog for the next couple of hours or so.
We could be set for a wild ride, with everything still to play for, and all four teams still capable of going through to the last 16 with just 90 minutes to play. More on the full permutations in a second, but suffice to say that New Zealand, who have never qualified for the last 16 at the World Cup before, can do so with victory. Equally, Switzerland, who last got out of the group stage in 2015, will go through with victory. As for a draw… well, it gets a little more complicated for the Football Ferns then.
Kick-off is an hour away. Stick with us for those permutations, team news and the match. In the meantime, please feel free to get in touch with an email or tweet @mike_hytner if you have burning issues to get off your chest.
