Women’s World Cup Semifinals Odds and Preview
Spain vs. Sweden and Australia vs. England in Semis
Spain Favorites to Win World Cup
In the first Women’s World Cup with 32 teams, just four teams remain. Favorites Spain take on Sweden at Eden Park in New Zealand in the first semifinal on Tuesday. Then, co-hosts Australia meet with England in Sydney on Wednesday.
At the very least there will be a first-time finalist, as Spain, England and Australia have never reached the Women’s World Cup final. The winners of the two semifinals will meet on Sunday for the 2023 Women’s World Cup final.
We’ll see who those teams are likely to be as we preview the Women’s World Cup semifinals odds.
Semifinals Matches
Spain vs Sweden
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Spain are now the favorites to win the World Cup. Their 4-0 humbling in the group stage finale at the hands of Japan seems to have motivated them. La Roja easily defeated Switzerland 5-1 in the round of 16, setting up a meeting with 2019 finalists, the Netherlands. In a hard-fought quarterfinal match, which went into extra time, Spain came away with a 2-1 win. Salma Paralluelo proved to be an impact substitute as she scored the winning goal in the 111th minute.
In another difficult match, Spain take on Sweden, who knocked out the USA in the round of 16. In the quarters, defender Amanda Ilestedt scored her fourth goal of the tournament as Sweden beat Japan 2-1. Sweden have knocked out two former World Cup champions in this tournament and are not to be taken lightly.
The FIFA World Cup rankings actually rank Sweden third, which is higher than Spain, who are ranked sixth.
Still, the Women’s World Cup semifinals odds price Spain as favorites. Spain have scored 15 goals through five matches and show +105 ATS and moneyline odds here. Meanwhile, Sweden have been excellent on defense and conceded just two goals all tournament. Sweden, who have trailed for just 17 minutes at the Women’s World Cup, are +280 moneyline underdogs.
Sweden +0.5 also comes in at -135 odds as they look to make their first Women’s World Cup final since 2003. Meanwhile, this is the first time Spain have been past the round of 16 and Aitana Bonmati has been at the center of their success.
The midfielder has three goals and two assists thus far. In an excellent semifinals matchup, over two goals show -135 odds. Both teams have already played extra time matches and a draw is priced at +225 odds.
Australia vs England
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Two commonwealth countries face off in the semifinals as co-hosts Australia take on England. Australia have played all of their matches at the Women’s World Cup on home soil and have kept three straight shutouts. Following a 2-0 win over Denmark in the round of 16, Australia faced France in the quarterfinals. A scoreless draw ended up being decided in penalties and Australia won in dramatic fashion.
With 10 players taking PKs on both sides, Cortnee Vine scored the winner for Australia as they qualified for their first-ever Women’s World Cup semifinals.
Sam Kerr still hasn’t started a match for the Matildas due to an injury she picked up just before the tournament. However, Australia’s all-time leading scorer has come on as a substitute in each of the last two matches.
England have looked a bit shaky thus far in the knockout stage but pulled off a comeback win over Colombia in the quarterfinals. Lauren Hemp took advantage of a goalkeeping error and Alessia Russo scored the winner for England. Young talent Lauren James missed the match and will also serve the second match of her red card suspension vs. Australia.
Fourth in the FIFA World Cup rankings, England still have loads of talent on their roster without James. Thankfully, midfielder Keira Walsh has made a full return from an initially nasty-looking knee injury. Now, the Women’s World Cup semifinals odds price England as -160 favorites to qualify for their first final and +125 ATS and moneyline favorites to win in 90 minutes.
The Matildas are favored to cover the spread, as Australia +0.5 shows -155 odds. However, they did lose in the group stage to Nigeria, who England defeated in penalties in the round of 16. Hosts Australia are +240 moneyline underdogs, while a draw displays +210 odds. Both over and under two goals are priced at -115 odds in a match where goals could be hard to come by.
