Fansided

Sweden sips all of England’s tea, takes third-place with 2-1 victory

By David Salituro

Ellen White (Birmingham City WFC) of England lament a failed occasion during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France 3rd Place Match match between England and Sweden at Stade de Nice on July 6, 2019 in Nice, France. (Photo by Jose Breton/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Ellen White (Birmingham City WFC) of England lament a failed occasion during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France 3rd Place Match match between England and Sweden at Stade de Nice on July 6, 2019 in Nice, France. (Photo by Jose Breton/NurPhoto via Getty Images) /
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England, still hurting after a tough loss to the Americans in the semi-final, come up short against Sweden in third-place game

England striker Ellen White had another goal disallowed by VAR, and for the second straight game the Lionesses suffered a disappointing loss.

Sweden, the ninth-ranked team in the FIFA World Rankings, beat England 2-1 in the third-place game of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on Saturday in Nice, capturing third place for the second time in the last three tournaments.

Sweden jumped out to an early lead in the 11th minute when the English defender failed to clear the ball from the box and it fell right to Kosovare Asllani. Asllani fired it into the bottom right corner despite goalkeeper Carly Telford getting a piece of it, putting Sweden up 1-0. In the 22nd minute, Sofia Jakobsson curled the ball into the right corner to give the Swedes a quick 2-0 advantage.

England got back to a goal down in the 31st minute when Fran Kirby made a great run and cutback into the box and shot the ball off the post and into the corner of the net. Then, two minutes later, controversy struck again for Phil Neville’s squad. White appeared to tie the game with her tournament-leading seventh goal of the tournament. A look at the video review, however, determined that White handled the ball with her arm and it was disallowed.

https://twitter.com/WoSoViewer/status/1147531893153382400

England would never get a better opportunity. They had one final chance late in the second half when Karen Carney got a good look off a corner, but Swedish defender Nilla Fischer headed the ball off the line.

It was White’s disallowed goal, however, that English fans will remember from this game. Against the United States in the semi-finals, White had a goal taken back on VAR due to offside. The English side ended up losing that game 2-1 as well, the third straight tournament they’ve fallen a game short of the final. When American striker Alex Morgan scored the goal that put the Americans ahead, she celebrated by pretending to take a sip of tea.

The English took offense to Morgan’s celebration, with one player calling it “classless.” Their start to the game on Saturday showed they still weren’t over it, thinking more about the loss to the Americans four days earlier than the Swedes in front of them today. White even took a shot at Morgan by replicating her tea-slipping celebration, all to no avail.

Sweden’s victory gives them redemption from their own crushing semi-final defeat in extra time against the Netherlands.

The United States goes for their second straight World Cup title against the Netherlands on Sunday in Lyon.