Nine VfL Ladies celebrated qualification for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France as the final round of qualifying group games took place on Tuesday evening. Denmark’s Pernille Harder, along with Lara Dickenmann and Noelle Maritz of Switzerland, were among the four best runners-up and will go into the play-offs, but Sara Gunnarsdottir’s Iceland team missed out.
Captain Popp nets brace in 8-0 win
After going top of their group with a 2-0 win in Iceland on Saturday, Germany booked their spot for the eighth Women’s World Cup with a resounding 8-0 win over Faroe Islands in their final group game. VfL quartet Almuth Schult, Lena Goeßling, Sara Doorsoun and Alexandra Popp featured in the starting line-up, with Joelle Wedemeyer on the bench. Popp was captain of the side and led them to victory with two goals.
Fischer triumphs over Harder, Hansen and Minde go through
Nilla Fischer will also be at the tournament with Sweden. She faced her Wolfsburg teammate Harder in the final group fixture and it was the Swedes who progressed thanks to a 1-0 win, meaning the Danes must settle for the play-offs. Caroline Hansen and Kristine Minde will also be travelling to France next summer after Norway qualified courtesy of a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands. The VfL duo played the full 90 minutes.
Switzerland in play-offs, Gunnarsdottir just misses out
Switzerland missed out on direct qualification after drawing 0-0 against a Poland side containing Ewa Pajor. Dickenmann and Maritz will now have to come through a play-off to book their tickets for France. Meanwhile, there was heartbreak for Gunnarsdottir, who missed a penalty in injury time for Iceland as they drew 1-1 with Czech Republic and thus failed to qualify.
Earps keeps clean sheet
Summer signing Mary Earps was in goal on Tuesday for England, who were already guaranteed qualification. She kept a clean sheet as the Lionesses thrashed Kazakhstan 6-0. Claudia Neto and Zsanett Jakabfi were also in action for Portugal and Hungary respectively, but both countries were already out of the running. Portugal beat Romania 5-1 and Hungary lost 2-0 in Ukraine, with both VfL Ladies playing 90 minutes.
