Is there anything that epitomises tournament football more than withstanding 120 minutes of attack after attack from arguably the best team in the world and knocking them out on penalties in the most dramatic fashion? That is what Sweden have just delivered against USA.
We’ve all seen some absolutely belting penalty shootouts over the years. I remember being completely lacking of understanding as I watched England lose to Germany at Euro 96 and my older brother sobbing next to me after Gareth Southgate missed; I remember sobbing myself watching England lose to Argentina at France ‘98 as David Batty did the same. It really is an absolute heart breaker.
We’ve seen John Terry’s slip for Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final against Man Utd; we’ve seen David De Gea power over the last round of sudden death for Man Utd in the 2021 Europa League final versus Villarreal.
Never, to my recollection though, have I ever seen a shoot out quite as dramatic as Sweden vs USA at the Women’s World Cup 2023! The first five from each nation contained some absolutely top drawer penalties, a couple of over the bar misses and a good save. But with the scores tied and heading to sudden death is where the real fun began.
Rather than waiting until the end of the queue, USA goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher stood forward to take the first sudden death penalty and dispatched it with zero faff nor shits given. She merely stepped up, smashed it home and returned to her line to face Sweden’s effort. Sweden scored but USA missed again. Lina Hurtig of Arsenal stepped up and what followed was a real cliff hanger. Naeher saved but the ball looped up into the air and back towards the goal line, the goalkeeper scrambled back and hooked it out for an amazing double save. After a few moments of confusion with Sweden players pleading with French referee Stéphanie Frappart to allow the goal and Alyssa Naeher confidently exclaiming “no chance”, goal line technology kicked in and confirmed that, literally by millimetres, the ball had crossed the line and meant that Sweden were heading through to the quarter finals and the reigning, defending, four-time world champions were heading home. They have only ever claimed third place or higher, never leaving at such an early stage.
With all that drama – the hits, the misses, the ending – could that have been the greatest penalty shootout of all time?
Heart of Football 
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