History will be made at WWC as Colombia, Jamaica, Morocco eye quarterfinals

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, August 9 ------ History will be made on Tuesday in at least one of the Women's World Cup knockout games, where three teams try to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history. Colombia, led by 18-year-old sensation Linda Caicedo, is trying to advance for the first time, four years after missing the tournament field. The Colombians made it to the round of 16 in 2015, were eliminated in group play in 2011, and failed to qualify in the 1999, 2003 and 2007 World Cups.

Standing in the way of Colombia, ranked 25th in the world, is Jamaica. The Reggae Girlz are playing in their second consecutive World Cup — they were eliminated in group play in 2019 — and needed a GoFundMe campaign to afford the trip to this year's tournament. Colombia won its group, Jamaica beat Panama and eliminated powerhouse Brazil with a scoreless draw to advance, and the winner of Tuesday's match in Melbourne will advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in team history.

In Tuesday's second knockout game, World Cup debutante Morocco will attempt to continue its historic first tournament with a win over France. Coincidentally, the two nations played to a 2-0 France victory in the semifinals of the men's World Cup last December in Qatar. Morocco's women's team advanced as runner-up in Group H after back-to-back 1-0 wins against South Korea and Colombia. Morocco was the first Arab or North African nation to qualify for the Women's World Cup, then became the first to advance beyond the group stage. Morocco was one of eight teams to make its tournament debut this year and the only one to advance.

Morocco, ranked 72nd in the world, will have a tough time making it to the quarterfinals when the Atlas Lions play France in Adelaide, South Australia. France is ranked fifth in the world and advanced to at least the quarterfinals in the last three World Cups, and finished fourth in 2011.

Source: spin.ph