Norway 4-2-3-1 (Hjelmseth – Wold, Mjelde, Thorisdottir, Minde – Risa, Engen – Saevik, Hansen, Reiten – Herlovsen)

Australia 4-2-3-1 (Williams – Carpenter, Kennedy, Catley, Kellond-Knight – Van Egmond, Logarzo – Raso, Yallop, Foord – Kerr)

Norway lined up in a 4-2-3-1 that looked more like a 2-4-3-1 in possession, with both full-backs pushing on and their nominal wingers coming into the inside and central channels. Herlovsen led the line on her own. Australia also set up in a 4-2-3-1, though with far less central presence and more natural wingers in Raso and Foord that looked to dribble at their opponents from wider starting positions.

Defensively, Australia looked to press high. Norway were comfortable with this, as they built out from the back with short passes in their usual fashion, attempting to draw their opposition on to them and create space behind their midfield for Hansen to get on the ball and dribble at the defensive line while Herlovsen looked to make runs in behind.

Australia’s defensive setup was a 4-2-3-1 that saw Yallop cover Risa or Engen before stepping up to join Kerr in pressuring Mjelde and Thorisdottir. Meanwhile, both wingers looked to stay fairly close to their own central midfielders, preventing gaps in the channels between them for Norway to play through to Saevik, Reiten and Hansen. If Norway played out to their high and wide full-backs, the near Australian winger would then look to close them down.

The aim for Australia appeared to be disrupting Norwegian build-up and winning turnovers high up the pitch. They pressed with intensity, though they were unable to stop Norway from controlling possession in the first half. Norway used passes between their two centre-backs and two central midfielders to retain possession under pressure, and they always had Wold and Minde as out-balls near the touchline. Australia’s full-backs were reluctant to move up onto their opposites as they had Saevik, Hansen and Reiten to worry about.

Norway used combination play between their attacking midfield trio and their full-backs to progress in the wider areas. Their full-backs often received un-marked and could carry the ball forwards before playing one-twos with Reiten, Saevik or Hansen. Alternately, they could play passes inside to the attacking midfielders between the lines, or they could drive forward, draw out the Australian full-back and play passes in behind for an attacking midfielder to run onto.

Australia’s possession wasn’t so penetrative. Having lined up in a 4-3-3 for most of the group stages, here they had Logarzo join Van Egmond in supporting build-up from the centre-backs, while Yallop played higher up the pitch. However, while they had numerical superiority in build-up of a 3v2 or 4v2 against Norway’s first line of defence – Herlovsen and Hansen – they couldn’t break the lines.

Norway were defensively very compact. They didn’t press from the front, preferring to stay in their shape and screen passes into the middle third. Their midfield four made an effort to not allow space in the channels for Australia to play through, blocking and sometimes intercepting passes through from Van Egmond and co. Consequently, Australia were forced into ineffective u-shape possession – side to side from one full-back to the other, via the centre-backs and central midfielders. Everything was in front of Norway.

With a lead to defend, Norway allowed Australia more of the ball in the second half. Australia played the same way, going down the flanks with overlapping full-backs to then cross in to Kerr, or playing balls in the channels between Norway’s full-backs and centre-backs for Kerr or Yallop to run onto. They basically took a quantitative approach to giving Kerr shooting opportunities in the penalty box – play it in enough times, and one ball will fall to her. However, they did this at a higher tempo in the second half and eventually got an equaliser.

Australia had Kennedy sent off in extra time and spent the rest of the match defending in a 4-4-1 shape that meant they couldn’t get so much pressure on Norway’s build-up. Norway started to dominate the ball, but they were unable to score against a less aggressive Australian side, waiting for penalties to seal their win.