Matthew Chadder

Tue 8 August 2023 16:15, UK

Jamaica and Morocco defied the odds to reach the knockout stages of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup although the last 16 proved one step too far for the nations and their respective Tottenham representatives.

Morocco, making their first-ever appearance at a Women’s World Cup, won back-to-back matches after their opening day 6-0 humiliation at the hands of Germany. This was enough to see them finish second in Group H, edging out the world number two side who had made such easy work of them in their meeting.

Meanwhile, Jamaica advanced from Group F also in second place, at the expense of Brazil, who are ranked eighth in the world. Following their first-ever appearance at a Women’s World Cup in 2019, where they lost all three group games, they were back for round two, and this time finished the group stage unbeaten without conceding.

These achievements represented two of the biggest underdog stories in the history of the women’s game but in the end, neither could take their fairytale story any further, as they both crashed out of the competition on Tuesday, 8 August.

For the Atlas Lionesses, it was always going to be a tough ask as they took on France, who are ranked fifth in the world. Ultimately, it wasn’t much of a contest as the scoreline finished 4-0 in favour of the European giants. Morocco’s men’s team had made a similar recent historic run at the World Cup but were also stopped in their tracks by the French.

By the time Tottenham star Rosella Ayane entered the field of play, the score was already 3-0, and the forward could do little to help her side become the first African nation to win a knockout match at a Women’s World Cup. Throughout her time on the pitch, she made 10 touches and registered a successful passing accuracy of 75 per cent (Sofascore), but could do little to impact the outcome.

While it marks the end of Morocco’s dreams, the ladies can still leave with their heads held high after they made history and became the first Arabic nation to win at a Women’s World Cup.

For Jamaica, there would have been slightly more optimism that the Reggae Girlz could find a way into the last eight of the competition. They had not yet lost or conceded at the competition and were taking on Colombia, who are ranked 25th in the world, just 18 places above them, as opposed to the 67 places that separated France and Morocco.

In the end, Catalina Usme, who captained Colombia in Melbourne, curled home the decisive strike in the 51st minute, marking the first goal that had found its way past Rebecca Spencer between the sticks after 321 minutes of play. Jamaica couldn’t find a response as their dreams came crashing down around them Down Under.

Spencer did all she could in goal, making two saves, while midfielder Drew Spence worked hard in the centre of the park making 61 touches, four tackles, winning four ground duels and two clearances (Sofascore).

Ultimately it wasn’t enough as Colombia held on to advance to the quarter-finals of a Women’s World Cup for the first time in their history, setting up a meeting with the Lionesses and Bethany England, the last Spurs star left at the tournament, on Saturday 12 August.

In other Tottenham News, three players left the men’s pre-season friendly with Shakhtar Donetsk with their heads held high.