Austria and Norway battle it out for place in Quarter-Finals

After victories over Northern Ireland and defeats to England, the equation is very simple. Win and progress, or lose and go home. Who will make the cut for the Women’s Euro’s knockout stages?

After a narrow defeat to England in the tournament curtain raiser, Austria were good value for their 2-0 triumph over tournament newbies Northern Ireland, with two Katharina’s getting on the scoresheet in the form of Werder Bremen’s Katharina Schiechtl and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s Katharina Naschenweng.

Irene Fuhrmann’s side had 20 shots through the course of the 90 minutes at St.Mary’s Stadium, and were the better side for the vast majority of the contests’ longevity. However, they face an altogether different task as they face the two time tournament winners Norway.

After an emphatic 4-1 opening win against the debutants, Norway were confident of producing an upset against the hosts in Brighton. However, what ensued for Martin Sjögren’s side was embarrassment on the end of a record-breaking defeat. 6-0 down at half-time, the Norwegians were only able to partially stem the flow against a ruthless England side in the second half.

The defeat exposed a soft underbelly in Norway’s defence riddled with inexperience at tournament level.

Another worrying factor from a Norwegian perspective has been Ada Hegerberg’s inability to get going in the opening two fixtures, with a satisfactory support role in the 4-1 win followed up by being frozen out in the demolition job against England.

Austria were the polar opposite of Norway in their clash with the hosts, and went about their business with relative ease against Northern Ireland.

There is parity between the two sides in the rankings, with Norway rated 10 places higher than Austria sitting in 11th in the FIFA world list. This much is reflected in the level of star power the Norwegians possess over Austria, with the likes of Hegerberg as well as Barcelona’s Caroline Hansen and Chelsea’s Guro Reiten.

This fixture will take place at the Brighton & Hove Community Stadium, the site of Norway’s nightmarish Monday night clash, which will perhaps incite some mental barriers for the reeling squad.

Norway are, however, unbeaten agains Austria in their last five meetings, though their last came back in 2016.

Should the game finish a draw, the obvious advantage goes to Austria with their far superior goal difference, and as such the equation for Norway is quite simple – this game is a must win.

With the England game taking place down the coastline in Southampton at corresponding times, this game may not get the attention it deserves from both live and virtual audiences, though the outcome will result in sheer jubilation for one and heartbreak for the other.

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