Day 5 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup saw Italy play Argentina, Germany face Morocco, and Brazil take on Panama.
Slept through it and need to know what the big story is? This is what happened on the fifth day of the World Cup.
Your bite-sized recap of Day 5 of the 2023 Women’s World Cup
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Italy 1, Argentina 0
The Big Story: Argentina played in their fourth World Cup, but is still looking for their illusive first win in group play after a late goal by Italy.
The Big Moment: In the 87th minute, Italy was finally able to break through and find a goal when a Lisa Boattin cross from distance found the head of Cristiana Girelli who had subbed in just four minutes earlier.
FORZA ITALIA 
Cristiana Girelli scores the first goal for Italy at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup!
pic.twitter.com/JI77RQCb37
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 24, 2023
Cristiana Girelli scores the first goal for Italy at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup!
pic.twitter.com/JI77RQCb37— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 24, 2023
What it means: It was a highly physical match in Eden Park with 34 fouls, and six yellows between the two teams, and there could’ve easily been more. Argentina ended the first half with four shots, but none on goal. Italy only had two official shots, though they did have two goals called back because of very clear offside calls. The Argentine backline did a really great job of containing the Italian attackers throughout the match. Italy seemed to control much of the play through the first half, but Argentina did eventually find their footing and retain possession of the ball more as the half went on. One thing that didn’t get better through the half for Argentina was their passing accuracy and looking rushed while in transition, leading to turnovers.
Going into the second half, Argentina looked like they had adjusted well and had a very dangerous free kick in the opening minutes. After that, Italy really started pressing forward. Even though they were spending a lot of time just outside of the Argentine box, Italy struggled to create dangerous chances. The Azzurre struggled with inaccurate final passes, trying to force shots, or shooting right at the Argentinian goalkeeper Vanina Correa, until they scored in the final minutes of regulation.
-Taylor Vincent
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