Day 5 of the FIFA Women’s World Cup saw Colombia play South Korea, New Zealand take on the Philippines, and Norway play Switzerland.
Slept through it and need to know what the big story is? This is what happened on the sixth day of the World Cup.
Your bite-sized recap of Day 5 of the 2023 Women’s World Cup
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Colombia 2, South Korea 0
The Big Story: Colombia scored two goals in nine minutes, starting with Catalina Usme’s penalty at the half hour mark, to earn a pivotal win over South Korea.
The Big Moment: In the 10th minute of first-half stoppage time, South Korea had one of their best attacking moments of the day. Choe Yu Ri muscled her way by two Colombian defenders and sent a far-post cross to an open Lee Geum-min. Keeper Catalina Perez was cheated all the way to the strong side but read the play well and began hustling over to cover the far post. She arrived just in time to dive left and parry away Geum-min’s bouncing header to preserve a 2-0 lead ahead of halftime. A South Korean goal there would have altered the entire complexion of the second half.
Nearly nodded in from South Korea's Lee Geum-Min 
pic.twitter.com/e0EsinKbJd
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
pic.twitter.com/e0EsinKbJd— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
What it means: The win makes Colombia a heavy favorite to go through to the knockout stages for the second time in their history (2015, l. Rd 16 to United States). These two nations were tabbed to finish 2-3 behind Germany in Group H, a belief that was backed up a day earlier when Germany dismantled Morocco 6-0.
Korea were the better side in the opening 25 minutes but fell victim to some overly physical play in midfield. It burned them when, in the 28th minute, Kim Hye Ri fouled Mayra Ramírez coming through midfield. The free kick was not taken from an especially dangerous position but it led to some chaotic moments in the Korean penalty area and the ball eventually deflected off Shim Seo Yeon hand for a penalty. After a lengthy wait, Usme buried the 30th minute penalty and sprinted to the Colombian bench for a raucous celebration.
THE COLOMBIAN ATMOSPHERE IN SYDNEY 
pic.twitter.com/X0M4YCUYhT
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
pic.twitter.com/X0M4YCUYhT— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
Nine minutes later, 18-year-old Linda Caicedo collected a second ball off a goal kick, dribbled around one defender, took another off her mark, and sent a probing shot toward goal from just outside the 18. Keeper Yoon Young Geul left her feet and attempted to either catch the ball or deflect it away, but her efforts were for naught as it skipped off her hand and nestled in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
What an absolutely brilliant individual effort by Linda Caicedo to score her first FIFA Women's World Cup goal pic.twitter.com/CLzCwG2DXq
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
pic.twitter.com/CLzCwG2DXq— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 25, 2023
South Korea changed shape after halftime by adding a 4th defender, but the tactical shift did little to return momentum in their favor. Colombia were rarely troubled over the second 45. The only highlight for Korea was the debut of Casey Phair, who at 16 became the youngest player ever to appear at a Women’s World Cup.
The result leaves Korea needing either a shock result against Germany in the final group match, or for Morocco to author an upset of Colombia. Colombia face Germany next but figure to be safely through if they can close with a win over Morocco.
– Dan Lauletta
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