San Diego Wave FC midfielder Sofia Jakobsson made her first appearance in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup early Saturday morning and assisted Sweden’s fifth goal in a 5-0 victory over Italy at Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand.
With the decisive win, Sweden now sits atop Group G with a goal differential edge and has locked in a spot in the knockout rounds beginning on Saturday, Aug. 5.
Jakobsson entered the match in the 75th minute to kick off her fourth World Cup run. Twenty minutes later, in stoppage time, Jakobsson counterattacked off an Italy corner, passing the ball into space to fellow substitute Rebecka Blomqvist. Blomqvist then won two challenges before sliding the ball into the bottom left corner for the final goal of the match.
This followed four prior goals by Sweden (39’ Ilestedt, 44’ Rolfö, 45+1’ Blackstenius, 50’ Ilestedt), three of which were set piece situations where the team exploited Italy’s weakness on corner kicks.
Jakobsson and Sweden will now face Argentina on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at 12:00 am PT at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand.
Notes:
On Tuesday, Aug. 1, defender Naomi Girma and forward Alex Morgan will join the USWNT in taking on Portugal for the USA’s final group stage match, looking for a spot in the knockout rounds. The Wave and American Outlaws San Diego will be co-hosting a watch party at O’Brien’s Pub in Convoy.
