Preview: Argentina Women vs. Sweden Women - prediction, team news, lineups

Argentina Women will look to seal their place in the last 16 of the Women's World Cup 2023 when they face Sweden Women on Wednesday.

Sweden, meanwhile, have already qualified for the knockout rounds, and they will now look to round off the group stage with a third consecutive victory.

Match preview

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After being edged out by Italy in their tournament opener, Argentina looked to be heading towards another defeat in Friday's meeting with South Africa.

Argentina entered the final 20 minutes with a two-goal deficit, but they managed to claw themselves level thanks to Sophia Braun's long-range strike and Romina Nunez's clinical header.

Despite salvaging a point from their second group game, La Albiceleste are still left waiting for their first win at a Women's World Cup finals.

With the South Americans two points adrift of second-placed Italy, they need to pull off a surprise win over Sweden to stand any chance of making the World Cup knockout rounds for the very first time.

However, even a win may not be enough, as their fate would depend on the result of the group's other game involving Italy and South Africa.

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Sweden, who are third in the FIFA World Rankings, have made an impressive start to the tournament, collecting maximum points from their opening two games.

They may have left it late to beat South Africa 2-1, but there was nothing close about their second group fixture against Italy.

Goals from Amanda Ilestedt, Fridolina Rolfo and Stina Blackstenius gave their country a comfortable three-goal cushion at the interval.

Ilestedt head home her second within five minutes of the restart, before Rebecka Blomqvist rounded off a commanding 5-0 victory in stoppage time to secure Sweden's place in the last 16.

Sweden have now reached the knockout rounds at eight of the nine Women's World Cup finals, and they have all but secured top spot due to their superior goal difference.

Team News

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Argentina will have to cope without the services of Miriam Mayorga, who will serve a one-match suspension for receiving two bookings in the opening two games.

Mayorga's absence could present Julieta Cruz with the opportunity to start alongside Aldana Cometti in central defence.

Nunez dropped out of the lineup for Friday's contest, but after coming off the bench to score the equalising goal, she could be recalled for the final group game.

As for their opponents, Peter Gerhardsson is likely to keep changes to a minimum as Sweden look to secure top spot in Group G.

If the Sweden boss does make an alteration to his side, he may decide to give Blomqvist a starting opportunity after the Wolfsburg forward found the net late on against Italy.

After scoring in both of the opening two group games, Rolfo will be looking to continue her fine form when she features on the left flank on Wednesday.

Argentina Women possible starting lineup:

Correa; Braun, Cruz, Cometti, Stabile; Nunez, Falfan, Benitez, Bonsegundo, Banini; Larroquette

Sweden Women possible starting lineup:

Musovic; Bjorn, Ilestedt, Eriksson, Andersson; Angeldal, Rubensson; Rytting Kaneryd, Asllani, Rolfo; Blomqvist

We say: Argentina Women 1-2 Sweden Women

Argentina showed great character to salvage a point against South Africa, and we think that they will produce another battling performance on Wednesday.

However, Sweden have a number of top-quality players in their ranks, and we believe that they will edge out their opponents to finish the group stage with a 100% record.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.