The FIFA women world cup is currently underway and today I saw a prediction from OPTA that was made probably before the tournament.
The tournament has progressed to the round of sixteen and there's been a lot of upsets in the group stage progression. Football strong houses like Germany, Brazil, Italy and Canada have all made surprising exits while for the first time we have teams like Morocco, South Africa and Jamaica progressing..
Nigeria particularly for the first time maintained an unbeaten record during the group stages in a group where they were lowly ranked. Drawing Canada, beating hosts Australia, and finally a draw against Ireland.
No one expected an African team in the round of sixteen, let alone having three African teams progress.
It seems people who claim football isn't played on paper but on the field are quite justified in their claims. Could we witness another upset in the knockout stages or this is the end of the road for the African teams.
We'll find out as Nigeria is set to face favorites England, who although are European champions, didn't really made much of a statement in their first two group stage matches. Unlike teams like the Japanese who at every turn have shown that they have what it takes to win the tournament as they progressed to the quarter finals alongside Spain.