Sweden is tied atop Group C standings with the Americans after winning both of its earlier games against North Korea and Colombia. Both teams would very much like to win this game, and the Group. Whoever loses will have to face the powerhouse Brazil team in the quarterfinals. The winner of Group C should have a much easier match with either Norway or Australia.
However, technically the United States women are in the driver's seat due to a large goal differential in group play (the U.S. has five goals in its games versus Sweden's two), and the only way that Sweden could come out with being the #1 seed would be to outright beat the Americans.
That looks to be a very difficult task with the way the U.S. squad has played so far, and in three previous meetings in the World Cup, Sweden has never defeated the Americans.
Yellow cards have been of issue so far for each squad. Sweden will be without their starting midfielder, Caroline Seger, who sits after accumulating a yellow card in each of the past two games.
American forward Abby Wambach received a yellow card in the game against Colombia, and if she receives another one, she will have to miss the quarterfinal match. It's likely that she won't play at all to prevent this, which will also give the 31 year-old a chance to rest her ailing achilles.
This match might be a good opportunity for some of the younger players to get a chance to put in some minutes, which will be beneficial to the team as a whole going forward.
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