Final 8 to make their cases as a potential champion

Final 8 to make their cases as a potential champion

The U.S. women have scored six goals during the tournament, but the defense has been solid.

The second-ranked Americans finished atop Group D, the so-called Group of Death, defeating Australia and Nigeria and playing to a scoreless draw with Sweden.

The Chinese went 1-1-1 in Group A, finishing second to host Canada, scoring three goals and allowing three.

Third-ranked France was stunned in the group stage by falling 2-0 to Colombia, but nonetheless finished atop Group F before defeating No. 8 South Korea 3-0 in the round of 16.

Germany, under coach Silvia Neid, leads the field at the World Cup with 19 goals in the tournament, compared with two allowed.

Germany finished atop Group B before defeating No. 5 Sweden 4-1 in its opening knockout-round match.

With Europe using the World Cup as part of its Olympic qualifying, France and Germany have secured berths in the 2016 Rio Games by advancing further than any other eligible UEFA member.

The team is through to the quarters and gets England in front of what is sure to be an amped-up home crowd.

“Coming back into BC Place will mean we’ll get our home advantage, the 12th man will really kick in at this point and give us hopefully that sort of energy they did toward the end of the game to lift our team,” Canada coach John Herdman said.

Canada, ranked No. 8, was the surprise bronze-medal winning at London in 2012, and the team’s next step is to finish strong at the World Cup.

Because England competes as part of the United Kingdom at the Olympics, its quarterfinal berth does not count for qualifying for Europe’s third berth in the 2016 Rio Games.

Though they haven’t had a lot of goals — four in four games — the Canadians finished atop Group A before defeating Switzerland 1-0 to open the knockout round.

England, ranked No. 6 by FIFA, scored its first knockout-stage win at the World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Norway

Tenth-ranked Australia pulled off the upset of the elimination stage with a 1-0 victory over Brazil and Marta.

Kyah Simon came off the bench to score the goal, Australia’s first in the knockout stage of a World Cup.

“Obviously, beating a team like Brazil gives you a massive amount of belief, and it feels good to reach this stage of the tournament but we want to go further,” forward Samantha Kerr said.

Australia finished second in Group D, ending with a 1-1 draw with No. 5 Sweden.