Kazakhstan Women 0 – 3 Wales Women
Wales kept alive their hopes of a women’s World Cup play-off spot when Natasha Harding marked her 100th international appearance with a goal in a comfortable 3-0 away win over Kazakhstan.
With France in charge of Group I, Wales compete with Slovenia and Greece for second place.
Gemma Grainger’s side galloped to victory in Nur-Sultan when Kayleigh Green opened the scoring before Harding struck and Jess Fishlock secured the win after the break.
Harding held back her tears during the national anthem as she reached her century of appearances.
It took Wales just before the half-hour line to break the deadlock, a low strike from Green put the visitors on the road.
Sophie Ingle then hit the crossbar before Harding toasted for his landmark cap and doubled the lead with a close-range finish from Ceri Holland’s cross.
Fishlock hit the score with a well-taken third, opened up his body and scored from 12 yards to leave Wales with the prospect of qualifying for his first World Cup.
With a playoff spot as the most likely route, Wales face a trip to Greece and a home game against Slovenia in September, knowing that two wins would still have them in the hunt for a place in the 2023 final in Australia and New Zealand.
The Republic of Ireland denied a famous victory in Sweden
Kosovo’s Asllani’s strike 11 minutes later, Ireland denied a famous victory in Sweden when the team settled for a 1-1 draw in their World Cup qualifiers for women.
Sweden, second in FIFA’s world rankings, has made its mark in Group A, scored 26 goals and only conceded once during its previous six matches, but they ended up at half time in Gothenburg.
Katie McCabe took the lead 44 minutes into the game, making the score 0 – 1 after some elegant movement down the middle.
Sweden had 78 percent ball possession and 20 shots on goal – even though there were only four on goal – and it was even when Real Madrid’s Asllani hit a pass from Olivia Schough before hitting the Republic’s goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.
Sweden’s 100% record in the group therefore ended and their lead was reduced to nine points after Finland defeated Georgia 6-0 to jump over the Republic to second place.