Biggest winners and losers from wild group stage at Women’s World Cup

Who had 40th-ranked Nigeria beating Women’s World Cup co-host Australia or Japan destroying Spain on the counterattack? How about the United States’ unexpected brush with elimination or perennial powers Brazil and Germany heading home early in shocking fashion? The group stage in Australia and New Zealand served up the odd blowout but even more surprises. As we head into the knockout round, here are the biggest winners and losers from the opening weeks of the tournament.

Winner: The chasing pack

Alex Grimm – FIFA / FIFA / Getty

With 32 teams participating in the Women’s World Cup – up from the 24 that contested each of the past two tournaments – the overwhelming fear was that the top-ranked teams would gorge on all the bottom feeders.

Those concerns were put to bed emphatically in the group stage.

There have been far more upsets than anyone could’ve imagined, starting with New Zealand’s

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