Just Women’s Sports is here with your daily World Cup Digest, breaking down all of the biggest storylines from each day of action in Australia and New Zealand.

Today’s top World Cup news: Australia advances to knockout stage with emphatic win

Australia entered its final group-stage match against Canada on the brink of elimination. But even before halftime, the Matildas silenced any doubts about their chances to advance in their home World Cup en route to an emphatic 4-0 win.

Hayley Raso had a brace before the half to put her team up 2-0. A third would-be goal for Australia was ruled offside on a VAR review. And the goals didn’t stop coming after the half, with Mary Fowler and Stephanie Catley both adding their names to the scoresheet.

While Australia held possession for just 38% of the match, the lopsided win put the World Cup co-hosts through to the knockout stage. Canada was eliminated with the loss, while Nigeria will advance as the runner-up from Group B.

Australia star Sam Kerr, who missed the first two matches with a calf injury, was available but did not feature in the victory. She will have another week to get rested and ready for the Round of 16, which kicks off Saturday.

Today’s top highlight: Christine Sinclair leaves World Cup pitch ‘one last time’

Canada captain Christine Sinclair paused to pick blades of grass as she exited the pitch after the loss to Australia, which brought to an end her sixth career World Cup appearance.

“It’s the end of the World Cup and I’m probably not going to play in another one,” the 40-year-old told TSN’s Claire Hanna. “I’m leaving the pitch one last time in a World Cup.”

Sinclair reflected on her team and their journey together while speaking with TSN after the match.

“We go through everything together,” she said. “Winning and losing, it’s all part of the game. It’s why we love this sport. We’ve always said we’re a family, and we do it together. Whether we win an Olympic gold medal or lose in the group stage of a World Cup, we do it together.”

An emotional Christine Sinclair speaks with @clahanna following Canada's exit from the Women's World Cup. #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/C0WWZZMIrE

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 31, 2023

Today’s results:

• Japan 4, Spain 0
• Zambia 3, Costa Rica 1
• Republic of Ireland 0, Nigeria 0
• Australia 4, Canada 0

More World Cup news to know:

• Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí didn’t mince words after the 4-0 loss to Japan. “[The team is] p—-d off, I am very p—-d off,” she said. “We have to be able to move forward however possible; you have to ride with the punches in football. Today was not our best game and we know we have to improve a lot of things if we want to continue in the tournament.”
• Despite holding the lowest FIFA ranking in Group B at No. 40, Nigeria has advanced to the Round of 16 thanks to a dream group stage, which ended in a scoreless draw with Ireland. The Super Falcons likely will play England in the Round of 16.
• Germany needs to play “smarter” after a 2-1 group stage loss to Colombia, according to coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. “I think you have to play deep then, I don’t think that we should have acted like this. And that’s where we need to learn our lessons, we needed to focus on ending the game 1-1 but I think my team rather tried to win 2-1,” she said. “We need to be smarter than that, we need to think of the result. Because of our goal difference, with a draw we would have still been first [in the group] which would have been good for us mentally.”

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, Sports Are Fun! talks all things NWSL with Gotham FC goalkeeper — and O'Hara's fellow Stanford alum — Ryan Campbell.

"We're five games in at this point and now I feel like things are starting to take shape — we can talk about them," O'Hara opens, referencing the start to the 2025 NWSL season. "I'm excited... the settling's happened, now we can get into season."

"So we're going to talk about what happened this weekend," she continues. "First on the list: Gotham FC. Thankfully we have our very own Gotham FC player in the house."

"I feel like what you're saying is like totally correct — the first three games, I think we scored not very much — a bit of a drought," says Campbell. "But, I mean, I practice with these girls every day. I know Ella Stevens can hit it upper-90, I know Esther's chipping me at practice. I know we have scoring power."

"We all had the sentiment and didn't really get discouraged and I don't think the staff was discouraged at all," she adds. "The resounding sentiment was, 'The rain's going to fall, like it's going to drop for us.' And I think you saw that against Angel City."

In addition to this weekend's NWSL action, Sports Are Fun! also tackles the WNBA Draft's viewership, the NCAA Gymnastics Championship, and so much more.

'Sports Are Fun!' reflects on former USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski

Then, Sports Are Fun turned to coaching. The headline? Angel City bringing on new manager Alexander Straus from Germany's Bayern Munich.

What makes a good coach? What do players look for in a coach? O'Hara knows one thing — playing under USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski wasn't exactly a learning experience.

"Hollywood's got a new hitman you guys," Campbell quips about Straus. "He has piercing blue eyes. They rival Leo DiCaprio."

"But can he coach a soccer team to a championship?" asks O'Hara.

"I've always wondered this," says BJ. "You played at the college level. You play now professionally, you played for the national team — how are you listening to a coach?"

"I think a good coach is going to go in and take a player as experienced as Christen Press, Sydney Leroux, and say, 'This is what I see. This is what I think you can bring to the team. This is how I'm going to utilize you in the system that I want to play,'" O'Hara answers.

"What is funny is — this is going to sound bad. I feel like I shouldn't say this. I don't feel like I learned anything new from Vlatko," she says, subsequently referencing the former USWNT coach. "And, actually, post-having him as a coach, I was like, 'Wow, is that on me? Did I stop learning or did he not coach me?"

"I had conversations with other other players about it. They were like, 'No, no, no, that was on him.' Because I feel like I was always open. I was like, 'I want to be coached, tell me how I can.' Because as a player, yes, you become the type of player you are, but you're never perfect."

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced a plan to launch a Division II pro arm in 2026, providing a domestic stepping stone for players aspiring to top-flight leagues like the NWSL and USL Super League.

The same Cleveland ownership group that recently fell short of securing an NWSL expansion team is backing the venture, making good on their promise to bring professional women's soccer to Northeast Ohio.

The league will launch with a shortened season following the 2026 men's World Cup, before beginning its first full-fledged campaign in April 2027.

With 15 teams already confirmed, WPSL Pro intends to field clubs in an initial 16 to 20 markets.

Along with Cleveland, the inaugural WPSL Pro season will include teams in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Fargo, Houston, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, Wichita, and the Bay Area, among others. Each franchise will pay a $1 million fee to enter the league.

The WPSL has a history of fostering high-level amateur competition, currently housing over 100 clubs and boasting a roster of former players that includes USWNT icons Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. WPSL Pro, however, will become the US soccer pyramid's first-ever second-tier league.

"WPSL Pro is the bridge that's been missing — not just for players, but for the communities, investors, and brands ready to be part of the next chapter in women's sports," league co-founder Sean Jones said in a statement.

The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.

Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.

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Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.

Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.

This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.

Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.

Kenyan runner Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record at the 2025 Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 129th edition of the race in 2:17:22 — more than two and a half minutes faster than the previous record set by Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

The victory marked the 31-year-old runner's second major marathon championship following her 2022 New York City Marathon win.

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After finishing second in the 2024 Boston Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, Lokedi avenged her runner-up status by overtaking the back-to-back defending champion in the final kilometer of Monday’s race.

"I'm always second to her and today I was like, 'There’s no way,'" Lokedi said of her rivalry with Obiri. "I just have to put it out there and fight 'til the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad."

All of this year’s top three finishers broke through the course record pace, with Obiri and Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw joining Lokedi both at the finish line and in the Boston Marathon's record book.

Along with her $150,000 winner's check, Lokedi will pocket an additional $50,000 for claiming the fastest women's time in Boston Marathon history.