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 at risk of early World Cup exit

Sam Kerr’s status remains in doubt after Australia’s first two group-stage matches as she continues to nurse a calf injury. And with Mary Fowler and Kyah Simon also out of Thursday’s game against Nigeria, the African squad took full advantage in a 3-2 win.

While Emily van Egmond struck first to give Australia a 1-0 lead, Uchenna Kanu netted an equalizer five minutes later. From there, it was all Nigeria, with Osinachi Ohale and Asisat Oshoala also getting on the scoresheet. The end result? An impressive victory for Nigeria, and a precarious position for Australia heading into its final group-stage match.

With the win, Nigeria holds the top spot in Group B, followed by Canada. Both teams have four points, while Australia sits in third with three.

So the Matildas face a must-win match against Canada at 6 a.m. ET Monday if they want to advance to the knockout stage. The winner of that match would clinch a spot in the round of 16. If Canada loses, it would need Ireland to beat Nigeria in order to advance; if Australia loses, the Matildas are eliminated.

If Canada and Australia tie, then Canada would advance to the knockout rounds and Australia would need a Nigeria loss and a favorable tiebreaker in order to advance. Realistically, that sets up Monday’s clash as win or go home for the World Cup co-hosts.

Today’s top highlight: Lindsey Horan and Danielle van de Donk make nice

After a testy exchange during the U.S. women’s national team’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, Lindsey Horan and her Lyon teammate (but Netherlands foe) Danielle van de Donk made nice in the mixed media area.

The two nearly got into it during the match after van de Donk delivered a hard hit to Horan, after which the USWNT midfielder cursed her club teammate, calling her a “f—ing b—-.” Almost immediately afterward, Horan scored the game-tying goal, following Julie Ertz’s instruction to score and “shut everyone up.”

“I don’t think you ever want to get me mad because I don’t react in a good way,” Horan said. “Usually, I just go and I want something more. I want to win more. I want to score more. I want to do more for my team.”

“Between me and Lindsey, nothing happened,” van de Donk told reporters. “Someone got very angry at me!”

Even before the match, Horan expected her teammate to get chippy. But she didn’t mind it.

“You get trash talk every single day from Dan van de Donk,” she said. “And once we play them, you’ll see it. She’ll be coming for my ankles like every single play, so watch out for that. That will be fun.”

Today’s results:

  • USWNT 1, Netherlands 1
  • Nigeria 3, Australia 2
  • Portugal 2, Vietnam 0

More World Cup news to know:

  • USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski defended his decision to use just one substitute in the 1-1 draw against the Netherlands. “I thought we had control of the game and we were knocking on the door of scoring a goal,” he said. “Our players played well. We were around the goal the whole time, and I just didn’t want to disrupt the rhythm.”
  • England manager Sarina Wiegman spoke Wednesday about her team’s “superpower” label ahead of their clash with Denmark. Denmark manager Lars Sondergaard gave that tag to England and called his own side “underdogs” ahead of the match, set for 4:30 a.m. ET Friday. When asked about the comments, Wiegman said she agreed with the label: “Yes, I agree with that, but of course he wants to put us in that position too. But we are always the team to beat.”
  • Colombia’s Linda Caicedo is reportedly “fine” after a scare during training, in which she was seen grabbing her chest and breathing deeply before lying down on the ground. The star played a key role in Colombia’s first group-stage win over South Korea, and the team next faces Germany at 5:30 a.m. ET Sunday.

San Diego Wave FC has acquired the rights to Taylor Kornieck and Emily van Egmond from the Orlando Pride, the two clubs announced Tuesday. In exchange, the Pride receive $125,000 in allocation money and a second round pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

Should conditions be met, the Pride have the ability to earn additional allocation money.

“We would like to thank Taylor and Emily for their invaluable time with the Club and wish them luck as they embark on a new opportunity that aligns with their personal goals and circumstances,” Orlando Pride General Manager Ian Fleming said. “Our recruitment processes for 2022 and beyond continue and the assets we’ve acquired will allow us additional flexibility in building a squad capable of sustained success in our league.”

The addition of the two midfielders is a big get for the Wave, who have been shaping their team with a defensive mindset. USWNT defender Abby Dahlkemper was the first player to sign with the expansion club and with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2022 NWSL Draft, they chose defender Naomi Girma.

Kornieck was selected third overall by the Pride in the 2020 NWSL Draft. In 2021, she made 26 appearances, tallying two goals and three assists.

A member of the Pride from 2018-2020, van Egmond re-signed with the Pride late in 2021. Prior to that she had been on loan with Melbourne City and West Ham United, tallying 10 goals through 34 appearances.

“The acquisition of both Emily and Taylor are fantastic additions to help bolster our midfield area and give us the ability to compete as a brand new team in this extremely competitive league” said Wave FC head coach Casey Stoney. “Emily has vast experience in different leagues across the world and is a centurion at international level which is a great achievement and something that will really add to our squad. Taylor has already proved herself at NWSL level with some match winning performances and has a bright future ahead of her. I am very much looking forward to working with them both.”

NWSL preseason begins Feb. 1.