Three England stars make Women’s World Cup group stage best XI
The group stages are complete down under and the orginal teams have been halved. There have been a few shocks already and some big scores with the Neterlands putting seven past Vietnam, Norway beating the Philippines 6-0 and England running out 6-1 winners against China in their final group game. We take a look at the best XI from the group stages (200+ mins played).
Rebecca Spencer - Jamaica 7.82
Jamaica have been one of the surprise packages of the Women's World Cup so far and they managed to get themselves out of the group of death finshing ahead of both Brazil and Panama.
A key contributor was Rebecca Spencer who was immense between the sticks and she is yet to be beaten at the tournament. Not only is she yet to concede but only Daniela Solera has made more saves (25) than Spencer (17). With a WhoScored.com rating of 7.82, she is well deserving of her call up into the Group Stages XI.
The first of three English players to make the cut is right-back Lucy Bronze. Bronze has started all three of England's game thus far and has played her part in a back-line that has conceded just once.
She is averaging 64 passes per game so far, with; two key passes and two crosses too. Rated at 7.47 she is the pick of the right-backs at the conclusion of the group stages.
Our first half of the centre-back pairing is Amanda Ilestedt who has put in two player of the match performances for Sweden in Group G and ends the group stage with a rating of 7.98.
Not only has Ilestedt been an important part of a defence that has conced just once, but she is also Sweden's top scorer at the tournament with three goals.
Stefanie van der Gragt - Netherlands 7.82
Next up is Stefanie van der Gragt of the Netherlands. Although she hasn't quite been as empahtic as Ilestedt in the opponents box, she has scored one goal and provided one assist. Her pass success rate comes in at 85.4% and she has already won one player of the match for her performance against Portugal in the Dutch sides opener.
Completing the defence is England's Alex Greenwood. She has been a consistent performer in England's group campaign and currently leads the standings for the most passes per game on average with a staggering 115.
Going forward she also has one assist after supplying Lauren James for her first goal against China. It's been a tournament to remember so far for Greenwood which has seen her receive a rating of 8.01.
The USA have not quite fired on all cylinders just yet, but that said Lindsey Horan has been one of the players of the tournament in the group stages. She has been a powerhouse in the air for the Americans and she ranks fourth for aerial wins with a total of 23, averaging 7.7 per game.
She has also bagged herself two goals in the first three matches and was deservedly awarded the player of the match award in the 1-1 draw with the Netherlands.
The WhoScored player of the group stage is Teresa Abelleira with a rating of 8.28. She has been sublime for Spain so far and has been the stand out player in terms of key passes across the tournament. In fact, she has recorded at least five more key passes (14) than any other player at the Women's World cup.
She also boasts one of the highest pass success rates of any player with an accuracy rate of 90.9%, a stat that can only be bettered by a handfield of players.
The Netherlands have been one of the stand out teams so far at the World Cup, and their player of the tournament so far is Jill Roord with a WhoScored.com rating of 8.26. No player has attempted more shots than Jill Roord at the Womens World Cup with a total of 15, and she has found the back of the net on three ocassions already for the Netherlands.
Caroline Graham Hansen - Norway 7.76
Norways Caroline Graham Hansen is the first in our front three. She ranks second for successful dribbles (14) so far in the competition and her goal against the Philippines, in Norway's 6-0 rout, is her only goal of the tournament so far.
Lieke Martens - Netherlands 8.24
Lieke Martens has scored one goal and provided one assist for the Oranje and is averaging a total of 4.7 shots per game so far. She finishes the group stages as the Netherlands' second highest rated player and we can expect more from her in the knockout stages.
Lauren James absolutely tore China apart in one of the stand out performances of the tournament so far with two goals and three assists to add to her goal against Denmark. She's put in two player of the match performances so far, a total that no player can beat.
The Chelsea star has completed 11 successful dribbles and contributed key passes and goes into the knockout stages as England's highest rated player, with a rating of 8.25.
