2018 Algarve Cup

The 2018 Algarve Cup was the 25th edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place from 28 February to 7 March 2018.^[1]

2018 Algarve Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Portugal
Dates	28 February – 7 March
Teams	12 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)	5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Netherlands  Sweden (Final cancelled)
Third place	Portugal
Fourth place	Australia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	22
Goals scored	61 (2.77 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Christine Sinclair Lieke Martens Fridolina Rolfö (3 goals)
Best player(s)	Cláudia Neto
Fair play award	Japan
← 2017 2019 →

The final was cancelled after torrential rain flooded the pitch: the Netherlands and Sweden were declared joint winners of the Algarve Cup.^[2]

Format

The twelve invited teams were split into three groups to play a round-robin tournament.

Points awarded in the group stage followed the standard formula of three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. In the case of two teams being tied on the same number of points in a group, their head-to-head result determine the higher place.

Teams

Team	FIFA Rankings[3] (December 2017)
Australia	4
Canada	5
Netherlands	7
Japan	9
Sweden	10
Denmark	12
Norway	14
South Korea	14
China	16
Iceland	20
Russia	25
Portugal	38

Venues

• Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira
• Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal
• Estádio Algarve
• Lagos Municipal Stadium, Lagos
• VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António

Squads

Main article: 2018 Algarve Cup squads

Group stage

The groups were announced on 6 December 2017, and re-organised on 18 December,^[4] due to South Korea being drawn against Australia in the Asian Cup finals the following month.

All times are local (UTC±0).

Tie-breaking criteria

For the group stage of this tournament, where two or more teams in a group tied on an equal number of points, the finishing positions were determined by the following tie-breaking criteria in the following order:

1. number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question
2. goal difference in all the group matches
3. number of goals scored in all the group matches
4. fair-play ranking in all the group matches
5. FIFA ranking

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Australia	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7
2	Portugal (H)	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7
3	Norway	3	1	0	2	5	6	−1	3
4	China	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0

Source: FPF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

Portugal	2–1	China
C. Mendes 60' C. Costa 85'	Report	Xu Yanlu 57'

28 February 2018

15:00

Lagos Municipal Stadium, Lagos

Referee: Marianela Araya (Costa Rica)

Australia	4–3	Norway
Polkinghorne 13' Logarzo 24' Kerr 31' Crummer 90+5'	Report	Thorsnes 11', 61' (pen.) Ultand 52'

28 February 2018

18:30

Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira

Referee: Monika Mularczyk (Poland)

---

Portugal	0–0	Australia
	Report

2 March 2018

15:00

Estádio Algarve

Referee: Jonesia Kabakama (Tanzania)

China	0–2	Norway
	Report	Engen 25' Mjelde 88'

2 March 2018

15:00

VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António

Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva (United States)

---

Portugal	2–0	Norway
Neto 36' Di. Silva 49'	Report

5 March 2018

19:00

Estádio Algarve

Referee: Monika Mularczyk (Poland)

Australia	2–0	China
Logarzo 51' Kerr 90+1'	Report

5 March 2018

19:00

Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira

Referee: Laura Fortunato (Argentina)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Sweden	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5	7
2	Canada	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
3	South Korea	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	4
4	Russia	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0

Source: FPF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

South Korea	3–1	Russia
Lee Min-a 45' Han Chae-rin 52' Jung Seol-bin 77'	Report	Belomyttseva 17'

28 February 2018

15:00

Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira

Referee: Laura Fortunato (Argentina)

Canada	1–3	Sweden
Beckie 46'	Report	Larsson 43' Rolfö 51' Blackstenius 87'

28 February 2018

19:00

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

Referee: Ledya Tafesse (Ethiopia)

---

Russia	0–1	Canada
	Report	Sinclair 25' (pen.)

2 March 2018

19:00

Estádio Algarve

Referee: Sandra Braz Bastos (Portugal)

Sweden	1–1	South Korea
Blackstenius 20'	Report	Lee Min-a 33'

2 March 2018

19:00

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

Referee: Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

---

Sweden	3–0	Russia
Angeldal 31' Rolfö 50', 61'	Report

5 March 2018

15:00

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

Referee: Marianela Araya (Costa Rica)

South Korea	0–3	Canada
	Report	Sinclair 24', 79' Fleming 73'

5 March 2018

15:00

Lagos Municipal Stadium, Lagos

Referee: María Carvajal (Chile)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Netherlands	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5	7
2	Japan	3	2	0	1	6	7	−1	6
3	Iceland	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2
4	Denmark	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1

Source: FPF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Japan	2–6	Netherlands
Nakajima 38' Iwabuchi 82'	Report	Martens 4', 52' Beerensteyn 8' Worm 31' Van de Sanden 35' Van der Gragt 44'

28 February 2018

15:40

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

Referee: Anastasia Pustovoitova (Russia)

Denmark	0–0	Iceland
	Report

28 February 2018

18:30

Lagos Municipal Stadium, Lagos

Referee: Jeong Oh-hyeon (South Korea)

---

Japan	2–1	Iceland
Sugasawa 15' Utsugi 85'	Report	Eiríksdóttir 74'

2 March 2018

15:25

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

Referee: María Carvajal (Chile)

Denmark	2–3	Netherlands
Harder 19' Thøgersen 34'	Report	Van den Goorbergh 31' Martens 78' Boye Sørensen 90+4' (o.g.)

2 March 2018

18:30

VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António

Referee: Casey Reibelt (Australia)

---

Japan	2–0	Denmark
Hasegawa 82' Iwabuchi 90+3' (pen.)	Report

5 March 2018

15:40

Estádio Algarve

Referee: Ledya Tafesse (Ethiopia)

Iceland	0–0	Netherlands
	Report

5 March 2018

15:40

Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira

Referee: Jeong Oh-hyeon (South Korea)

Ranking of teams for placement matches

The ranking of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th placed teams in each group to determine the placement matches:

• 1st placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C	Netherlands	3	2	1	0	9	4	+5	7	Final
2	B	Sweden	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5	7
3	A	Australia	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3	7	Third-place match

Source: FPF

• 2nd placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	A	Portugal	3	2	1	0	4	1	+3	7	Third-place match
2	B	Canada	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6	Fifth-place match
3	C	Japan	3	2	0	1	6	7	−1	6

Source: FPF

• 3rd placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	B	South Korea	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1	4	Seventh-place match
2	A	Norway	3	1	0	2	5	6	−1	3
3	C	Iceland	3	0	2	1	1	2	−1	2	Ninth-place match

Source: FPF

• 4th placed teams

Pos	Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	C	Denmark	3	0	1	2	2	5	−3	1	Ninth-place match
2	A	China	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0	Eleventh-place match
3	B	Russia	3	0	0	3	1	7	−6	0

Source: FPF

Placement matches

Eleventh place game

China	2–1	Russia
Liu Shanshan 53' Song Duan 78'	Report	Shishkina 40'

7 March 2018

14:00

VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António

Referee: Jonesia Kabakama (Tanzania)

Ninth place game

Iceland	1–1	Denmark
Eiríksdóttir 70'	Report	Troelsgaard Nielsen 62'
Penalties
Sigurðardóttir Hönnudóttir Kristjánsdóttir Albertsdóttir Hauksdóttir	5–4	Christiansen Troelsgaard Nielsen Holmgaard Sørensen Arnth

7 March 2018

18:30

VRS António Sports Complex, Vila Real de Santo António

Referee: Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda)

Seventh place game

South Korea	0–0	Norway
	Report

7 March 2018

18:30

Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira

Referee: Sandra Braz Bastos (Portugal)

• The match was abandoned at half-time with the score 0–0 due to torrential rain that flooded the pitch: both teams were awarded joint seventh place.^[5]

Fifth place game

Canada	2–0	Japan
Beckie 20' Lawrence 50'	Report

7 March 2018

14:55

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

Referee: Casey Reibelt (Australia)

Third place game

Australia	1–2	Portugal
Cooper 45+3'	Report	Gomes 38' Malho 56'

7 March 2018

15:00

Albufeira Municipal Stadium, Albufeira

Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva (United States)

Final

Netherlands	Cancelled	Sweden
	Report

7 March 2018

18:30

Bela Vista Municipal Stadium, Parchal

The final was cancelled after torrential rain flooded the pitch: the Netherlands and Sweden were declared joint winners of the Algarve Cup.^[6][7]

Final standings

Rank	Team
	Netherlands
	Sweden
	Portugal
4	Australia
5	Canada
6	Japan
7	South Korea
	Norway
9	Iceland
10	Denmark
11	China
12	Russia

Awards

Top Goalscorer[8]	Player of the Tournament	Fair play award
Christine Sinclair Lieke Martens Fridolina Rolfö	Cláudia Neto	Japan

Goalscorers

3 goals

• Christine Sinclair
• Lieke Martens
• Fridolina Rolfö

2 goals

• Chloe Logarzo
• Sam Kerr
• Janine Beckie
• Hlín Eiríksdóttir
• Mana Iwabuchi
• Elise Thorsnes
• Lee Min-a
• Stina Blackstenius

1 goal

• Caitlin Cooper
• Larissa Crummer
• Clare Polkinghorne
• Ashley Lawrence
• Jessie Fleming
• Liu Shanshan
• Song Duan
• Xu Yanlu
• Pernille Harder
• Frederikke Thøgersen
• Sanne Troelsgaard Nielsen
• Yui Hasegawa
• Emi Nakajima
• Yuika Sugasawa
• Rumi Utsugi
• Lineth Beerensteyn
• Shanice van de Sanden
• Cheyenne van den Goorbergh
• Stefanie van der Gragt
• Siri Worm
• Ingrid Engen
• Maren Mjelde
• Lisa-Marie Utland
• Carole Costa
• Nádia Gomes
• Vanessa Malho
• Carolina Mendes
• Cláudia Neto
• Diana Silva
• Anna Belomyttseva
• Sofia Shishkina
• Han Chae-rin
• Jung Seol-bin
• Filippa Angeldal
• Mimmi Larsson

Own goal

• Simone Boye Sørensen (playing against the Netherlands)