2019 Women’s World Cup: Argentina Stuns Japan for First-Ever Point

Favorites were rolling through the opening weekend of the 2019 Women’s World Cup until Italy defeated Australia, 2-1, on Sunday as +400 underdogs.

Argentina then earned a 0-0 draw against Japan which paid out +925 on the moneyline.

The point was the first in team history for Argentina at a Women’s World Cup after losing all six matches in two previous appearances (2003 and 2007). They had been outscored, 33-2, in the World Cup heading into Monday’s match against Japan, one of the tournament favorites.

A 0-0 draw is uncommon in the Women’s World Cup and the last time it happened was June 13, 2015 when USA and Sweden played to a scoreless stalemate. From then on, 39 consecutive matches had seen at least one goal scored.

Japan’s run of 29 straight matches without a 0-0 result was also snapped when they couldn’t find the net against Argentina as -1000 favorites. That streak is the longest ever for any nation at a Women’s World Cup.

There were some decent scoring chances from Japan but their true xG was just 0.5 and other statistics weren’t very lopsided either. Japan won the possession battle 61% to 39% but put only three shots on target and were responsible for all three yellow cards during the match.

Argentina brought a physical style from the very first minute and didn’t let up until they earned the historic point.

England were the -165 favorites to win Group D heading into the tournament and they now have sole possession at the top with three points. They’ll play Argentina in the next group match on Friday, June 14 at 3 p.m. ET.