Stina Blackstenius (right) of Sweden is challenged by Marina Hegering of Germany on Saturday in Rennes, France. Photo: VCG

 

Stina Blackstenius scored the winner as Sweden came from behind to stun old rivals Germany on Saturday and set up a women's World Cup semifinal against the Netherlands, who reached the last four for the first time.

Sweden had not beaten Germany at a major women's tournament since the 1995 World Cup, failing to win any of their subsequent meetings at World Cups, European Championships and Olympics in almost a quarter of a century.

That run included defeats in the 2003 World Cup final and the gold medal match at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but they gained revenge in Rennes, coming from behind to win their quarterfinal 2-1.

Lina Magull had given Germany a 16th-minute lead with a fine finish from a Sara Daebritz assist, but the excellent Sofia Jakobsson equalized soon after on a hot evening in Brittany.

The winner arrived three minutes after halftime, with Blackstenius prodding home the rebound after Almuth Schult had saved a Fridolina Rolfo header.

Despite bringing on star player Dszenifer Marozsan, who had missed the previous three games with a broken toe, Germany remained blunt as the clock ticked down.

Blackstenius had scored Sweden's winner against Canada in the last round and also netted against the Germans in that Olympic final defeat in 2016.

"We have talked about the possibilities here for us to go far and win every game," said a bullish Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson.

"There's not a single mitochondria in us that's content. We're going to go for it."

The Germans will now be deprived of the chance to defend their Olympic title, with defeat here meaning they fail to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games. Sweden will join the Netherlands and Great Britain - who have qualified thanks to England's World Cup run - at the Games instead.

"We are now qualified for the Olympics. That is one thing that has been hanging over our heads for a while," said Gerhardsson.

Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg told ARD, "The defeat hurts, but we are in a process. We will grow from this experience."

Sweden go on to a semifinal encounter with the Dutch in Lyon on Wednesday, and they will have a score to settle there too, having lost to the Netherlands at Euro 2017.

The Oranje went on to win that tournament and have coped well in France with their status as reigning European champions. On Saturday they sank Italy 2-0 in Valenciennes as headed goals from Vivianne Miedema and Stefanie van der Gragt in the second half taking them through to their first ever World Cup semifinal in just their second appearance at the tournament.