Highs, lows and surprises from the World Cup group stage

Some of these qualified teams may come as a surprise to casual American viewers: while we were all watching the USWNT underperform through our fingers, plenty of shocks were unfolding across the rest of the tournament. Here are some of the big storylines you may have missed from the first round of the 2023 Women's World Cup.

Nigeria's on fire...and it made Canada toast. Spare a thought for the Canucks, who entered this tournament as favorites only to crash out in the first round. It's a shocking state of affairs for a team that won the Olympic Gold Medal just a few short years ago, and a depressing end to star forward Christine Sinclair's World Cup Career. But Nigeria! Led by American coach Randy Waldrum, the team known as the Super Falcons bossed its way through a wildly tricky group by drawing with Canada and Ireland and beating the stuffing out of hosts Australia. This Nigeria side is tight, compact and unafraid of bringing the fight directly to its opponents. England better not underestimate it.

Jamaica's GoFundMe sparked something incredible. Jamaica's Reggae Girlz, victims of an uninterested soccer federation that wouldn't pay for its World Cup travel, launched a pre-tournament GoFundMe to raise money for airfare to Oceania. The athletes promised donors they'd give the World Cup their all once they got there. Turns out 'giving the World Cup their all' meant going toe-to-toe with favorites Brazil and coming out on top in the end. The Jamaican Soccer Federation should be kicking itself right now--in the face of its disdain, the Reggae Girlz turned out the greatest World Cup performance Jamaica has ever seen.

Germany's loss is Morocco's history-making gain. Germany, long considered favorites, crashed out in the first round just like its men did in 2022. And who was there to take its place? Morocco...after losing 6-0 to Germany in the opening match. Morocco bounced back from that defeat while Germany got complacent, and the North African country clinched a knockout round spot on the back of sure-footed victories over South Korea and Colombia.

Japan is the real deal. No team has looked better, hungrier or more cohesive than Japan. It quietly racked up three wins from three, including a 5-0 victory over favorites Spain, on its way to the knockout rounds. While the USWNT (somehow) remains the bookies' favorite to win it all, Japan has emerged as the clear challenger...and the two teams will face each other in the quarterfinals if they win their Round of 16 games.