Rennes, June 30: Sweden came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 and advance to the semifinals of the 2019 edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup. The Swedes' first victory over the Germans in 24 years sets up a semifinal clash with the Netherlands, who defeated Italy earlier on Saturday, reports Efe news.

Germany, who came into the contest at Roazhon Park in Rennes having yet to concede a goal in this year's World Cup, took the lead in the 16th minute courtesy a strike by midfielder Lina Magull, with help from a magnificent pass by Sara Dabritz. But Sweden stuck to their plan -- lofting deep balls to their speedy forward trio of Jakobsson, Blackstenius and Rolfo. Netherlands Beat Italy by 2-0 to Reach FIFA Women's World Cup 2019 Semis for 1st Time.

And the approach bore fruit in the 22nd minute, when Sofia Jakobsson took a long pass from Linda Sembrant and put it past German goalkeeper Almuth Schult.

The goal seemed to leave the Germans demoralized and coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg sought to re-energize the squad by starting the second half with a change -- deploying midfielder Dzsenifer Marozsan for the first time since she broke her toe in the opener against China.

Instead of regaining the lead, Germany found themselves trailing 2-1 in the 48th minute as Stina Blackstenius knocked in the rebound after Schult made the initial stop against Fridolina Rolfo. The German squad appeared at a loss to respond and barely troubled Swedish keeper Hedvig Lindahl for the rest of the match.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 30, 2019 01:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).