Sweden strike late to beat Chile after World Cup rain delay

Sweden scored two late goals to beat Chile 2-0 on Tuesday after a long hold-up in their women’s World Cup match in Rennes because of a violent storm which led to conditions deteriorating.

Torrential rain had been falling for around a quarter of an hour amid a threat of thunderstorms when the Mexican referee, Lucila Venegas, decided to take the players off in the 72nd minute with the score still 0-0.

Play eventually resumed following a break of around 40 minutes, and Kosovare Asllani fired into the roof of the net to give Sweden the lead in the 83rd minute.

Substitute Madelen Janogy then ran through and smashed in the second goal in injury time to wrap up the win for the Swedes, the 2003 World Cup runners-up and beaten Olympic finalists in 2016.

The teams are in Group F along with holders the United States and Thailand, who meet later in Reims.