U.S. Eliminated in World Cup

The United States Women’s Soccer team’s quest for a third consecutive World Cup title came to a screeching halt in the first match of the knockout round with a loss to Sweden. The match was scoreless after 120 minutes, but Sweden came away with the victory after a penalty kick shootout. The Swedes prevailed 5-4 in what is more like an NHL overtime shootout, since there were no actual penalties. The clinching score was so close to a save that video review was needed to confirm the ball had crossed the line. Sweden advances to the quarterfinals, while the U.S.—favored to win the Cup again–goes home and ponders what happened. The bottom line is the team scored a grand total of four goals in four games, three of which came in one game.

This is the ninth Women’s World Cup. In the previous eight, the United State won four times—in 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019. They won the bronze medal for third place three times—in 1995, 2003, and 2007. And in 2011, the U.S. won silver as runner up. This will be the first time the U.S. hasn’t medaled in the Women’s World Cup.

Based on this, and the results of Olympic soccer, it may be that the rest of the world is catching up to the formally dominant Americans. Of the seven Olympic tournaments that have featured Women’s soccer, the U.S. won gold in four of the first five, and won silver in the other one. In 2016, the U.S. lost in the quarterfinals on a penalty shoot out. The opponent was Sweden. The U.S returned to the podium in the 2020 Games, winning the bronze.

Whatever the U.S. does to reverse the recent decline, they don’t have a whole lot of time. The 2024 Paris Olympics begin July 24th.