Despite a couple of rocky sendoff matches, the USWNT has totally steamrolled the competition in the Olympic group stage and is off to the knock-out rounds of the tournament. For the first time since 2012, the USWNT went undefeated in the group stage. Emma Hayes’ squad played three convincing games against Zambia, Germany, and Australia, and is set to face Japan next.
The Matches
The USWNT kicked off the group stage against Zambia on July 25. Trinity Rodman started the scoring early, finding the back of the net in the 17th minute. Two goals from Mal Swanson in the 24th and 25th minutes gave the US a 3-0 lead over Zambia, which they held onto for the rest of the match.
Swanson scored the goals just 66 seconds apart, which is a new record for the fastest two goals scored in a tournament by a USWNT player. Carli Lloyd previously held that title. Despite an early red card to Pauline Zulu, which left Zambia with 10 players for most of the match, the US did not score any other goals. Final score: 3-0.
Still thinking about how good Mal Swanson is. She scored TWO goals in 66 SECONDS ‼️
— The Women's Game (@WomensGameMIB) July 25, 2024
Got a feeling that these won’t be her only goals of the tournament 😏
🎥 @NBCOlympics pic.twitter.com/wEC54q9K4k
Next, the USWNT faced Germany in a tournament-defining match, as the winner of the match would likely win the group. Sophia Smith started the scoring off in the 10th minute, and then Giulia Gwinn evened the score with a goal in the 22nd minute. Swanson scored her third goal of the tournament just four minutes later, to give the US the lead again. Smith scored her second of the match right before halftime. After a fairly quiet second half, Lynn Williams scored her first goal of the tournament in the 89th minute. Final score: 4-1.
The last group stage match was against Australia, who faced the USWNT in the bronze medal match in 2021. Although they’re missing Sam Kerr this tournament, Australia still played a tight match against the US. The first half seemed like it would be scoreless until Rodman scored her second of the tournament in the 43rd minute.
Korbin Albert scored her first of the tournament in the 77th minute, which ended up being the game-winning goal. Alanna Kennedy‘s late goal in the 90+1st minute made things interesting, and she nearly scored again to equalize. Ultimately, the US stayed strong and did not concede another goal. Final score: 2-1.
Next Match
The USWNT will face Japan in the quarterfinal stage. Japan finished second in group A, beating Brazil 2-1 and Nigeria 3-1, but losing 2-1 to Spain. The two teams recently met in the SheBelieves Cup, where the US won 2-1.
We can anticipate that Hayes will not make many changes to the starting lineup, as she kept the lineups the exact same for all three group stage matches (other than bringing on Emily Sonnett for Tierna Davidson, who is out due to injury). She will also have to make a change in the midfield to account for Sam Coffey facing a one-game suspension for yellow card accrual. The Smith-Swanson-Rodman forward line, which scored 7 out of 9 group stage goals, will likely start vs. Japan.
The US vs Japan match will begin at 9:00 am ET on Saturday. Fans can watch the match on Peacock. Follow me on Twitter and check out Beyond Women’s Sports for more sporting news.
