| First Semifinal - Stade de Lyon - Lyon | Second Semifinal - Stade de Lyon - Lyon | |||
| ENG - England (The Lionesses) The Football Association (The FA) [UEFA] | USA - United States (The Stars & Stripes U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) [Concacaf] | NED - Netherlands (Orajeleeuwinnen) Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KVNB) [UEFA] | SWE - Sweden (Blågult) Svenska Fotbollförbundet (SvFF) [UEFA] | |
| #3 | D1 | Winner | 5-0-0 2nd Semifinal ('15) D1: Beat Scotland 2-1 D3: Beat Argentina 1-0 D5: Beat Japan 2-0 R16: Beat Cameroon 3-0 QF: Beat Norway 3-0 | #1 | F1 | Winner | 5-0-0 8th Semifinal ('91, '95, '99, '03, '07, '11, '15) F1: Beat Thailand 13-0 F3: Beat Chile 3-0 F5: Beat Sweden 2-0 R16: Beat Spain 2-1 QF: Beat France 2-1 | #8 | E4 | Winner | 5-0-01st Semifinal E2: Beat New Zealand 1-0 E4: Beat Cameroon 3-1 E6: Beat Canada 2-1 R16: Beat Japan 2-1 QF: Beat Italy 2-0 | #9 | F4 | Runner-Up | 4-1-04th Semifinal ('91, '03, '11) F2: Beat Chile 2-0 F4: Beat Thailand 5-1 F6: Lost to USA 2-0 R16: Beat Canada 1-0 QF: Beat Germany 2-1 | |
Semifinals begin Tuesday; A women of Star Wars-themed look at the tourney
EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) -- As I lament the end of the Skywalker saga in Star Wars but satisfied to have witnessed this great space fantasy, I start to wonder if this is also the end of the era of USA dominance in women's soccer. Not that they don't win the tourney, but that the number of teams that can beat the USA will vastly expand more than Germany, Sweden, England, and France. No Japan? JPN technically tied the USA in the WWC11 Final and only won in the penalty shootout and has only beaten the USA once, in 2012. The last time the USA lost in a meaningful match not named those four teams? November 5, 2010 vMEX in a WWC11 qualifying match. That's more than 8 1/2 years ago. In any friendly? July 27, 2017 vAUS and AUS is ranked #6 in the world. Before that? Dec 16, 2015 vCHN (#16). Ridiculous success. But with a lot more countries finally trying to develop women's soccer properly, the National Women's Soccer League still struggling, and the USA transitioning from the veterans to the newcomers (the last 9 USA goals were scored by vets Rapinoe (4), Lloyd (2), and Heath (but officially an own goal) with only Ertz and Horan appearing on the scoresheet) this could be the last year where we expect the USA to make the semifinals (though that FRA match was admittedly a major roadblock) without a sweat.
Posts
