MELBOURNE, Australia — The end of the U.S. women’s national team dynasty was as embarrassing as it was quick.
The two-time defending champions came to this World Cup with a chance to make history as the first team, men’s or women’s, to win three consecutive titles. Instead, they made history of a wholly different sort with their earliest exit ever at a World Cup or an Olympics.
They were humbled by Sweden once again, losing 0-0 (5-4) after a penalty shootout Sunday morning in the round of 16. That makes three major tournaments out of four – for those counting – that Sweden, the world’s No. 3 team, has gotten the better of the four-time world champions.
U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher appeared to deflect a penalty kick from Lina Hurtig, but video assistant referee showed the ball rolled back across the goal line by millimeters, giving Sweden the win on penalties after a scoreless draw in the round of 16.
Though, in this case, Sweden was more opportunistic than good.
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The USWNT played the best it has all tournament – by far – dictating the pace and tempo of the game and forcing Sweden goalkeeper Zećira Mušović to make several clutch saves. But just as they couldn’t against Vietnam and the Netherlands and Portugal, the USWNT couldn’t finish its many, many chances.
That included Lindsey Horan’s header off a corner that banged off the crossbar in the 33rd and her rocket of a volley that Mušović somehow got a hand on in the 53rd. And missed penalty kicks from Megan Rapinoe and Sophia Smith that would have put the U.S. through to the quarterfinals.
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Even with several significant injuries and an inexperienced roster, this is a disappointment of epic proportions. Think Tom Brady and the New England Patriots’ losing their perfect season in the 2007 Super Bowl. Or UConn’s 111-game winning streak ending in the 2017 Final Four.
The USWNT has been the world’s No. 1 team for the better part of the decade. They have four World Cup titles – only Brazil’s men have won more – and four Olympic gold medals. With the exception of a quarterfinal loss at the 2016 Olympics, they’ve reached the semifinals at every World Cup and Olympic tournament.
And now they’re heading home before the quarterfinals.
It’s an unfair end to the final World Cup of Megan Rapinoe, the Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner four years ago. And it will – or should – bring an end to Vlatko Andonovski’s time as the USWNT coach. He’s well-liked by his players and had the difficult task of trying to integrate the next generation amidst the injuries.
But the USWNT fell short of the gold-medal game at the Tokyo Olympics and were a shot off the post away from not getting out of the group stage here. In both tournaments, the team looked overmatched and out of sync, a collection of individual players trying to find something that worked rather than a cohesive team with a plan.
That’s not up to the USWNT’s standards. Not anywhere close.
Stunning as this collapse was, however, you could see it coming. Like when the USWNT couldn’t convert its many, many chances against the Netherlands and settled for a draw when a win would have sent them through to the knockout rounds. Or when Andonovski inexplicably made just one sub, not bringing on fresh legs when the USWNT was pushing for that goal.
Or when Mallory Swanson (knee) and Becky Sauerbrunn (foot) got hurt, costing the USWNT both their leading scorer and their center of gravity. Or when the USWNT lost three in a row last fall, their longest losing streak since 1993. Or when Catarina Macario, the wizard who was making a case as Europe’s best player, shredded her knee in the spring of 2022.
Or even going all the way back to the Tokyo Olympics, when the USWNT looked old and slow, and Andonovski looked overmatched.
The USWNT remains one of the world’s best teams. Had this tournament happened a week or two later, when Rose Lavelle was fully healthy, the Americans would still be playing. And probably playing for the title.
Had Swanson, Macario and Sam Mewis been available, the USWNT would have been steamrolling its way to another title.
But what was left of the air of invincibility that came with a decade of almost uninterrupted dominance is gone.
The world has been gaining on the USWNT over the last decade, slowly at first and then at warp speed, and the awe and fear the team used to strike is no longer there. The Americans didn’t just make an early exit, they got bossed around in the final group game by a Portugal team making its World Cup debut, and owned – again – by Sweden.
There will be more success in the USWNT’s future, but the dynasty is over.
