The USWNT beat Mexico this past Friday night in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament to secure a spot in this summer’s Olympics. They followed up that performance by dominating rival Canada in the region’s championship game yesterday evening. The USA will be a part of the Tokyo 2020 Women’s Soccer Tournament this summer! Here’s a recap of those elimination games.
Semifinal Match vs Mexico:
The U.S. was perfect in the group stage, winning their three matches in style. They scored 18 goals and did not concede any. They brought that same fire to their semifinal match against Mexico.
Mexico were the runners up of Group B, they only lost to Group winners Canada. They were looking to shock the world by beating the USA to claim a spot at the Summer Olympics. This would also mean knocking the USWNT out of that competition as well, which would have been an added bonus if Mexico was able to win. However, they did not win.
The USA opened the match strong as Megan Rapinoe found Rose Lavelle who scored in the 5th minute of the match. Not even 10 minutes later the U.S. doubled the lead as Rapinoe was able to send in a corner that was finished by Samantha Mewis. They took this lead into the half and extended it in the second.
Mewis smashed home a low driving free-kick in the 67th minute to make it 3-0. Then, the USA brought on Christen Press who scored the final nail in Mexico’s coffin in the 73rd minute. The USWNT won 4-0 and booked their spot in Tokyo 2020:
Championship Match vs Canada:
The USA bested Mexico and qualified for the Summer Olympics, but still had one match to play in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament. They took on Canada for the title of CONCACAF Champions once again!
Canada went unbeaten in Group B play. They scored 22 goals and conceded none, which bested the USA’s mark in the group stage. Canada took on Costa Rica in the must-win match. It was a tight contest, but the Canadian’s were able to find a breakthrough in the second match and win the game. This lead to the contest we all wanted to see, USA vs Canada.
The match was back and forth the entire first half, as both teams tried to impose their will on the other. There were no goals scored in the first half leading to a second-half that would be for the Championship. That’s when the USWNT woke up.
In the 60th minute, Lynn Williams was able to dispossess Canada in the final third of the field and then place a shot in the upper right corner of the net. The U.S. had the lead and then never looked back. Williams found Lindsey Horan who doubled the lead in the 72nd minute. Then sub, Megan Rapinoe was able to net a third in the 87th minute.
The USA won the championship in the last 30 minutes of the game and won their 5th CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship in a row. This is an amazing stat, but it’s even more amazing to see that the USA has not been scored on in this qualifying tournament since 2008! The dominance from the USWNT will carry over to the Olympics this summer, but before that, they play in another competitive tournament.
The SheBeleives Cup is next!
The USA, Japan, England and Spain are the four teams who will be in the SheBeleives Cup this coming March. This tournament will be another test for the USWNT as they were not able to win the competition in 2019. We’ll see if this Olympic qualification dominance can carry over to the SheBeelives Cup next month, as well as to the Olympics in Tokyo this summer!
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