Carli Lloyd scores her second goal in the Women’s World Cup final despite the efforts of Japan’s goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori.
On July 5, 2015, the United States women’s national team wowed soccer fans around the world when they won the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy in Vancouver, Canada. With an impressive final score of 5–2 against Japan, the U.S. team became the world champions for the third time. They are the first team to win the Women’s World Cup that many times. President Barack Obama even tweeted his congratulations to the team and invited them to visit the White House. The Women’s World Cup final was the most watched soccer game ever in the United States.
Soccer is one of the world’s most popular sports. It is known as football in most places outside of the United States. The Women’s World Cup is an international soccer competition that happens every four years. Twenty-four teams representing different countries competed for about a month in the Women’s World Cup. The tournament was made up of several rounds of games. These games were played all across Canada in the cities of Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.
During the World Cup, the U.S. team won five matches and tied one before making it to the final match against Japan. Midfield player Carli Lloyd scored three goals in the first 16 minutes of the final. Japan only scored two goals in the final game. Japan’s forward Yuki Ogimi made one of these goals. Ogimi’s goal was the first one that American goalkeeper, Hope Solo, had allowed after five straight shutouts, or no-score games.
Rising to the challenge of the tournament slogan, “To a Greater Goal,” players broke many records in this year’s World Cup. Team Canada scored an all-time-high of 112 goals during the tournament. The combined seven goals of Japan and the United States were the most ever scored in a Women’s World Cup final. There were eight teams that played in the Women’s World Cup for the first time ever. These were Cote d’Ivoire, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Thailand, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Cameroon.
On July 10, Americans got to celebrate the women’s team again with a ticker-tape parade and a ceremony at City Hall in New York City. This is the only time in history a women’s team has been honored with a ticker-tape parade. In honor of the U.S team’s win in the Women’s World Cup, Sports Illustrated magazine published an issue with 25 different covers. A cover was made for each of the 23 players, as well as one for their coach, Jill Ellis, and one featuring a group shot of the whole team.
Image credit: ©Mike Hewitt – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
Related Links
- Women’s World Cup 2014: Meet Team USA
Check out the profiles of several of Team USA’s players. - FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015
Visit the official site of the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
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