National Teams

The USWNT defeated Chile 3-0 on Sunday with all three goals coming in the first half. Coincidentally, that was the exact same score at halftime of the Thailand game before the U.S. added 10 more over the course of the second 45. The score could’ve certainly approached that today, but for Chile goalkeeper Christiane Endler. 

The 27-year-old, who plays for PSG, certainly appeared comfortable at the Parc des Princes while pulling off a string of stunning saves to keep the USWNT at bay in front of 45,594 appreciative spectators.

After trouncing Thailand 13-0 to begin FIFA Women’s World Cup play, the question facing the USWNT heading into Sunday’s match against Chile was both how many goals they’d score and — uh oh — how they’d celebrate those goals.

When Lionel Messi declared that Argentina “are not candidates like other times” and that this is a side “going through a process of change,” he wasn’t messing around. The only surprising thing about Argentina’s opening Copa América defeated to Colombia on Saturday night is that Messi himself spurned a glorious opportunity to put La Albiceleste ahead in the 66th minute.

Colombia took full advantage of that miss with Roger Martinez hitting a stunning game-winner in the 71st before Duvan Zapata added the insurance goal in the 86th. 

Vivianne Miedema is 22. She’s now the Netherlands’ all-time leading goal scorer.

Miedema netted a brace in a 3-1 victory over Cameroon in Group E action at the Women’s World Cup on Saturday. She now has 60 goals for the Leeuwinnen, passing Manon Melis for most all-time for the Dutch. 

More importantly, for the short term at least, the Netherlands clinched qualification to the Round of 16 by moving to six points ahead of its Group E finale against Canada.

For what seemed like an eternity, England could not find a way past Vanina Correa.

The Argentina No. 1 stopped everything the Three Lionesses threw at her, even becoming the first player to save a penalty kick taken by an England player at a Women’s World Cup.

It took, in the end, a perfect piece of play from England to finally get past Correa, resulting in a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Argentina in Group D action on Friday. 

Vanina Correa made huge save after huge save against England, finishing with six stops and a career’s worth of highlights. 

What amount of responsibility do spectators have to clean up after themselves? It’s something anyone who attends a sporting event, movie or concert must ask themselves: Do I dispose of my trash after the show is over or leave it for others to pick up?

I’d rather not guess what percentage of people leave their trash at their seats — I’d wager it’s quite high, based on what I’ve personally witnessed in the U.S. What I can say is that fans of Japan’s men’s and women’s national teams are certainly not ones to leave trash to others.

Italy is through to the knockout rounds for the first time since 1991 thanks to a 5-0 rout of Jamaica on Friday. Cristiana Girelli scored a hat trick and Aurora Galli added two for the Azzurre, but the Italians’ second straight victory was exemplified by the team captain, center back Sara Gama.

Gama, a 30-year-old Juventus center back, marshalled a back line that quieted the dangerous Khadija Shaw, the leading scorer in Women’s World Cup qualifying with 19 goals. 

The U.S. men’s national team’s world standing is plummeting at the same time the women’s national team is soaring. The June FIFA rankings released on Friday saw the USMNT fall six places to 30th in the world, its worst ranking since 2017.