Women's Soccer

Nigeria put on an excellent performance Wednesday against South Korea, securing a 2-0 victory and a vital three points in Group A. However, instead of talking about Nigeria’s win, everybody seems to be talking about Nigeria’s first goal, a South Korea own goal, which was marred by controversy.

The goal came when a ball was played into South Korea’s box and was mishit by South Korean defender Kim Do-yeon, deflecting off her foot and into the goal.

Did VAR get the call right?

Spain is widely considered a rising power in women’s soccer, and la Roja had a tremendous opportunity to accentuate that sentiment with a victory over two-time world champion Germany on Wednesday. But they blew it, and their failure is compounded by the fact that they’re now possibly on a collision course with the USWNT in the Round of 16.

The majority of the first half was dominated by Spain, and two glorious opportunities fell to Nahikari García to open the scoring in the opening 14 minutes. 

The U.S. women’s national team was drawn into a fairly easy group for the Women’s World Cup, with only one match really expected to challenge the reigning champions. So when does USWNT play Sweden?

The USWNT defeated Thailand 13-0 on Tuesday, making actual analysis of the game about as meaningful as discussing who won the big fight between the ice cube and the Sun. So we quickly moved on to one of the great, redundant bits of virtue signaling in sports — the argument over “running up the score.” 

The U.S. women’s national team ran rampant on Thailand on Tuesday. The last teams to kick off their tournament, the U.S. flirted with setting the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup game.

The U.S. finished with a 13-0 win over Thailand, including four goals scored over a six-minute span early in the second half, the fastest four goals in Women’s World Cup history. 

But was it the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup game?

Many utilized the build-up to the USWNT’s World Cup opener against Thailand to criticize manager Jill Ellis, which is an ingenious position to take because you’re right if they win (“In spite of her!”) and you’re right if they lose (“Told ya!”), but after watching the States utilize “the Zdeněk Zeman method” at kick off before shifting into a sort of 2-3-5 in possession, I gotta say, I

Last we saw Christiane Endler in the States, she was saving an Alex Morgan penalty, albeit in an eventual 4-0 loss to the USWNT back in September. On Tuesday, in Chile’s first-ever Women’s World Cup appearance, Endler made what has to go down as the best save of the tournament so far.

Sweden came into its match with Chile as the huge favorite. Everyone expects Sweden to finish second behind the USWNT and advance easily to the Round of 16 ahead of Chile and Thailand. 

The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived. After months of friendly matches, training camps and Send-Off Series games the World Cup favorites are back in action to defend their title. 

The U.S. women’s national team enters the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup with a solid 7-1-2 record thus far this year. Out of the 10 matches the U.S. has played in, eight of them have been against fellow World Cup participants in France. After preparing for the World Cup at the Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre in London, the USWNT's time to shine has finally arrived.