England became the first team to book its spot in the 2019 Women’s World Cup semifinals with a 3-0 destruction of Norway on Thursday. The team put down a marker, as if to tell everyone waiting for the USA-France match that there are other teams still in this tournament.
The Three Lionesses have certainly impressed the usually male-oriented footballing audience in their home country.
As much of a cliché as this sounds, England is very much a team that is greater than the sum of its parts.
This isn’t to say England has bad players — Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze are among the best in the world at their respective positions. Yet it would be hard to say the Three Lionesses are the best in the world in any one particular area. There are better passing teams, better possession teams, better defending teams and quicker and stronger teams.
But when England puts it together, there might not be a better team.
Unlike the men’s team, the United States women’s national team is the undisputed greatest soccer team in the world. With more World Cup trophies and Olympic gold medals than any other nation combined, the USWNT is without a doubt the dominant force in women’s international soccer.
With those triumphs have come countless moments to savor: trophies lifted, victories snatched at he last minute, record-breaking performances and iconic celebrations.
These are the 18 best USWNT moments of all time.
The U.S. women’s national team is a social force. Not political — social.
Legendary referee Pierluigi Collina, who now serves as the chairman of FIFA’s Referees’ Committee, took center stage at a FIFA media briefing today about officiating and VAR at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, much like he did last summer in Moscow for the men’s tournament.
After watching Jessica McDonald’s story from the USWNT 23 stories, we learned what motivates her to pursue her dream of playing professionally. Her mother had her and her brother right out of high school and struggled to give them the life they deserved, so she ended up being raised by her grandmother.
The Trump-Rapinoe feud isn’t ending anytime soon. And we’re here for it, especially that Megan Rapino Twitter account (see below) that is absolute fire and in no way related to Megan Rapinoe the USWNT co-captain.
Friday. On Friday, you don’t work. On Friday, you watch perhaps the most anticipated match in the history of the Women’s World Cup. The USA vs France World Cup 2019 predictions, previews and general hype train is building to a crescendo, like a Marta message to the children.