The feeling of dominance, of confidence, of winning. Megan Rapinoe’s penetrating free-kick in 2019 putting the US into the semifinals of the World Cup, Carli Lloyd’s spectacular 2015 goal from the halfway line sealing the World Cup win, all the way back to 1999 when Brandi Chastain scored the World Cup winning penalty and ripped her shirt off in wholehearted celebration.
If you’ve been a US women’s soccer fan for a while, these are the feelings and moments that have defined your experience. Yes, there are definitely the downs—but most fans can agree that they have gotten more than their fair share of ups. For about as long as I can remember, the US Women’s National Team has been a force to be reckoned with. It takes so much quality from the players and the entire force behind US Soccer to produce such consistency—since 2017, the US has not dropped below a 2nd place world ranking, they have not lost more than five World Cup games ever, and they have won a women’s record of four World Cups with back to back titles in 2015 and 2019.
So, as the 2023 World Cup approaches, we’re all wondering: Does the US reign continue? Do they have what it takes to make it three?
We’ve seen the unrivaled determination and potential of every US team that has walked onto the World Cup pitch, and it’s seemed that their domination has become almost easy. But, it by no means was and by no means will be—this year, the US is facing new challenges and changes that will truly test whether they are champion material.
In my upcoming blog series: The Road to the World Cup, I’ll be posting short insights into the teams upcoming ride as they fight to repeat their champion performance for a third time in a row.
