50 Fun Facts About USWNT

The USWNT's 'Oosa!' chant copies fans who greeted its first-ever team in 1985 in which country?

Italy. Fans in Jesolo chanted their pronunciation of USA at a side that had sat up sewing its men's hand-me-down kit the night before flying out, and the team still uses the chant.

Which North Carolina coach led the U.S. women to the first World Cup title in 1991?

Anson Dorrance. After five teenagers held their own against his seniors in 1987, he dropped several experienced players for them, and all five started at the World Cup four years later.

What was unusual about matches at the first Women's World Cup in 1991?

They lasted 80 minutes. FIFA doubted the whole event: it also came close to using a smaller ball, and would not put its World Cup name on the tournament until later.

Who scored both U.S. goals in the 1991 World Cup final?

Michelle Akers. She scored ten goals in the tournament, five of them in a single quarterfinal, and settled the final herself with a late second goal.

Which 1972 U.S. law, by opening college sport to women, is credited with building the national team's talent pool?

Title IX. It barred sex discrimination in education that receives federal money, and women's soccer programmes sprang up on campuses across the country.

What nickname did the U.S. front three go by at the 1991 Women's World Cup?

Triple-Edged Sword. The Chinese press coined the name for the captain and her two fellow forwards, one of whom finished as top scorer and another as the tournament's best player.

The first Women's World Cup in 1991 was officially a championship played for which candy brand's cup?

M&M's Cup. FIFA would not risk its World Cup name on the event, so it was billed as the 1st FIFA World Championship for Women's Football for the M&M's Cup.

Why was the 2003 Women's World Cup moved from Asia to the United States at a few months' notice?

The SARS outbreak. FIFA pulled the tournament out in May 2003, the Americans stepped in as emergency hosts because they had staged the previous edition, and the original hosts were given 2007 instead.

Where did the U.S. finish at the 1995 Women's World Cup?

Third place. The side they had beaten in the 1991 final took revenge with a 1–0 semifinal win and went on to the title, leaving the holders to win the bronze-medal match 2–0.

Whom did the U.S. beat 2–1 in the first Olympic women's soccer final in 1996?

China. Shannon MacMillan scored first, days after her golden goal had knocked out the reigning world champions in the semifinal, and the hosts took the first women's football gold.

Which former goalkeeper coached the U.S. to the 1996 gold and 1999 World Cup?

Tony DiCicco. In the shootout that decided the 1999 final he moved his eventual match-winner up from sixth to fifth in the order and had her shoot with her weaker left foot.

The 1999 World Cup final drew a crowd of 90,185 to which stadium?

Rose Bowl. Organisers had first planned to use small college grounds on the East Coast, then bet on NFL-sized stadiums after the crowds at the 1996 Olympics, and the gamble paid off.

Who scored the winning penalty in the 1999 World Cup final shootout?

Brandi Chastain. She had missed from the spot against the same goalkeeper a few months earlier, so on her coach's advice she struck this one with her weaker left foot.

Which U.S. goalkeeper saved Liu Ying's kick in the 1999 final shootout?

Briana Scurry. Chinese newspapers printed a frame-by-frame sequence showing she had come several feet off her line before the ball was struck, which the rules forbid, but the save stood.

Which team beat the U.S. with a golden goal in the 2000 Olympic final?

Norway. Tiffeny Milbrett had forced extra time with a header half a minute from the end, but Dagny Mellgren's golden goal stood even though the ball had struck her upper arm on the way.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympics staged the women's soccer final away from Atlanta, in which Georgia city?

Athens. More than 76,000 filled the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium, a crowd that persuaded the organisers of the 1999 World Cup to book giant stadiums of their own.

Which U.S. coach benched Hope Solo for a veteran goalkeeper before the 2007 World Cup semifinal?

Greg Ryan. The veteran conceded four goals, Solo said publicly that the switch was wrong and was shut out of the squad, and within weeks Ryan had lost his job.

Whose 122nd-minute header rescued the U.S. in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal?

Abby Wambach. Deep into stoppage time at the end of extra time she headed in a cross to make it 2–2, and the Americans went on to win the penalty shootout.

Which goalkeeper saved a late England penalty to protect a 2–1 lead in the 2019 World Cup semifinal?

Alyssa Naeher. A video review had already ruled out an England equaliser for offside, and a second review gave them the penalty that Naeher smothered from captain Steph Houghton.

Who beat the U.S. on penalties in the 2011 World Cup final?

Japan. Four months after the earthquake and tsunami, the Japanese twice came from behind to draw 2–2 and then won the shootout, a lift for a country that had had little to cheer.

The U.S. won the 2012 Olympic women's soccer final at which venue?

Wembley Stadium. More than 80,000 watched the Americans avenge the World Cup final they had lost on penalties to the same opponents a year earlier.

Who scored the winning goals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic finals?

Carli Lloyd. Her extra-time strike was the only goal of the 2008 final, and four years later in London she scored both American goals.

The U.S. captain's 2015 World Cup final hat-trick ended with a shot from where?

Halfway line. She spotted the goalkeeper out of position and scored from midfield to make it 4–0 after only 16 minutes.

Before the 2015 World Cup, what did dozens of top players sue FIFA over?

Artificial turf. The players called the plastic pitches an injury risk and a form of discrimination, since men's World Cups are played on grass, but they dropped the case and played on them anyway.

How did New York honour the U.S. team after its 2015 World Cup win?

Ticker-tape parade. The champions rode up Broadway through Lower Manhattan under a blizzard of paper, and the 2019 winners were given the same welcome four years later.

Which team knocked the U.S. out of the 2016 Olympics on penalties?

Sweden. After the Americans' earliest Olympic exit, Hope Solo called the defensive Swedes 'a bunch of cowards' and was suspended for six months.

The U.S. opened the 2019 World Cup with a record 13–0 win over which team?

Thailand. Ten of the thirteen goals came after half-time, and the Americans' celebrations of the late ones set off a debate about sportsmanship.

Who scored five goals in the record 13–0 win that opened the 2019 World Cup?

Alex Morgan. Three weeks later she scored the semifinal winner against England on her 30th birthday and celebrated by pretending to sip a cup of tea.

Whom did the U.S. beat 2–0 in the 2019 World Cup final?

Netherlands. As FIFA's president walked out for the trophy ceremony the crowd broke into a chant of "Equal pay!", backing the players' fight to be paid the same as the men's team.

Who won both the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the 2019 World Cup?

Megan Rapinoe. She broke the deadlock in the final from the penalty spot and became, at 34, the oldest scorer a Women's World Cup final had then seen.

Which coach won the 2015 and 2019 World Cups before stepping down?

Jill Ellis. She grew up in England kicking a ball in the street with her brother, and joined an organised team only after her family moved to Virginia in 1981, when she was a teenager.

Who became head coach in October 2019 after the World Cup victory tour?

Vlatko Andonovski. He resigned less than two weeks after a penalty-shootout defeat in the last 16 of the 2023 World Cup, the earliest the Americans had ever gone out of the tournament.

Which team beat the U.S. 1–0 in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic semifinal?

Canada. The Americans laboured to a bruising defeat, and the Canadians went on to win the final in a penalty shootout, their first Olympic title in the sport.

Whom did the U.S. beat 4–3 to win Olympic bronze in Tokyo?

Australia. The Americans led 4–1 early in the second half and hung on as the Matildas pulled two goals back, winning the first Olympic bronze in the team's history.

In 2022 the women's national team players won a $24 million equal-pay settlement from which organisation?

U.S. Soccer. The players' own federation also agreed to pay its women's and men's teams at the same rate in every match and tournament from then on, World Cups included.

Which defender and U.S. co-captain was among the five stars who filed a 2016 wage-discrimination complaint?

Becky Sauerbrunn. She was the only defender among the five, and their complaint opened a fight that ended six years later with a $24 million settlement and equal pay.

A late shot from which team hit the post and spared the U.S. in the group stage of the 2023 World Cup?

Portugal. Ana Capeta's shot in second-half stoppage time came back off the post, inches from sending the holders home at the group stage.

A forward in the 2024 Olympic gold-medal team is the daughter of which NBA Hall of Famer?

Dennis Rodman. His daughter Trinity turned professional at 18 and, in her first season, won the league title and was named Rookie of the Year.

Whom did the U.S. beat 1–0 in the Paris 2024 Olympic final?

Brazil. Every knockout game was won 1–0, and Mallory Swanson's strike in the final gave new coach Emma Hayes a gold medal in her first summer in charge of the team.

What did the U.S. front three at the 2024 Olympics call themselves?

Triple Espresso. The three forwards chose the name themselves and announced it at a press conference, inviting fans to run with it, then scored ten of the team's twelve goals in Paris.

Which club did Emma Hayes manage for 12 years before taking the U.S. job?

Chelsea. She won seven league titles there, the last five in a row, and left for the U.S. job only after finishing the 2023–24 season, with the Olympics barely two months away.

Which invitational tournament has been staged in the United States for the women's national team every year since 2016?

The SheBelieves Cup. It grew out of a campaign launched around the 2015 World Cup to inspire young fans, and the first edition brought three European powers to the United States.

Which U.S. midfielder is the most-capped player in soccer history, with 354 international appearances?

Kristine Lilly. In extra time of the 1999 World Cup final she headed a goal-bound header off her own line, the clearance that kept the Americans alive for the shootout.

Which coach led the U.S. women to Olympic gold in both 2008 and 2012?

Pia Sundhage. She took over a squad beaten 4–0 in a World Cup semifinal weeks earlier, and nine months later it stood on top of the Olympic podium.

Which country hosted the 2019 World Cup, where the U.S. won its fourth title?

France. The Americans won all seven of their games there, the last five against leading European sides on European soil, to keep the trophy they had won four years earlier.

Mia Hamm married which Red Sox star?

Nomar Garciaparra. The two-time batting champion and the national team's then record scorer had met at an event in 1998, and married in a private ceremony on the California coast.

Mia Hamm, later the national team's record goalscorer, was born with which condition?

A club foot. She wore corrective shoes as a toddler, and her mother says she was still in them at 18 months when she chased down a stranger's ball and kicked it for the first time.

Which WUSA club did Mia Hamm play for from 2001 to 2003?

Washington Freedom. With Hamm as their marquee signing they finished seventh of eight in the first season, lost the next year's final 3–2, and won the championship in 2003.

The 'Olimpico' a U.S. winger scored at two Olympics is a goal direct from what?

Corner kick. The name honours a 1924 goal that Argentina scored straight from a corner against Uruguay, who had just been crowned Olympic champions.

The U.S. women lost only once in 2008, in their first match at which tournament they went on to win?

The Beijing Olympics. Beaten 2–0 in the opener, the Americans did not lose again all year, took the gold medal and finished 2008 with 33 wins from 36 games.