By: Johnn Jin

For the past three decades the US Women’s National Soccer Team has been a dominant force in the Women’s World Cup, having four Olympic gold medals and four World Cup titles while putting on a great performance and impressing everyone.

The U.S. is trying to get their third consecutive World Cup title in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. If they win the world cup three times in a row, they will reach a new level. This has never been achieved by any men’s or women’s team.

It was no surprise for the U.S. to beat Vietnam, but it looks like nothing compared to their first game in 2019, beating Thailand 13-0! 22-year-old forward Sophia Smith showed amazing promise, scoring two of the three goals in her debut World Cup match.

In the game against the Netherlands on July 26th, the Dutch stunned the US with a 1-0 lead early in the game. For the first time since 2011, Team USA went into halftime trailing. But they returned strong and tied the match 1-1 after co-captain Lindsey Horan scored a goal in the 62nd minute.

The U.S. is a favorite to win the World Cup and has only lost 5 games since 2019. But players like Becky Sauerbrunn, Mallory Swanson, Christen Press, and Catarina Macario are missing playing time because of their injuries. Veterans Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, who are four-time World Cup champions, have a slew of promising youngsters like Smith that could help them win a fifth title.

“This younger group, we definitely don’t lack confidence,” says Smith. “I don’t think it’s cocky. I don’t think it’s ego. I think we’ve come to a place where we know what we can do. We know what we’re capable of. And we know people may be calling us ‘The Future’ or whatever. But we know that we can impact the game right now. A lot of us want to prove that every single day.