The Americans secured their right to defend their Women’s World Cup 2023 title next summer with a resounding victory against Jamaica in a regional tournament.
Overview
The first of two goals set for the United States women’s national team before they came to Mexico this week has already been accomplished: The United States secured a spot in the 2023 Women’s World Cup 2023 with a blowout victory over Jamaica on Thursday night.
In the second game of the Concacaf women’s championship, which serves as both a regional title and a qualifying event for both the Women’s World Cup 2023 and the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Americans won 5-0. In the tournament’s opening game on Monday, the United States defeated Haiti 3-0.
The top two teams in each four-team group advance automatically to the Women’s World Cup 2023, where the United States is the two-time defending champion, under the rules of the redesigned eight-team regional tournament, formally known as the Concacaf W Championship.
With a dominant performance against Jamaica, the United States ensured it would place among the top finishers. Sophia Smith scored twice in the opening eight minutes, and Rose Lavelle, Kristie Mewis, and Trinity Rodman added goals in the second half as the outmatched Jamaicans deteriorated under the barrage of scoring opportunities and depth from the Americans.
But Haiti’s victory over host Mexico in the evening’s second game wasn’t enough to guarantee the Americans’ position in the World Cup until a few hours later. That outcome ensured that the United States would finish in the top two of its first-round group and would qualify for the 32-team World Cup in Australia and New Zealand the following summer.
Along with the co-hosts, South Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam from Asia; and Sweden, France, Denmark, and Spain from Europe, the United States became the 12th country to qualify.
2nd Round over the period Women’s World Cup 2023
In its second game of the competition, Canada, the incumbent Olympic women’s champion and the Americans’ strongest regional foe defeated Panama 1-0 to join that group on Friday. With its second victory, a 4-0 triumph over Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica achieved the same.
But Haiti may emerge as the biggest story of the tournament after defeating Mexico 3-0; with a draw against Jamaica in its last group match, Haiti would qualify for the World Cup for the first time.
Securing a spot in the Paris Olympics will be the next objective for the United States. Only the Concacaf champion will qualify directly for that competition, but there will be a consolation prize for the second and third-placed nations in the form of an Olympic playoff in September 2023.
As he navigates the route to both competitions, U.S. Coach Vlatko Andonovski is overseeing a team in transition. Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Rodman, the daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, are among the World Cup veterans on the team he brought to Mexico. Smith, whose two goals gave her a total of seven for the year—the most by a U.S. player—also made her debut. Other newcomers include defender Naomi Girma, who assisted on Smith’s first goal in just her third game for the country.
Conclusion for Women’s World Cup 2023
The team’s wide range of choices has made it a peek of a championship team’s future that, for the time being, still features seasoned players like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. The toughest choices on who will travel to the World Cup in 2014 will be made later, according to Andonovski. Right now, he has every reason to be pleased with what he sees developing: Eight of the thirteen players on his team entered the tournament having made fewer than ten international appearances. Thirteen members of his squad are competing in their first World Cup or Olympic qualifying tournament for the team.
In the first few minutes, Smith gave a hint of the potential she and her team had. She received a long pass on the right, cut back, raised the ball over a defender’s head, and then flicked it past the Jamaican goalie with her right foot.
A few minutes later, after another similar leading ball down the right, she scored her second goal, which was also finished skillfully with a first-touch flip over the goalkeeper, which was verified by a brief video review.
Andonovski said of the 21-year-old Smith, “She does have the potential to be one of the top players in the world. To be a start on the best team in the world — it’s not simple, it comes with a lot of weight.”
Mallory Pugh’s goal in the 27th and Ashley Hatch’s goal in the 11th minute of the first half were both overturned by video review, which is being used for the first time this year in the women’s championship.
But there was never any uncertainty about the outcome. In the 59th minute, an unmarked Lavelle scored at the back post to make it 3-0. Four minutes later, Rodman converted a cross from Pugh for her second goal in international play. Kristie Mewis also scored in the 82nd minute.