FORMER CHAMPIONS FACE OFF AGAIN
Tuesday’s match at the Stade de Lyon will be seventh meeting between the U.S. and Germany at the World Cup or Olympics, with four of those match-ups coming in the semifinals. The teams famously met in the semifinals of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which the USA won 2-0 on the way to its third World Cup title. Prior to last week’s group stage showdown, the only previous Olympic meeting between the teams came in the semifinals of Athens 2004, which the U.S. won 2-1 in extra time, getting a game-winning goal from 19-year-old Heather O’Reilly in the 99th minute.
Overall, the U.S. leads the head-to-head series 5W-1L-0D at world championship events. Germany’s only win over the U.S. at a world championship came in the semifinals of the 2003 Women’s World Cup, a 3-0 victory in Portland, Ore. on Germany’s path to its first Women’s World Cup title. The teams also met in the quarterfinals of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a 3-2 victory for the USA, and the 1991 World Cup semifinals, a 5-2 victory for the Americas in China. In each of the five previous knockout-round meetings between the USA and Germany, the team that won the match went on to win the entire tournament.
Both longtime powerhouses of the women’s game, Tuesday’s semifinal will mark the 37th meeting all-time between the U.S. and Germany and the second at Paris 2024. The USWNT took down Germany 4-1 on July 28 in Marseille. After Sophia Smith and Germany’s Giulia Gwinn traded goals in the opening 22 minutes, the USA pulled away down the stretch with three unanswered tallies. Four minutes after Gwinn’s equalizer, Mallory Swanson tapped home a rebound to take the lead and Smith bagged her brace in the 44th minute. Lynn Williams put an exclamation point on things in the 89th minute, finishing off an assist from Swanson just minutes after entering the match.
The U.S. leads the overall series with Germany 24W-5L-7D. Prior to their group stage showdown, the USA and Germany played most recently in two friendlies at the end of 2022, splitting the matches in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and Harrison, N.J. Germany won the first of the two meetings 2-1 on Nov. 10, 2022, powered by a U.S. own goal and a late game-winner in transition in the 89th minute after the Americans equalized in the 85th on a goal from Megan Rapinoe. The teams then travelled to Red Bull Arena, where the U.S. closed out the 2022 campaign on with a stirring 2-1 come-from-behind victory on Nov. 13. Trailing 1-0 at the half after midfielder Jule Brand put the Germans in front in the 18th minute, the U.S. responded with two goals in the span of three minutes early in the second half. Smith equalized for the Americans in the 54th minute with a powerful shot from 12 yards out and Swanson – playing her final match for the USWNT under her maiden name Pugh – broke in behind the German defense and netted the game-winner with a low finish in the 56th minute.
