Note from the editor: This story originally ran in 2016 following the loss of the USWNT to Sweden in the Olympic Games. We've reposted it today in the lead up to the group stage rematch at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
The USWNT defeated Chile 3-0 on Sunday with all three goals coming in the first half. Coincidentally, that was the exact same score at halftime of the Thailand game before the U.S. added 10 more over the course of the second 45. The score could’ve certainly approached that today, but for Chile goalkeeper Christiane Endler.
The 27-year-old, who plays for PSG, certainly appeared comfortable at the Parc des Princes while pulling off a string of stunning saves to keep the USWNT at bay in front of 45,594 appreciative spectators.
After trouncing Thailand 13-0 to begin FIFA Women’s World Cup play, the question facing the USWNT heading into Sunday’s match against Chile was both how many goals they’d score and — uh oh — how they’d celebrate those goals.
The U.S. men’s national team’s world standing is plummeting at the same time the women’s national team is soaring. The June FIFA rankings released on Friday saw the USMNT fall six places to 30th in the world, its worst ranking since 2017.
On June 7, the eighth edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off in Paris, France. The USWNT entered the tournament as the defending champion and the world’s No. 1 ranked side, and the team can still rely on Carli Lloyd, who finished joint-top scorer in 2015 with six goals. However, when it comes to the most Women’s World Cup goals of all time, the 36-year-old remains just outside the top 10 with eight total goals.
The U.S. women’s national team was drawn into a fairly easy group for the Women’s World Cup, with only one match really expected to challenge the reigning champions. So when does USWNT play Sweden?
The USWNT defeated Thailand 13-0 on Tuesday, making actual analysis of the game about as meaningful as discussing who won the big fight between the ice cube and the Sun. So we quickly moved on to one of the great, redundant bits of virtue signaling in sports — the argument over “running up the score.”
The U.S. women’s national team ran rampant on Thailand on Tuesday. The last teams to kick off their tournament, the U.S. flirted with setting the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup game.
The U.S. finished with a 13-0 win over Thailand, including four goals scored over a six-minute span early in the second half, the fastest four goals in Women’s World Cup history.
But was it the record for most goals scored in a single World Cup game?
Many utilized the build-up to the USWNT’s World Cup opener against Thailand to criticize manager Jill Ellis, which is an ingenious position to take because you’re right if they win (“In spite of her!”) and you’re right if they lose (“Told ya!”), but after watching the States utilize “the Zdeněk Zeman method” at kick off before shifting into a sort of 2-3-5 in possession, I gotta say, I