The U.S. national team faces the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup Wednesday, in an eagerly-anticipated repeat of the 2019 World Cup final, which the U.S. won 2-0.
Read more: Women’s World Cup 2023: What time does the USWNT play? How much do the players make?
Both teams enter the Group E match in Wellington, New Zealand, seeking the victory that would clinch a berth in the knockout stage of the tournament. The match kicks off at 9 p.m. ET.
On Friday the U.S. defeated World Cup debutants Vietnam 3-0 in their opening game, although dogged Vietnamese defending and a litany of missed opportunities in front of goal prevented the blowout win that some were expecting. First-half goals from Sophia Smith, who was playing in her first World Cup game, put the U.S. on the path to victory. Lindsey Horan completed the scoring in the 77th minute. The U.S. could even afford the luxury of a missed first-half penalty, with impressive Vietnamese keeper Tran Thi Kim Thanh saving Alex Morgan’s spot kick.
Related: With World Cup under way, women’s soccer ‘poised for exponential growth’ says U.S. Soccer chief
Iconic U.S. forward Megan Rapinoe, who is planning to retire later this year, came on as a second-half substitute. Influential midfielder Rose Lavelle, who was recently sidelined by a knee injury, also came on as sub and says she is “ready” to face the Netherlands, according to The Athletic.
Ranked ninth in the world, the Netherlands will offer a much stiffer test than 32nd-ranked Vietnam. The Dutch won their opening game 1-0 against Portugal thanks to Stefanie van der Gragt’s header in the 13th minute.
The U.S. team are favorites to win the World Cup, which would mark a record third victory, a first for either edition of the World Cup. The Americans, led by co-captains Horan and Morgan, are the top women’s team in the world, according to FIFA’s rankings, followed by Germany, Sweden, England, France and Spain. Olympic champions Canada are ranked seventh, with Brazil, the Netherlands, and Australia rounding out the top 10.
Related: Megan Rapinoe may be retiring, but her story ‘is not done yet,’ says U.S. Soccer Federation chief
The global audience for the Women’s World Cup is growing, according to world soccer’s governing body FIFA. A record 1.1 billion viewers around the world watched coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup across all platforms, and FIFA expects that over 2 billion people will tune in to this year’s Women’s World Cup.
Fox Sports — which is owned by Fox Corp.
FOX,
the sister company of News Corp
NWSA,
which is the parent company of MarketWatch publisher Dow Jones — holds English-language broadcast rights to the Women’s World Cup.
The U.S. opening game averaged 5.261 million viewers on Fox Sports, and was the second-most watched Women’s World Cup group stage telecast since Fox began covering the tournament in 2015. The largest viewership for a group stage clash was in 2019, when an average of 5.337 million people tuned in for the clash between the U.S. and Chile.
Related: Women’s World Cup: Australian team targets FIFA over prize money inequity
Recent years have seen major changes in women’s soccer, both on and off the field. Last year the U.S. women’s national team won their long fight for equal pay with the men’s national team, a major milestone for the sport.
Speaking on MarketWatch’s Best New Ideas in Money podcast, U.S. Soccer Federation President Cindy Parlow Cone explained that other national teams are following America’s lead.
“I think we’re starting to see it more and the impact on a number of other federations,” she said. “They’re taking steps to obtain equal pay or move towards it.”
This post was originally published on Market Watch
