The reigning women’s soccer champions cruised to their third consecutive World Cup title with a win over Vietnam, who were making their first-ever appearance at the tournament.
The United States (ranked No. 1 by FIFA) won 3-0 against Vietnam (ranked No. 32) in their FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 Group E match at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sunday (June 22).
The United States, looking to win their third consecutive title after winning the 2015 and 2019 tournaments, dominated the Vietnamese and easily earned their first win.
The match marked Vietnam’s first World Cup appearance. It was the first time Vietnamese soccer had ever qualified for the World Cup with both the men’s and women’s national teams.
Vietnam qualified for its first-ever World Cup in February after defeating Thailand and Chinese Taipei in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup playoffs.
On this day, Vietnam’s head coach Mai Duc Trung became the oldest coach in men’s and women’s World Cup history at 72 years old. The previous record was 71 years and 317 days held by Otto Rehagel, who coached Greece at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
China entered the first game with high expectations, but the gap between them and the world’s best was huge. The United States dominated shots on goal, 27-0, and shots on target, 8-0. Vietnam was unable to get a single shot off against the US.
The U.S. opened the scoring 14 minutes after kickoff when Sophia Smith found the back of the net.
After receiving an exquisite forward pass, Smith rattled the net with a powerful left-footed shot from the left side of the box.
The U.S. was left disappointed when Alex Morgan missed a penalty kick in the 44th minute, but Smith scored her second goal of the game in first-half stoppage time to make it 2-0.
The U.S. upped the ante in the second half and held on for a three-goal victory, capped by a Lindsey Hogan wedge in the 22nd minute.
In Group C, Japan (ranked 11th) thrashed Zambia (77th) 5-0.
Women’s soccer powerhouse Japan, which won the tournament in 2011 and was runner-up in 2015, moved to the top of Group C. Spain, which beat Costa Rica 3-0 the day before, is second.
Japan won by five goals despite having two goals disallowed due to offside calls. Japan outshot Zambia 26-0, including 10-0 in shots on goal.
Hinata Miyazawa opened the scoring in the 43rd minute and Tanaka Mina added a goal in the 10th minute of the second half. Japan continued to dominate on offense and won by five goals.
Zambia played South Korea twice in April this year, winning 5-2 and 5-0.
In Group D, England (No. 8) beat Haiti (No. 61) 1-0 and Denmark (No. 15) beat China (No. 16) 1-0. England held off Georgia Stanway’s penalty kick goal in the 29th minute of the first half.바카라사이트
Denmark had the last laugh with Amalie Bangsgaard scoring in the 45th minute of the second half after a hard-fought battle.