United States have taken the bronze medal in the women’s football at the Tokyo Olympics after a pulsating game in the third-place match which saw several star names on the scoresheet.
A back-and-forth encounter saw seven goals and a late flurry from the Matildas in search of a stoppage-time equaliser, but Team USA emerged victorious with a 4-3 scoreline.
Megan Rapinoe hit two in the first 20 minutes, either side of an equaliser from Australia’s Sam Kerr.
Carli Lloyd then struck either side of the break to put USA well in control, before Caitlin Foord put Australia back in the match and Emily Gielnik’s brilliant late strike from range made it a tight finish - but the United States held on for the medal, despite a late injury to Alex Morgan.
Australia had knocked out Great Britain in the quarter-final stage in another enthralling game with late strikes, but that proved to be their final win at Tokyo 2020 after defeat in the semis to Sweden.
Similarly, United States saw off Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out in the last eight, before defeat to Canada in the semis ended their hopes of taking gold.
They do, however, add to Team USA’s medal haul overall after this victory in Kashima, marking a return to the podium in women’s football after a failure to do so in Rio, having won four of the first five Olympic golds since the event was introduced in 1996.
