2023 Women’s World Cup berth? Check.
2024 Olympic berth? Check.
Concacaf W Championship title with a side of slight revenge vs. Canada? Check.
The U.S. women’s national team entered the combo qualifying tournament with three clear goals, and at the end of two weeks of questions—and following 90 largely wasteful minutes Monday night in Mexico—it can safely say that it has achieved them all. The roadmap for the U.S.’s next two years is set, and its regional bragging rights have been extended. Canada may have upended the U.S. en route to winning Olympic gold last summer, but when it comes to Concacaf finals against its neighbor to the south, it’s still second-best, now 0-9-1 all-time in such matches against the U.S.
Alex Morgan’s penalty in the 78th minute was the difference at Estadio BBVA, with the U.S. winning 1–0 to claim the Concacaf tournament title and the spoils that came with it. Morgan played a key role in earning the penalty, as it was her pass that set up Rose Lavelle, who was clipped down in the box by Allysha Chapman. Morgan then stepped up and coolly beat her club teammate, San Diego Wave goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, for the breakthrough that took so long to arrive.
Canada’s Olympic dream isn’t over, and it’ll still like its chances to go to Paris with eyes on defending its place atop the podium. But instead of automatically qualifying now, it’ll play Jamaica, the third-place finisher, in September 2023 in a playoff for Concacaf’s second berth at the Games.
The result was nearly a carbon copy of the Olympic semifinal won by Canada last summer, at least as it relates to the score, the manner of the goal and when it hit the back of the net. It was a 75th-minute Jessie Fleming goal that gave Canada its famous win in Japan, a result that started a year of unusual uncertainty and unease for the U.S. Vlatko Andonovski’s side followed its bronze medal with months of cycling in newer and younger faces, operating as a team in transition.
Such are the standards of the U.S., that after a tournament in which it won all five of its matches by a combined 13–0 score, some of the same questions and uncertainty will persist, and its performance in the final was hardly without fault. Monday’s was by far the U.S.’s most daunting attacking display in the competition, though, even if there was only one goal to show for it. There was an aura of intent against the only true peer the U.S. has in the region, and when Mal Pugh stung Sheridan’s hands 44 seconds in, it looked like the U.S. meant business.
More chances would immediately follow, with Morgan curling a shot a foot wide in the fourth minute, and Lindsey Horan having a golden look blocked a minute later. Horan again came close on a 14th-minute side volley, her shot going just wide.
Later in the half the U.S. blew a 4-v-2 opportunity, when Horan had Lavelle streaking down the right with space in front of her. She instead opted to go to her left to Pugh, who also had space but pushed her decent-looking chance over the target.
It was Sophia Smith, one of those thrown-into-the-fire young forwards, who had the U.S.’s two best chances, though. Right before halftime, right back Sofia Huerta delivered a perfect cross for Smith at point-blank range, but the ball popped up on her a bit to affect the shot, Sheridan made the tremendous initial denial and Canada center back Kadeisha Buchanan helped cover the goal line on the rebound to prevent the breakthrough.
In the second half, the U.S. executed an efficient and precise sequence out of the back, with Becky Sauerbrunn picking out Pugh, who touched to Morgan. Her perfectly weighted through ball in behind found Smith, who rounded Sheridan and then promptly shanked the shot into the open net.
It was the kind of miss that could have been haunting, but the U.S. never wilted and got its just reward in the form of Morgan’s penalty.
While the U.S. will still have some things to sort out as it prepares for next summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, one item appears set. Morgan’s all-around performance in Mexico, coupled with her scorching scoring form in NWSL, should cement her as the first-choice striker going forward.
“I’ve been not surprised but very happy how she has handled the whole situation and how she came back,” Andonovski said about Morgan, who was among the veterans who were left out in various camps over the last year. “Alex is a better player, and that’s what makes her special. She doesn’t want to stop growing. She doesn’t want to stop developing.
"Alex is a big player and big players are born for big moments. That's what makes her special."
Erich Schlegel/USA TODAY Sports
But while other areas may be less clear, it’s important to remember who the U.S. currently does not have available or did not call in for this competition. Julie Ertz, Crystal Dunn, Catarina Macario, Tierna Davidson, Christen Press, Lynn Williams, Sam Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper and Tobin Heath were all among those not in Mexico, either due to pregnancy, being postpartum, being injured or coach’s decision, and their reintegration when they are ready to return—should Andonovski deem them worthy—will go a long way toward shaping the teams that go up against the world’s best in the upcoming competitions. If the Women’s European Championship has been any indication, there are competent challengers coming for the U.S.’s throne.
As it relates to Concacaf, though, the U.S. still reigns supreme. It hasn’t allowed a goal in a Concacaf World Cup or Olympic qualifying match since 2010—nearly 12 years—when it lost to Mexico in the World Cup qualifying semifinals. The bigger tests to truly challenge the U.S.’s place among the world’s elite will come in time over the course of the next two years. But the No. 1-ranked Americans ensured they’ll have a place at those competitions, which is ultimately what this trip to Mexico was all about.
“Even though it didn’t seem as convincing, I thought there were moments of the games where we showed improvements from Game 1 until the end,” Andonovski said. “Those are the moments that we’re happy about ... that gives us validation to what we do.”
