USWNT-Canada score: USA fail to win gold medal, fall to Canada after late penalty in women's soccer semifinals

USWNT will play for bronze after they were unable to overcome their rivals in the semifinals

By Sandra Herrera

Aug 2, 2021 • 1 min read

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For the second Olympics in a row the United States women's national team won't win gold. Canada defeated the United States 1-0 in the semifinals Monday morning to send the USWNT to the bronze medal match. Jessie Flemming recorded the lone goal for Canada, a penalty kick conversion in the 75th minute.

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The two Concacaf rivals played a choppy and physical first half to begin the semifinal. As the USWNT attempted to come out on the front foot and establish tempo early, Canada got more involved in disrupting their midfield, frustrating Lindsey Horan and isolating Julie Ertz at times. After the initial fifteen minutes, Canada played themselves into the match and pinned the USWNT back, though a different game changing moment occurred in the 20th minute.

Alyssa Naeher was subbed out of the game after making a play on the ball in the box and injuring herself on the landing. After the match manager Vlatko Andonovski confirmed that she injured her knee, but they don't know the extent of the injury yet. And The U.S. number one did make an attempt to try and play, but needed to sub out and made way for Adrianna Franch in net. The disjointed play continued as the two sides close out the first half

The United States didn't make any immediate substitutions to start the half, and played another active opening fifteen minutes, and recorded their first shot on goal from Carli Lloyd just past the hour mark. The turning point of the match however occurred in the 75th minute. After a VAR confirmation of an incident in the box between Canadian substitute Deanne Rose and U.S. center back Tierna Davidson, a penalty kick opportunity was presented.

Franch guessed correctly and positioned herself against the attempt, but Canadian midfielder Jessie Flemming converted the penalty and Canada closed out the remaining final minutes of the match to secure their place in the Olympic final.

Team USA will have an opportunity to play for a bronze medal on Aug. 5 and will face Australia, who lost their semifinal match to Sweden. After the match Megan Rapinoe made sure to emphasize how special any Olympic medal would be, even a bronze.

USWNT all-time Olympic Soccer results

1996 Atlanta: Gold (defeated China in final)
2000 Sydney: Silver (lost to Norway in final)
2004 Athens: Gold (defeated Brazil in final)
2008 Beijing: Gold (defeated Brazil in final)
2012 London: Gold (defeated Japan in final)
2016 Rio: Fifth Place (lost to Sweden in quarterfinals)
2020 Tokyo: Third or fourth place (lost to Canada in semifinals)

USA 0, Canada 1 (Final)

Canada ⚽: Jessie Fleming 75' (Penalty)

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Final Score USA 0, Canada 1

After going behind the United States were able to ratchet up the pressure, but while they sent a constant stream of crosses in they resulted in very few clear chances to tie the match. Carli Lloyd turned one contested cross into a bullet header that rattled the cross bar, but other than that it was mostly tame efforts from the USWNT who will now play for bronze.

Will the USWNT have more disallowed goals?

Late in the match against the Netherlands both Alex Morgan and Christen Press put the ball in the back of the net, seemingly sending the USWNT through to the semifinals in dramatic fashion. Both goals were correctly called back for offside. It's been a pattern. Since the United States are still in the tournament, fighting for gold, the fact that they've had nine (yes NINE!) goals called back for offside while only actually scoring eight total goals is an amusing statistical oddity. Had they lost in a penalty shootout, however, it's likely a factor that analysts would be pointing to for years as at least a partial explanation for what had gone wrong. Will the pattern continue today against Canada or can the United States actual goals scores climb back above their disallowed goals.

USWNT vs. Canada iconic Olympic semifinal history

These two sides are obviously not strangers. But they've also got relatively recent history playing each other in exactly these circumstances. In 2012 the two teams faced each other in one of the most iconic Olympic women's soccer matches of all time. Playing a seven goal extra time thriller that they United States won with a goal deep into stoppage time. The scorer of that winning goal, the latest in Olympic history, well she's starting today for the USWNT, Alex Morgan. You can check out the highlights below to get pumped for today's big match,

And here's Canada's starting XI:

USWNT lineup notes

A couple of big decisions from manager Vlatko Andonovski today. First, after struggling against the Netherlands, Abby Dahlkemper is not only not in the starting lineup but completely misses the matchday squad as Tierna Davidson gets the start alongside captain Becky Sauerbrunn in midfield.

Elsewhere, Lynn Williams gets rewarded for her goal and assist against the Netherlands with a second straight start in the attacking line. Though, again, it's likely we'll see the line which includes Alex Morgan and Tobin Heath get completely rotated as the match enters the last half hour. Still, it's a remarkable story for Williams who went from being an alternate, to getting to be officially on the squad thanks to the last minute decision to allow expanded 22 woman rosters, to now starting in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

USWNT lineup

The lineup is out! Here's how the United States will set up when they take the field an hour from now against Canada.

Starting XI vs. Canada: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 5-Kelley O'Hara, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 12-Tierna Davidson, 2-Crystal Dunn; 8-Julie Ertz, 9-Lindsey Horan, 16-Rose Lavelle; 7-Tobin Heath, 13-Alex Morgan, 21-Lynn Williams

Storylines: USWNT

Team USA has been on an unpredictable trajectory during the Olympic quest for gold. The team advanced into semifinals on a penalty shootout -- continuing an uncharacteristic timeline for a team that typically secures wins over the last two years and often finds themselves getting stronger as competitions go on. The USWNT could be comforted by the familiarity of their foe in Canada, but the team will advance through the one consistent factor they have had during this time -- player rotation from head coach Vlatko Andonovski. The front line has seen constant adjustment throughout, and with Lynn Williams going 57 minutes last match, she could be tagged for another start. Clear exceptions have been Crystal Dunn who has four consecutive starts this tournament, and Julie Ertz with three straight starts after coming off the bench in the opening loss vs. Sweden.

Storylines: Canada

The Canadians advanced into their semifinal fashion after a penalty shootout against Brazil last week. The team is led by longtime captain Christine Sinclair. The 38-year-old is the all-time leading international goal scorer with 187 international goals. The backline line is anchored by 25-year-old Kadeisha Buchanan, who currently leads the team with total minutes played after four consecutive starts. Head coach Bev Preistman will have some decisions to make defensively with Jayde Riviere being unavailable in this match on yellow card accumulation, and players having extended minutes on their legs from the quarterfinal.

Viewing information & odds

Date: Monday, Aug. 2

Time: 4:00 a.m. ET

Location: Ibaraki Kashima Stadium -- Kashima, Japan

TV channel: USA network

Live stream: fuboTV (try for free) Odds: USA -154, Draw +260, Canada +400 (all odds via William Hill Sportsbook)

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