Sweden celebrate as champs US make earliest Women’s World Cup exit

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP):

The United States played its best game of this Women’s World Cup and it wasn’t good enough to stop the two-time reigning champions from being eliminated in the round of 16.

The Americans’ bid to win an unprecedented third consecutive title ended Sunday on penalty kicks. Megan Rapinoe, Sophia Smith and Kelly O’Hara missed with kicks from the penalty spot before Lina Hurtig converted to clinch the shootout 5-4 as Sweden knocked the United States out of the World Cup after a scoreless draw in regulation and extra time.

The Americans controlled the shootout until the trio of misses.

It is the earliest exit in tournament history for the United States, four-time winners of the World Cup.

“I mean, this is like a sick joke. For me, personally, this is like dark comedy that I missed a penalty,” Rapinoe said as she blinked back tears. “This is the balance to the beautiful side of the game. I think it can be cruel.”

US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher fruitlessly argued she had saved Hurtig’s attempt, but it was ruled over the line by VAR. ABBA’s Dancing Queen was played in the stadium as the Swedes celebrated and the US players sobbed.

“We just lost the World Cup by a millimetre. That’s tough,” said Naeher, who successfully converted her own penalty kick. “I am proud of the fight of the team. We knew we hadn’t done our best in the group stage and we wanted a complete team performance and the team came out and played great.”

She praised Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, who had 11 saves to deny the US a spot in the quarter-finals. The American’s worst previous finish had been third place, three different times.

The loss was somewhat expected based on the Americans’ listless play through three group-stage matches. But they played their best game of this World Cup against Sweden, only to have it decided by penalties.

“I am proud of the women on the field,” US coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “I know we were criticised for the way we played, and for different moments in the group stage. I think we came out today and showed the grit, the resilience, the fight. The bravery showed we did everything we could to win the game. And, unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometimes.”

It was the fourth time the Americans went to extra time at the World Cup. All three previous matches went to penalties, including the 2011 final won by Japan. The US won on penalties in a 2011 quarter-final match against Brazil, and in the 1999 final at the Rose Bowl against China.

Sweden knocked the United States out of the 2016 Olympics in the quarter-finals on penalties.

Sweden goes on to the quarterfinals to play Japan, who beat Norway 3-1 on Saturday night.

Sweden have never won a major global tournament, neither the World Cup nor the Olympics. The closest the team has come is World Cup runners-up in 2003. They placed third in the 1999, 2011 and 2019 editions, and won silver medals in the last two Olympics.

Other result: Netherlands 2, South Africa 0.