The U.S. women’s national team is going for its first Olympic gold medal in 12 years as the youthful squad meets Brazil in the 2024 final from Paris.
The USWNT has four gold medals in women’s soccer history, three more than anyone else. But the United States have fallen from their perch in the last decade, seeing Germany and Canada atop the podium while failing themselves to reach the final in either of the last two cycles.
Now new head coach Emma Hayes has the USWNT back on the precipice of a title just a year after the team’s worst-ever Women’s World Cup finish.
The United States will meet Brazil, who will see legendary forward Marta play her final international match before retirement. After missing the last two games due to a red card suspension, Marta was on the brink of an ignominious end to her glittering career, but her teammates engineered upsets over gold medal contenders France and Spain to give their star the chance to go out in a blaze of glory.
The Sporting News is following the USA vs. Brazil gold medal match live, providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
USWNT vs. Brazil live score
Score | Goal scorers | |
USA | 1 | Swanson 57′ |
Brazil | 0 | – |
Kickoff: 5 p.m. local (11 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. PT)
Location: Parc des Princes (Paris, France)
Referee: Tess Olofsson
Starting lineups:
USA (4-3-3, right to left): Naeher (GK) — Fox, Girma, Davidson, Dunn — Horan, Coffey, Albert — Rodman, Swanson, S. Smith.
Brazil (3-4-3, right to left): Leite (GK) — Lauren, Tarciane, Thais — Ludmila (Priscilla 61′), Duda Sampaio (Angelina 61′), Yaya (Ana Vitoria 50′), Jheniffer (Marta 61′) — Gabi Portilho, Adriana, Leal.
USWNT vs. Brazil live updates, highlights from Olympics soccer final
66th minute: Another opportunity falls to the Americans, this time through Smith, who prances down the left flank before cutting inside and firing an effort towards the cage. However, her attempt was tame, limping out of play.
64th minute: Brazil’s backline is looking raged. Rodman nearly added to USWNT’s lead, seeing her left-footed strike whistle wide of the cage with the net gaping.
61st minute: A wave of Brazilian substitutes set to enter the game in the aftermath of Swanson’s finish, including Marta. We’ll see if the legendary Brazilian No. 10 can make the difference.
57th minute: GOAL! Swanson finds the back of the net, making a perfectly-timed run before slotting past Leite to give the Americans the lead.
TEAM USA STRIKES FIRST—AND IT’S MALLORY SWANSON AGAIN!
1-0 IN THE GOLD MEDAL MATCH.#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/rCEQNIbR68
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 10, 2024
USA 1, Brazil 0
56th minute: Horan had a chance to hit Rodman behind the defense. However, her through ball strays far as another American opportunity goes wanting.
49th minute: Yaya comes off to raucous applause after appearing to suffer a severe injury. She’ll be replaced by fellow midfielder Ana Vitoria.
45th minute: The second half begins! Americans will be hoping for a better showing this time around.
End of first half: USWNT 0, Brazil 0
45th minute (+4): Yasmin releases another sumptuous whipped effort, one which just evades Gabi Portilho at the back post.
45th minute (+1): Fabulous save by Naeher, who answers Gabi Portihlo’s venomous strike with strong palms. This American defensive showing doesn’t appear sustainable if you’re of the American disposition.
43rd minute: USWNT’s defensive frailties int the first half are best represented by the fact that Rodman — one of the side’s attacking virtuosos — has been anchored to the defensive third of the pitch, supporting the likes of Fox and Girma as opposed to conjuring up spells in and around Brazil’s penalty box.
40th minute: Brilliant defensive header by Emily Fox, who directs Gabi Portilho’s wondrous cross elsewhere before it reaches Ludmila’s head. The ease by which Portilho skipped beyond Tierna Davidson — again — has to be of concern for Hayes and her coaching staff, however.
33rd minute: The game’s cooling break provides us with a respite from all the action at the Parc des Prince. The Brazilians have been by far the better team thus far, creating chances with increasing regularity. They look exceedingly dangerous when attacking defenders 1v1 on the flanks. USWNT certainly has the attacking talent to threaten Brazil. But things aren’t quite going to plan as of late.
22nd minute: Adriana collides with Crystal Dunn in the box, incurring contact from the American defender in the process. A VAR check is
19th minute: Ludmila again causing issues, nearly latching onto the end of a delicate Gabi Portilho cross to make the net ripple. Ultimately, she wasn’t able to reach the ball. But the Chicago Red Stars standout looks the most likely to get on the scoresheet at present.
16th minute: Ludmila turns Girma to shreds, placing the ball behind her before rifling a strike into the top corner of the net. However, she was a tad too early on the pass, being flagged for offsides. That’s the first time Girma has looked out of depth in a 1-v-1. Concering for Hayes’ side.
10th minute: Plenty of half chances for both teams. However, precious few efforts have threatened the cage, although an impressive nutmeg and run by Rodman did result in a corner for the Americans.
3rd minute: Brazil carves up the American backline to craft the first chance of the game! Girma — the U.S.’s star defender — makes her first major error of the tournament, allowing the Selecao to get one on one with Naeher. However, Ludmila fires her effort right at Naeher.
1st minute: We are off! Today’s gold medal game is live!
10 minutes to kickoff: The midfield battle could very well decide today’s match. The Americans have toiled in that department thus far, with the likes of Horan not looking all that capable of linking the defense to the attack. Emma Hayes will be hoping Albert — the only non-forward to score a goal for USWNT this tournament — to muck up the middle third of the pitch and, perhaps, help push the ball forward to her more attacking teammates.
30 minutes to kickoff: Saturday’s duel represents the 100th cap in Mallory Swanson’s glittering international career. She’s bagged 37 scores in her first 99 caps. She has some distance to go to make a play for Abby Wambach’s program record of 184 strikes. But a strong showing today could add to an already trophy-laden closet.
45 minutes to kickoff: Both sides’ starting lineups have been revealed. The Americans make one swap, replacing Rose Lavelle with Korbin Albert in a curious move. Lavelle is rumored to be carrying a knock, so her placement on the bench isn’t too surprising. However, captain Lindsay Horan has been the subject of much criticism thus far by the USWNT fanbase, so a decision to keep her in over Lavelle is certain to rile up some quarters of social media.
The Selecao, meanwhile, opt for two changes to the side that vanquished Spain earlier in the week, giving the nod to Orlando Pride forward Adriana and Corinthians midfielder Duda Sampaio over Angelina and Priscila. Marta will take a spot on the bench to start Saturday’s contest.
2 hours to kickoff: The attacking trio of Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, and Mallory Swanson have exploded to life at the Olympics this summer. After flopping at last summer’s World Cup, the USWNT has been revitalized under Emma Hayes, as each of the three forwards have scored three goals at the tournament to this point, accounting for nine of the team’s 11 total goals in the tournament.
Many fans, broadcasters, and journalists have taken to calling the trio “The Trident,” with Jon Champion’s call of Smith’s semifinal winner claiming Germany were “speared” by the extra-time goal. However, the three players would like to request a name change, as they went on the Today Show to propose the nickname “Triple Espresso.” We’ll see if it sticks!
Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith & Trinity Rodman from @teamusa @USWNT have announced they have a name for themselves ☕☕☕ pic.twitter.com/JifIQ6PFC1
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 8, 2024
USWNT vs. Brazil kickoff time
This Olympic women’s soccer gold medal match kicks off from Parc des Princes on Saturday, August 10, at 5 p.m. local time in Paris, France.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories around the globe:
Date | Kickoff time | |
USA/Canada | Sat, Aug. 10 | 11 a.m. ET |
USA/Canada | Sat, Aug. 10 | 8 a.m. PT |
UK | Sat, Aug. 10 | 4 p.m. BST |
Australia | Sun, Aug. 11 | 1 a.m. AEST |
India | Sat, Aug. 10 | 11:30 p.m. IST |
USWNT vs. Brazil lineups, team news, starting 11
The United States women have all their injured players back to full fitness. Tierna Davidson and Jaedyn Shaw are both back to match availability after missing games previously in the competition, while Emily Fox shook off a late scare in the quarterfinals to start the semifinal victory.
Emma Hayes has leaned extremely heavily on her starters this whole competition, only dipping to the bench when absolutely necessary, but there is one potentially bold change that could throw USWNT fans for a loop. It’s highly unlikely yet still conceivable that Hayes could bench captain Lindsey Horan, who has been largely poor throughout this tournament and was hauled off in extra-time of the semifinal against Germany. If she does make that leap, Korbin Albert would be the likely addition to the midfield.
USA projected starting lineup (4-3-3): Naeher (GK) — Fox, Girma, Davidson, Dunn — Horan, Coffey, Lavelle — Rodman, Swanson, S. Smith.
USA subs (7): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)
Marta is a legend of not only the Brazil women’s team but the sport in general, but there’s a real question for head coach Arthur Elias about whether to start the 38-year-old. She will return from her two-match red card suspension, but her replacement Gabi Portilho scored in both knockout games Marta missed, and she could have done enough to earn a third start, leaving Marta on the bench.
What to do with Marta is far from the only point of debate for Elias in the final, especially up front. Kerolin is a star in her own right, but Jheniffer was preferred in the semifinal instead, leaving the former to enter off the bench and score the clinching goal. Duda Sampaio, Adriana Leal, Gabriela, and Ana Vitoria all came off the bench against Spain but have started at least one previous match in this Olympic tournament.
Brazil projected starting lineup (3-4-3): Leite (GK) — Ferreira, Lauren, Tarciane — Ludmila, Angelina, Yaya, Ribeiro — Kerolin, Portilho, Leal.
Brazil subs (7): (Lineups released one hour prior to kickoff)
USWNT vs. Brazil live stream, TV channel
TV Channel | Streaming | |
USA | USA Network, Telemundo | Fubo USA |
UK | — | Discovery+ |
Australia | — | 9Now, Stan Sport |
Canada | — | CBC app/website |
India | — | JioCinema |
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