Why the United States Won’t Win the Women’s World Cup
The Women's World Cup is this week, and the United States are big time favorites to win their third straight.
Everyone is singing their praises and Americans are on social media already chalking up another win for the red, white, and blue.
Not so fast, my friends. The rest of the world has caught up to the United States when it comes to women's soccer. Their reign is about to end.
Women's World Cup Odds
Don't bet on USA to Win Women's World Cup
There's nothing more consistent than Americans overrating their soccer teams. It used to be just the men's team, with people on US soil thinking they actually have a chance to go on a run every World Cup.
In the past few editions of the women's World Cup, they were probably justified to assume they'd win, and they were right. But those wins have now caused Americans to wrongfully assume this year's edition is a foregone conclusion.
Here's why you should stay away from betting on them to win this time around.
1. They finished 3rd at the 2020 Olympics
Have we already forgot that just one year after winning their last World Cup, they failed to make the Gold Medal game at the 2020 Olympics. The United States lost to Canada in the semi-finals, but then did best Australia by a final score of 4-3 in the Bronce medal match. Canada would go on to capture win, beating Sweden in penalty kicks.
Not only that but they went just 1-1-1 in the Group Stage. They lost to Sweden by a score of 3-0 in their opening game, and then played Australia to a 0-0 draw.
Hm. Weird.
2. United States' recent results have been poor
Want some results from more recent competitions? Sure.
How about the fact they lost three straight games to end 2022, losing to England, Spain, and Germany by a combined score of 6-2. Yikes.
They've won all their games in 2023, but they were far from dominant. They beat Japan 1-0, Brazil 2-1, Ireland 1-0, and the lowly country of Wales by a final score of just 2-0.
3. USA is missing their top scorer
The United States best player and top goal scorer, Mallory Swanson, suffered an injury in a friendly match in April, and as a result will be missing this year's World Cup.
Their offense is going to suffer greatly as a result.
4. The team is inexperienced
Their experience from winning the 2019 World Cup is probably going to help them this time around, correct? Wrong again.
They have revamped this roster compared to the one that won the last World Cup. Sure, veteran leader Megan Rapinoe is still on the squad, but their average age of player has dropped from 30.8 to 26.
Youth may help in some facets, but this is a team that's largely inexperienced at the international level and is still finding out how to gel with each other.
5. The rest of the World is catching up
A big reasons for the United States dominating Women's soccer for the past number of years has been that their women's developmental programs have been leagues ahead of the rest of the world.
Well, that's not the case any more. European women's leagues are flourishing and countries have started to invest a lot more in their women's athletics. The Women's Super League in the United Kingdom and the German Grauen Bundesliga have become the top women's leagues in the world.
That's bad news for the United States.
It's all over, my friends. The United States dominance of women's soccer is about to come to an end. Don't fall for the hype by betting on the Americans to win their third straight. In fact, I'd encourage you to bet against them on a match by match basis.
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