MARSEILLE, France — The U.S. women's soccer team has looked dominant through the first two games of the Paris Olympics, beating Zambia 3-0 and then beating Germany 4-1. Now U.S. women's soccer, which includes Portland Thorns players Sophia Smith and Sam Coffey, will round out their commanding group play against Australia.
MacKenzie Arnold, who also plays for the Thorns, is representing Australia at the Olympics.
Heading into this game, the revamped Team USA has been a force to be reckoned with through the Olympics so far, leading all teams in goals and goal differential. After a worrisome preseason saw them narrowly escape Mexico and draw to Costa Rica, the U.S. has showed out, soundly beating Zambia and cruising past one of the four teams ranked above them in the FIFA World Rankings, Germany.
Thorns forward Smith bounced back from an injury suffered against Zambia rather quickly, as she scored a pair of goals in the first half against Germany to put the U.S. up 3-1 at the end of the first half.
Now for their final game of group play, Team USA will take on Australia at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Australia has never placed on the podium at either the World Cup or the Olympics, though during the last two, they have been knocking on that door. In 2023 at the World Cup, the Matilda's placed fourth on their homeland, falling to Sweden in the third-place match. During the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the U.S. beat Australia 4-3 in the bronze medal game.
This game is a must-win for Australia, as they lost 3-0 to Germany and then beat Zambia in a wild game where they were down 5-2 and came back to win 6-5.
Australia's offensive firepower is comparable to the U.S. (scoring six goals in a game is no small feat, no matter who the opponent). However, they are missing star forward Sam Kerr, who injured her ACL earlier this year.
Despite the Australians offensive weaponry, the U.S. are favorites to win and sweep the group stage.
Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson combine for a three-headed monster on the attacking side and are responsible for six of Team USA's tournament-high seven goals scored so far.
The U.S. women have already qualified for the quarterfinals, which start on Aug. 3, leading the group with six points as well as a goal differential of +6, it will be nearly impossible for either Germany or Australia to dethrone them atop the group.
If you are looking for a place to watch around Portland, The Sports Bra, a sports bar which only plays women's sports, will be opening earlier on Wednesday to accommodate the U.S. game start time of 10 a.m. Since it opened in 2022, the Sports Bra has been hosting watch parties for the U.S. Women's National Team, including hosting a watch party at Pioneer Courthouse Square during the 2023 World Cup.
Where to watch from home:
TV: E! Network
Streaming: Peacock
