LYON, France — The U.S. women's soccer team beat Germany 1-0 on Tuesday to advance to the Olympic finals against the winner of Spain and Brazil.
After the first 90 minutes, just like the United State's previous match against Japan, the two were in a 0-0 deadlock with both teams being unable to capitalize on chances near the edge of the box.
Four minutes into extra time, Portland Thorns star forward Sophia Smith broke the tie, notching the ball bottom right to put the U.S. up 1-0.
After 25 more minutes of stress-filled gameplay for U.S. fans, Team USA emerged victorious as a few late defensive substitutions locked down the German attack for the U.S. to narrowly pull out a 1-0 victory, sending them to their first Olympic gold medal game since 2012.
The U.S. previously beat Germany 4-1 earlier in the Olympic tournament, however, this game was not much of the same, as neither team was able to capitalize on chances inside the box and could not finish off goal scoring chances.
In head coach Emma Hayes' first major tournament with the U.S., the team has a guaranteed medal no matter the result of the final, a vast improvement from the 2023 World Cup.
Next up, Team USA will take on the winner of Spain and Brazil, who play at 12 p.m. on Tuesday, for the gold medal game on Saturday, August 10 at 8 a.m. PST.