Knocked out. Sweden bounces top-ranked U.S. out of the Women’s World Cup in penalties

The U.S. Women’s National Team suffered a narrow loss in a penalty shootout against Sweden, leading to their earliest ever departure from the Women’s World Cup.

The backdrop: The closely contended match ended in a penalty shootout after neither team scored during the 90-minute regulation time and half-hour of extra time.
* The U.S. and Sweden, ranked first and third respectively, clashed in the first-ever knockout round encounter between the two, despite their seven previous World Cup meetings.

Highlights of the match: Both teams created scoring opportunities throughout the game, with US forward Trinity Rodman and captain Lindsey Horan both coming close to scoring.
* In addition to their strong offensive performance, U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher also thwarted several Swedish attempts at goal.
* Despite the U.S.’s dominance throughout the match, they were unable to find the net, leading to the decisive penalty shootout.

The deciding moment: The match was resolved by a penalty kick shootout, where Sweden narrowly edged out the U.S.
* After a series of matched penalty kicks and misses by both teams, the conclusive penalty shot by Sweden’s Lina Hurtig narrowly crossed the goal line, despite Naeher’s attempt to save it.
* This defeat marked the end of the road for the top-ranked U.S. team in the tournament.

What’s next: The victory advances Sweden to the quarterfinals against Japan, while the U.S. team, winners of the previous World Cup, head home.

View original article on NPR

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