The U.S. women’s soccer team defeated Germany 1-0 to advance to its first gold medal match at the Olympics since 2012. The U.S.’s Mallory Swanson fights for the ball during the semifinal match on Tuesday at Lyon Stadium in Decines, France.
Laurent Cipriani/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Laurent Cipriani/AP
NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the games head to our latest updates.
PARIS — It took some extra time. But the U.S. women’s national soccer team is back in business and will play for gold at the Olympics.
The U.S. defeated fourth-ranked Germany 1-0 in a semifinal rematch in Lyon. It was scoreless after 90 tense minutes of regulation. But in the 95th minute of extra time, Sophia Smith put the Americans on the board with a sweet shot that darted beyond the reach of the charging German goalkeeper.
Germany was hobbled by the absence of two attackers: captain Alexandra Popp who was sick and forward Lea Schüller who was injured.
The U.S. is the most decorated team in Olympic history. It’s won the most gold and most medals in the history of the Games (four gold, a silver and a bronze). But the U.S. missed the medal round in 2016 at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and had to settle for bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
At the Paris Olympics, the fifth-ranked U.S. sailed through the group stage with victories over Zambia, Germany and Australia. In the quarterfinals, the U.S. had a tougher time against Japan. The two sides didn’t score in regulation and it was Trinity Rodman’s spectacular extra…