USWNT Clinches Its Spot For Paris 2024 With A 1-0 Win Over Canada
by Michael Lewis
Alex Morgan celebrates after scoring her team's first goal during the finals against Canada as part of the 2022 Concacaf W Championship on July 18, 2022 in Monterrey, Mexico.
A year after losing to Canada in the semifinals of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the U.S. women’s soccer team was able to get its revenge and clinch a spot in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Monday night.
The U.S. beat Canada 1-0 to capture the Concacaf W Championship at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico.
Alex Morgan converted a penalty kick in the 78th minute for the Americans, who won the Concacaf title for the ninth time and qualified for the Olympics for the eighth time.
In some respects, the game mirrored the Olympic semifinals. The Canadians prevailed on Jessie Fleming's 75th-minute penalty kick and went on to win the gold medal while the four-time Olympic champion Americans settled for a bronze.
This game also was decided by a penalty kick about the same time.
Second-half substitute Allysha Chapman fouled Rose Lavelle in the box, rewarding the Americans with a penalty kick. Morgan powered her attempt to the lower right corner as goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan — Morgan’s San Diego Wave FC teammate — dove in the opposite direction.
It was Morgan's third goal of the competition after scoring twice in a 3-0 win over Haiti in the tournament opener on July 4. She was named Player of the Tournament after the final.
Morgan’s penalty was the first goal Sheridan and the Canadians conceded in five matches in the competition.
U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made a save on the final play of the game late into stoppage time, securing a fifth-straight shutout for the Americans in the competition.
But the streak dates back much further than just this tournament. The Americans haven't allowed a goal in qualifying since a 2-1 semifinal loss to Mexico on Nov. 5, 2010 — 4,273 days ago.
The Canadians will now play Jamaica — 1-0 extra time winners over Costa Rica in the third-place match — in September 2023 for Concacaf’s only other participant in the 2024 Games.
The top-four finishers have all qualified for next year's FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand by reaching the semifinals of this tournament.
Michael Lewis #
Michael Lewis, who covers soccer for Newsday, has written about the sport for four decades and has written six books about soccer. He is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.