After a 4-1 win over Germany, The U.S. Women’s National Team is into the quarterfinals of the Olympics, but Team USA still has to wrap up group play and secure their seeding spot. Sophia Smith had a pair of goals in that win over Germany.
Team USA now turns its attention to Australia, the third ranked team in AFC heading into the Olympic tournament. The Australian side has one win and one loss in the tournament, falling to Germany in its opener, but beating Zambia in a high-scoring 6-5 contest, after trailing 4-2 at half time. The Matildas need a win or draw to stay in contention for a spot in the quarterfinals in addition to getting some help in the Germany-Zambia matchup.
The two nations met twice at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 — a 0-0 draw to close the group stage and a 4-3 Team USA win in the bronze medal match. Australia has never medaled at the Olympics, while the USWNT is looking for a fifth gold medal and first since 2012 in London.
How to watch the USWNT vs. Australia game:
Date: Wednesday, July 31
Time: 1 p.m. ET/ 10 a.m. PT
TV channels: USA Network, Telemundo (with an encore at 12 a.m. ET on USA)
Streaming: Peacock
Stay with Yahoo Sports for live updates and full coverage as the USWNT takes on Australia to close group play at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Live18 updates
Korbin Albert extends the lead!
It’s a goal for Korbin Albert! She gives the U.S. an insurance goal to put them up 2-0 as the clock continues ticking down.
These subs are extra important considering Emma Hayes didn’t rotate starters today. Not disagreeing with the decision, it’s just the Olympic tournament is more physically taxing than the World Cup and as great as the XI’s been, they need to steal breathers
We just hit the 60-minute mark in the match and the score is still 1-0. There’s been a lot of running and kicking, but not a whole lot of action near either goal.
We’re back!
Let’s see if the USWNT can hold on to or even increase their 1-0 lead over Australia, or if the Matildas will fight back and score a goal of their own.
We’re at halftime! USWNT still leads 1-0 — though according to the broadcast, a VAR failure may be why. A technical failure may also be why the VAR check took much, much longer than normal.
It was a tense few minutes during that VAR review, but the goal stands and the U.S. holds on to its lead.
10 minutes of stoppage time has been added to the clock before the end of the half, mostly due to the recent pause to check the goal.
GOAL! USWNT LEADS 1-0!!
They’ve broken the stalemate! The USWNT, thanks to excellent work from Trinity Rodman, scores the first goal of the match and now leads Australia 1-0.
So close!!
The USWNT was so close to going up 1-0 during that free kick. Australia’s keeper managed to snag the ball just in time, but it’s the nearest Team USA has gotten to scoring against the Matildas in this match.
Very interesting that Sam Coffey got a yellow card just four minutes into the match, but several Matildas are fouling at will and the USWNT can’t seem to get a call…
The USWNT has been dominating the possession battle so far, but it hasn’t led to a ton of chances for them yet
Australia is in a five-back but the #USWNT has still found a way through early. Encouraging if your the U.S. longtime struggles against compact defenses. As ever, that final piece is of necessity. There are goals to be scored in this game.
We’re underway! And pretty quickly Sam Coffey gets a yellow card — though it was pretty soft. She’ll miss the USWNT’s next match.
4′ 🟨 – YELLOW:
Sam Coffey goes into the book for an early tackle. She will miss the next match.
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) July 31, 2024
Australia’s starting XI
And here’s the starting XI for the Matildas
The USWNT will be wearing their white tops and blue shorts for the match today, so it’ll be pretty easy to tell them apart from Australia’s players, who will likely be wearing their familiar green shorts and yellow tops.
USWNT vs. Australia is less than one hour away
Good afternoon! Are you ready for the powerful USWNT to take on the Matildas of Australia to close out group B at 1:00 p.m. ET? Because the players are more than ready.
