The U.S. women’s soccer team ended the group stages of the 2019 World Cup with a third victory on Thursday, defeating Sweden 2-0.
Despite being the hardest matchup for the Americans yet, the women started off strong and took the lead early on in the game.
The victory was also particularly satisfying for the U.S. as Sweden was the team to eliminate them from the Olympics in 2016, and it marked the first time that the U.S. successfully shut out every opponent during the group phase, according to ESPN.
Nearly three minutes into the game on Thursday, a corner kick by Megan Rapinoe with help from Lindsey Horan put the women up 1-0 — becoming the fastest goal scored in this tournament, NPR reports.
Late in the first half, however, forward Alex Morgan, suffered an injury off a foul and appeared to be in some level of pain for the rest of regulation play. She was eventually replaced on the field by Carli Lloyd in the second half.
The game remained competitive until the beginning of the second half when Tobin Heath impressed fans with her quick footwork and accuracy, making a goal from the far right corner and putting the Americans up 2-0.
Though Sweden put up a solid effort, time eventually ran out and the Americans maintained their perfect 3-0 record in the group phase.
The U.S. team will now move on to the next game, which is scheduled for Monday afternoon at 12 p.m. ET against Spain.
The U.S. team not only destroyed the record for goals and margin of victory in a World Cup match, but Morgan tied another World Cup record by scoring five goals during the game — American Michelle Akers previously performed the impressive feat in a quarterfinal game against Chinese Taipei in 1991.
The women’s national team won the last World Cup in 2015, and they’re looking to defend their title at this year’s tournament, which will crown its winner on July 7.
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