America’s World Cup campaign ended in heart-chilling penalty shootouts against Sweden on Sunday night after a scoreless draw. Sweden beat the two-time defending champions 5-4 on penalties, after Sophia Smith, Kelly O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe failed to score during penalty kicks.
The loss was especially painful for Rapinoe — who is retiring, and according to many, is the most important US soccer player of the last two decades.
Rapinoe was comforted by the team’s captain Lindsey Horan and defender Julie Ertz on the field at the end of the round of 16 match.
The 38-year old told reporters after the match, “I mean, this is like a sick joke. For me personally, this is like dark comedy that I missed a penalty.”
“This is the balance to the beautiful side of the game. I think it can be cruel.”
“I’m ready in a lot of ways to be done,” she continued. “I feel at peace with that. So it’s sad but I’m OK. I feel really proud, really proud of this team, really proud of all the players I’ve played with. I’ve just loved every moment of my career.”
“I’ll just miss it to death, but it also feels like the right time. And that’s OK.”
Captain Alex Morgan said the team was “devastated.”
“It feels like a bad dream,” she said. “The team put everything out there tonight. I feel like we dominated, but it doesn’t matter. We’re going home and it’s the highs and lows of the sport of soccer. So, yeah, it doesn’t feel great.”
US coach Vlatko Andonovski said he was “…proud of the women on the field.”
“I know we were criticized for the way we played, and for different moments in the group stage,” he said. “I think we came out today and showed the grit, the resilience, the fight. The bravery showed we did everything we could to win the game. And, unfortunately, soccer can be cruel sometimes.”
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Sweden’s forward Lina Hurtig shot the winning spot-kick of the match, despite US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher arguing that she had saved the attempt.
The result had to be confirmed by video assistant referee (VAR), a decision which Naeher described as “tough”.
“We just lost the World Cup by a millimeter,” she said. “I am proud of the fight of the team. We knew we hadn’t done our best in the group stage and we wanted a complete team performance and the team came out and played great.”
US defender Julie Ertz said her team “didn’t put anything in the back of the net.”
“The penalties were tough,” she said. “It’s just emotional because it’s probably my last game ever. It’s just tough. It obviously sucks. Penalties are the worst.”
Ertz commended her teammates, especially Rapinoe.
“It’s been a journey with her,” Ertz said. “She’s been an incredible player for so long. I just wanted to make sure I was able to tell her that.”
Forward Lynn Williams added, “I don’t think there’s enough words to talk about Megan and her impact on this sport.”
“From equality, to human rights, the list goes on and on,” she said after the match. “So that’s going to sting a little bit, not to see her on this team and wearing the crest anymore. I can’t wait to see what she’s going to do in her next life, her next career.”
Sweden now faces Japan in the Quarter Finals on Friday. The loss to Sweden marks the US team’s earliest exit in tournament history — their worst previous finishes had been third place.
The team won the last two tournaments, and have clinched four titles overall — the most of any nation.
Rapinoe didn’t play a major role during this World Cup campaign — subbing for the team’s first match against Vietnam, which they won, 3-0 and marking her 200th appearance with the team.
Rapinoe has scored a total of 63 goals during her 202 overall appearances for the US.
Last month, when she announced she would be retiring after the World Cup, the venerated activist and sports icon told reporters, “I wish we were moving on and I could guarantee a championship and all that,” she said. “But it doesn’t take anything from this experience, or my career in general.”
“I feel so lucky and so grateful to play as long as I have, and to be on the successful teams that I have.”
At the previous World Cup in 2019, Rapinoe was awarded both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball for the best overall player, scoring six goals in total — including the penalty in a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final.
In the same year, she won the Ballon d’Or and the Best FIFA Women’s Player awards — the game’s highest individual honours. In 2020, she published a best-selling memoir, “One Life” – recounting her life growing up in Redding, California and her journey to becoming the first female member of the US national team to come out publicly as gay.
Rapinoe’s legacy will extend beyond the reaches of the sports fields — she has used her professional platform to spotlight social issues such as LGBTQI+ rights, equal pay for female athletes, abortion rights and Black Lives Matter.
Last year, she was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by President Joe Biden.
Rapinoe wrote on her socials last month, “I never could have imagined the ways in which soccer would shape & change my life forever.”
Vice President Kamala Harris responded, “A champion on and off the field. You have changed the game of soccer, been a role model for millions, and fought tirelessly for equality.”