USWNT vs Zambia live updates (2024)

• Rodman opened scoring (17') for USWNT with great skill move.
• Swanson scored twice in two minutes (24' & 25') to give U.S. big lead.
• Zambia's Zulu sent off (34') for denying Smith a scoring opportunity.

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The Olympics are definitely a different beast than the World Cup — there are no press conferences until the medal games, so Emma Hayes stepped into the mixed zone to speak to media tonight at Stade de Nice. The mood was pretty good, as you could expect.

"The first 45 minutes, probably the first part of the first half was exceptional," the USWNT manager told us. "To come out the way we did: the intention, the intensity, the decision-making, the execution. Should have been at least five at half time, but the crossbar and two goal-line clearances helped them. There were things within our structures I didn't like in the first half, but that's easy fixes. That's just me, being persnickety as a coach."

She also gave a special shoutout to center backs Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson off the bat for shutting down Barbra Banda so effectively.

Any worries about a scoring drought for the U.S. women’s national team went out the window in a matter of eight minutes as the team opened its 2024 Olympic tournament with a 3-0 win over Zambia in Nice.

The U.S. might have put fans back into a nervous sweat to start the game as chance after chance fell by the wayside in the opening 15 minutes, including a first-minute close-range attempt by captain Lindsey Horan, but forward Trinity Rodman quelled those concerns with a spin move and finish on 17 minutes. Mallory Swanson followed up a few minutes later with two goals in roughly 60 seconds to erase any remaining doubt.

That trio of first-half goals and a red card shown to Zambia’s Pauline Zulu on 34 minutes was all the U.S. needed to open its 2024 Olympics bid with three points. The early dominance gave head coach Emma Hayes the freedom to take Sophia Smith and Rose Lavelle off before the second half began — the former due to injury concerns — and add on additional defensive and offensive strength. The second half lacked the energy of the opening half-hour and was more about managing the game and player health, with an eye on Sunday’s meeting with Germany in Marseille.

Jeff Rueter and Steph Yang have broken down the game, follow the link below to check out their analysis.

Although the USWNT may have left some goals on the table, there are many positives to take from this match. The squad’s more untested members have a major tournament game under their belt, which should ease nerves against stauncher opposition. The front-three of Swanson, Smith and Rodman looked incredibly difficult to contain before Smith’s exit, and her status will be closely monitored between now and Sunday.

Before the match kicked off, the USWNT knew its toughest rivals in Group B (Germany) opened their tournament with a 3-0 victory. Having now matched that feat, the United States are on level footing heading into Sunday’s match that could prove decisive for the group standings. Goal difference is the primary tiebreaker in the Olympics, so matching Germany’s three-goal margin of victory will minimize that factor.

It’s a lot simpler to type than it is to achieve, but if the United States can win against Germany on Sunday, they will be in prime position to win Group B and face the second-place finisher in Group A. With Germany missing midfield anchor Lena Oberdorf after an ill-timed knee injury last week, look for Hayes to try beating the Germans in transition.

Read on at the link below

Substitution patterns introduced a few questions. Sophia Smith left the match in the 43rd minute and was replaced by Lynn Williams, which makes you wonder if that was planned or not. We all know rotation is the watchword but it’s a somewhat unusual substitution time, so perhaps Smith indicated she had some kind of issue and given the scoreline and bench depth, they felt they could afford to pull her early.

A more expected, but very intriguing, change came in the 65th minute with Rodman, Swanson, and Horan out for Casey Krueger, Nighswonger, and Emily Sonnett. Again, a 3-0 scoreline against a team playing with 10 players gives you more breathing room than normal, but seeing Nighswonger move into the midfield was a real “Oh, so it’s like that?” moment from Hayes. Until now, if you saw Krueger and Nighswonger coming in you’d assume it was fullback rotation and Dunn would be getting shuttled higher up the field. Instead, we got Nighswonger slotted into Horan’s role above Coffey, looking to work the left side of the field with Krueger.

We didn’t get an inkling of that intention during the previous four friendlies but Hayes has always been cagey with her tactics, often refusing to answer tactical questions from the media. This feels like something she was keeping in her pocket for just such an occasion as a limited roster.

Read on at the link below

To say that Zambia was already playing with their backs against the proverbial wall when the whistle blew would be an understatement. The day’s underdog was already down 3-0 in the 30th minute when defender Pauline Zulu fouled Smith outside the box, earning a yellow card while giving the USWNT a free kick from roughly 20 yards out.

There was a bit of confusion to see the VAR process activated, as the foul was clearly a couple of yards beyond the edge of the box. However, video review deemed that Zulu’s challenge came while she was the final defender between Smith and goal. Brazilian center official Ramon Abatti intensified his call from a yellow card to a red. Zulu’s heartbreak was visible for all to see as she exited the pitch — an awful way to end a game which had begun as a career highlight for the 21-year-old center back.

Read on at the link below

A pair of well-taken finishes helped Swanson triple the USWNT lead in the span of a minute. It put them in firm control before the game was even a third completed, and was a hard-earned reward for Swanson’s long road to recovery.

Read on at the link below

Trinity Rodman demonstrated her trademark pullback move to bamboozle her defender and, in the time it takes a particle collider to split an atom, spun and scored the first U.S. goal of these Olympic Games in the 17th minute. It was a well-deserved opening after the U.S. had hammered at Zambia’s goal for 15 minutes straight, including two attempts off the crossbar and a first-minute toe-poke from Lindsey Horan that went just wide.

But underpinning Rodman’s goal was a nice buildup from forward Sophia Smith and midfielder Horan as they took advantage of Zambia’s ragged defensive line and quickly exploited space in the final third, with Horan playing the final ball through two defenders for Rodman on the run. It was the kind of fast, don’t-think-about-it-just-execute fluid passage of play that the team has been looking for in the past few months.

Read on at the link below

This was the first time the USWNT played Zambia, making them the 58th different opponent in the team's history.

The U.S. has now won each of its last 33 matches when playing against an opponent for the first time!

As the pass network above illustrates, captain Lindsey Horan was the USWNT's most valuable passer in this match.

With assists at 17' for Trinity Rodman and 24' for Mallory Swanson, Horan became the first player in USWNT history to record two assists in the opening 30 minutes of a major-tournament match.

As the graph above illustrates, the USWNT's accumulation of expected goals slowed down significantly in the second half, preventing them from adding to their 3-0 halftime lead.

In the 2023 Women's World Cup, they also opened the tournament with 3-0 win over an unfancied opponent, Vietnam in that case, when they could have run up the score further. It nearly cost them in 2023, as they were a late Portugal chance in their group-stage finale away from failing to reach the knockout stage.

The good news here is that the Olympics has a more forgiving group-stage format, allowing two of the three third-placed teams to advance to the knockout stage in addition to the top two teams from every group.

An absolutely dominant performance by the USWNT.

You can find definitions of terms like "field tilt" and "PPDA" at the link below.

With the USWNT and Germany both recording dominant wins today, their matchup on Sunday will go a long way towards deciding who wins Group B.

Sunday July 28

• United States vs Germany in Marseille
• Australia vs Zambia in Nice

Wednesday July 31

• Australia vs United States in Marseille
• Zambia vs Germany in Saint-Etienne

Identical wins for the U.S. and Germany today make for an evenly-matched table.

• United States: 3 points, +3 goal difference, 3 goals for
• Germany: 3 points, +3 goal difference, 3 goals for
• Australia: 0 points, -3 goal difference, 0 goals for
• Zambia: : 0 points, -3 goal difference, 0 goals for

90+4' USWNT 3-0 Zambia

Albert tries for his first career international goal, hitting a powerful shot from the top of the Zambia box, but her effort is straight at Musole.

90+1' USWNT 3-0 Zambia

We're into four minutes of second-half stoppage time here.