The U.S. women's soccer team has won its fifth Olympic gold after besting Brazil 1-0 at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday.
The teams headed into halftime at a draw, with the first half being largely dominated by Brazil. But the U.S. came back in the second with a vengeance, and Mallory Swanson snagged the game's only goal in the 57th minute.
It was a fitting end for the U.S women's national team's undefeated international run — its first under new coach Emma Hayes.
Hayes had only been at the helm since May, and though faced with a team who'd lost out on the Women's World Cup last year earlier than ever, she quickly revitalized the spirits and skills of a younger roster into a cohesive unit, albeit after some big decisions along the way.
One of those decisions was trading out veteran players, like Alex Morgan, to create units like her forward trio: Swanson, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman. The "triple espresso" scored 10 of the 12 U.S. goals in the Olympic games.
This is the women's team's first Olympic gold since its 2012 win in London. It took bronze three years ago in Tokyo and lost to Sweden in the 2016 Rio Games' quarterfinal.
Brazil has never won an Olympic gold — or a World Cup — but there were a few close calls in Saturday's game, including a goal in the 15th minute that ended up being offsides. And during 10 minutes of stoppage time, a one-handed save from goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was the only thing keeping out a header goal.
The game is expected to be the last major international game for six-time world player of the year, Marta. Brazil's captain is seen as one of the best footballers of all time.
