LYON, France — The United States women’s national soccer team continues in the knockout rounds at the 2024 Paris Olympics today with a semifinal match against Germany. The Americans are looking to win their first Olympic gold since 2012, and so far USA’s big three of Mallory Swanson, Trinity Rodman and Sophia Smith have been producing big results and look to keep that up today.
USA TODAY Sports will bring you live updates, results, highlights, and more throughout the match. Follow along.
USA and Germany kick off at noon ET. USA Network is airing the match, and Peacock is live streaming it.
The USWNT is back to full strength. Tierna Davidson, who missed the last two matches with a leg contusion, is in the starting lineup for Tuesday's Olympic semifinal against Germany. So, too, midfielder Sam Coffey, who missed the quarterfinal win over Japan because of yellow-card accumulation. The rest of the lineup remains unchanged.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Germany is going to be very short-handed against the USWNT.
Already missing star defender Lena Oberdorf, who tore her ACL earlier this summer, Germany will be without veterans Alexandra Popp and Lea Schueller for Tuesday night's Olympic semifinal. Popp is sick, the German federation said, while Schueller has inflammation in a tendon in her left knee.
It's bad news for Germany, which has already lost to the USWNT once in the Olympic tournament. Sophia Smith scored twice and Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams each had a goal in the 4-1 win in the second match of the group stage. The Americans went on to win Group B while Germany advanced as the second-place team.
Defender Tierna Davidson missed the last two games with a leg contusion, but is active again for the USWNT match against Germany. It moves Emily Sams to the alternate list.
The USWNT didn't have to spend much time scouting Germany.
The two teams met last played nine days ago, in the second game of the group stage. It was a 4-1 win for the Americans, with Sophia Smith scoring twice and Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams each getting a goal. That game was the sixth time the USWNT has played Germany in either the World Cup or Olympics, including the semifinals of the 2015 World Cup. The Americans won that and went on to win the first of consecutive World Cups.
And a potentially positive sign for the USWNT: In the previous five meetings between the U.S. and Germany in the knockout rounds of the World Cup or Olympics, the team that's won has gone onto win the entire tournament.
Today is the 37th overall international meeting between the teams.
The USWNT is the most-decorated team in the women's game, with four World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals. But it's been a minute since they've reached the Olympic final.
In Tokyo, the Americans won the bronze medal after falling to eventual Olympic champions Canada in the semifinals. At the Rio Olympics in 2016, the USWNT was knocked out in the quarterfinals, at the time their earliest exit ever at a major international tournament. They "topped" that dubious result last summer, losing in the round of 16 at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The last time the USWNT made the Olympic final was in 2012, when they beat Japan to win their third consecutive gold medal. No players are left from that team.
The U.S has won four Olympic gold medals: 1996, 2004, 2008 and 2012.
The gold medal match is Aug. 10 at 11 a.m. ET.
Naomi Girma is the best of America. In the literal sense, she is U.S. Soccer’s reigning Female Player of the Year and, at just 24, the anchor of the back line for the U.S. women’s national team. She’ll make her Olympic debut with the USWNT on Thursday, a year after playing every minute of every game at the World Cup.
But it’s the figurative sense that’s even more important. Girma is a first-generation American, the daughter of two Ethiopian immigrants. When she dons the jersey with the U.S. crest on the chest, it’s a reminder of the promise this country holds and proof of how much better we are when we welcome, and celebrate, the melting pot of races and cultures that is uniquely American.
“Diversity and embracing other cultures is what makes us so special, and I think that's what has put us ahead for so many years,” Girma said. “I think that's something that we should continue to do.”
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