Welcome to your daily 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup update, or Women’s World Cupdate, where we recap the past day’s proceedings from France while previewing what is still to come. These features will run every morning throughout the duration of the tournament and feature highlights, major news, and much more from France.
Here’s What Happened: Sunday, July 7th
It wasn’t always the prettiest soccer, but the United States capped off another dominating tournament with probably their best performance of the knockout rounds to defeat the Netherlands and complete the successful defense of their title from four years ago.
United States 2-0 Netherlands

Four years after lifting the Women’s World Cup trophy in Canada, the United States put on a repeat performance in France with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands to claim the country’s fourth Women’s World Cup title.
It was clear from the very beginning that the United States was the superior of the two sides on the pitch in Lyon, but Dutch goalkeeper Sari van Veenendaal played the game of her life in the first half to keep the match scoreless at halftime, giving her side hope of a second half breakthrough.
That breakthrough never arrived for the Netherlands, but it did arrive for the United States after nearly 60 minutes of constant pressure on the Dutch defense. It wouldn’t have been a true final if VAR had not been involved, and it made its impact in the second half, awarding a penalty kick to the United States after a dangerous tackle in the box. Megan Rapinoe stepped to the spot and dispatched the ball into the back of the net with ease to send the United States in front 1-0 in the 61st minute.
Eight minutes later, the United States effectively put the game away when they doubled their lead in the 69th minute. Rose Lavelle took a pass in the middle of the pitch then did the rest of the work herself to get open and hammer a shot past van Veenendaal to make it 2-0 with 20 minutes remaining.
There was nothing the Dutch could do claw their way back into the game at this point as everything they did to push forward was met with heavy resistance from the American defense. In fact, it was the United States still creating offensive pressure as the Dutch had to further open themselves up to attack.
There would be no further scoring for the United States, but in the end it didn’t matter as they closed at the victory and staked claim as the greatest women’s soccer team to ever exist.
Goals
- Megan Rapinoe | USA (61′ PEN)
- Rose Lavelle | USA (69′)
Highlights
The USA are world champions AGAIN! 🇺🇸🏆
See how the @USWNT got their 4th star in our 90’ in 90” highlights. #BelieveWithUS pic.twitter.com/gXEOwA75zE
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2019
Tournament Awards
Here’s the list of winners of the overall tournament awards handed out on Sunday.
Golden Ball (Best Player)
- Megan Rapinoe (USA)
- Silver Ball: Lucy Bronze (England), Bronze Ball: Rose Lavelle (USA)
Golden Boot (Top Scorer)
- Megan Rapinoe (USA)
- Silver Boot: Alex Morgan (USA), Bronze Boot: Ellen White (England)
Golden Glove (Best Goalkeeper)
- Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands)
Best Young Player (Best player 21 & Under)
- Giulia Gwinn (Germany)
FIFA Fair Play Award (Sportsmanship)
- France
Plays of the Day
INTRO
Megan Rapinoe (United States)
NERVES OF STEEL 💪🇺🇸
Megan Rapinoe scores her 50th international goal from the penalty spot and gives USA the lead in the #FIFAWWC final! pic.twitter.com/gjPpYOrcyl
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2019
Game winner. Golden Boot winner. Championship winner. Megan Rapinoe’s penalty in the 61st minute gave the United States a lead they never surrendered on the way to a fourth Women’s World Cup title.
Rose Lavelle (United States)
ROSE. LAVELLE. 🌹🇺🇸
A beautiful solo effort doubles the @USWNT‘s lead in the #FIFAWWC final! pic.twitter.com/ToznvQiuxb
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2019
There were doubts about Rose Lavelle’s status for this game after leaving with an injury against England in the semifinal. Based on her performance on Sunday, everything seemed quite alright as she delivered a standout solo goal to give the United States some insurance.
Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands)
ERTZ! Second corner for the @USWNT falls to @JulieErtz, who takes it on the half volley but it’s right at Van Veenendaal.
Best chance of the final so far! #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/lmEAAgUMih
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2019
WHAT A SAVE! 😱
Van Veenendaal denies Ertz again from point blank range, then moments later Alex Morgan hits the post! #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/7GPTIccJ2B
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2019
Van Veenendaal is putting on a show! 🇳🇱
The Netherlands goalkeeper makes another fine save on Morgan, and this #FIFAWWC final is goalless going into halftime. pic.twitter.com/5DDVyVjZQH
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 7, 2019
If it wasn’t for Sari van Veenendaal in the first half, the United States could have blown this thing wide open and had everything under wraps before halftime. She kept the American goal scorers at bay for as long as she could to keep her side alive.
Final Bracket
A look at how the bracket looks following the conclusion of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

There you have it, the final bracket of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. It’s the United States rolling through four European sides on the way to their fourth Women’s World Cup title in France.
Final Standings
1st: United States
2nd: Netherlands
3rd: Sweden
4th: England
Here’s What’s Next: Looking Forward
Just because the 2019 Women’s World Cup is over doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of good soccer to look forward too. Besides domestic leagues and tournament resuming in August, there is an already loaded schedule of international soccer on the horizon, beginning as soon as next summer. Both the men and women have a multitude of future tournament on the schedule with the European Championships and Summer Olympics on tap for 2020.
UEFA Euro 2020 (Europe)

This has been a women’s soccer centric content site for the last month, but the men’s game will make a few appearances as we look towards the future. The next major international tournament on the docket is set for next summer as nations from across Europe will bounce around the continent to determine the confederation champion. Play begins on June 12th, 2020 in Rome.
2020 Summer Olympics (Tokyo, Japan)

Next to the Women’s World Cup, the Summer Olympics is the biggest international soccer tournament on the schedule. This tournament consists of only 12 teams compared to 24, but the prize at the end of the road is just as meaningful. Play will begin on July 22nd, 2020 in Japan.
2022 FIFA World Cup (Qatar)

Similar to Russia in 2018, Qatar will become the latest controversial host of of the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Due to Qatar’s desert climate, the tournament will be moved to winter to avoid extreme heat conditions. Play is scheduled to begin on November 21st, 2022.
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (TBD)
As of right now, no host has been selected for the next iteration of the Women’s World Cup set for summer of 2023. Host selection will be announced on March 20th, 2020 with nine countries submitting bids to host the tournament. Those countries include: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and South Korea.
UEFA Euro 2024 (Germany)
Another European championship is slated for the summer of 2024 with Germany playing host. Unless UEFA decides to expand the competition, 24 teams will once again fight for continental supremacy.
2024 & 2026 Summer Olympics (Paris, France & Los Angeles, USA)

via olympics.org
International soccer returns to France for the Summer Olympics in 2024 then heads to the United States for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
2026 FIFA World Cup (USA, Mexico, Canada)

Prior to hosting the summer games in 2028, the United States (with Canada and Mexico) will host the world for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The joint bid between the three nations was awarded the tournament in June 2018. This tournament will see the field of teams expand from 32 to 48 for the first time.
2027 Women’s World Cup (TBD)
FIFA has announced plans for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but the bidding process to host the tournament has not yet been opened. As of this writing the United States, the Netherlands, and a handful of Nordic nations have expressed interest in potentially playing host.
Golden Boot Results
The Golden Boot Award goes to the top goal scorer at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Megan Rapinoe scores the game winner on Sunday and jumps from third to first and wins the Golden Ball on tiebreakers over teammate Alex Morgan and Ellen White of England. Morgan takes home the Silver Ball and White gets the Bronze.
Overall, eight different nations were represented in the final Top-10 and 83 different players recorded at least one goal at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Thus concludes our daily Women’s World Cup content. Congratulations to TEAM on a hard earned and historic victory. We sincerely hope you enjoyed our coverage of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and make sure to check out what else our site offers from sports to pop culture and everything in between. If you enjoy podcasts, consider downloading our show “The FlipCast” with new episodes coming out every week.
We will have a full tournament recap coming later in the week, but until then, au revoir pour le moment. Thanks for reading.