USWNT vs Germany live updates (2024)

The USWNT continued their charge for a fifth Olympic gold medal as they got past a stubborn Germany 1-0 after extra time thanks to Sophia Smith's goal.

Boss Emma Hayes will lead her side in the gold medal match at the Parc des Princes on Saturday.

It was 0-0 after 90 minutes in a tight, tense match, but forward Smith lifted a neat, clever finish over Germany goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger to break the deadlock. It would prove the winning goal.

USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, 36, made a fantastic 'starfish' save at the death to deny the Germans a dramatic last-gasp equaliser.

As well as this live blog, you can follow all the action from across every sport, with more medals on offer on the 11th day of the Paris Games, and finals in the boxing and cycling.

Check that out here.

The Germans will play for the bronze medal.

But they are heartbroken they can't go for gold.

Another fan has written in to The Athletic's email, livebloguk@theathletic.com.

Eva Pound said: "With many of us fans disappointed about Alex Morgan's elimination from the U.S. roster ahead of these Olympics, the front three have made up for it in spades.

"They have certainly given us something to be hopeful for yet again, and rung in a new era for the team. Emma Hayes has forced a transition from the giants of Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Julie Ertz, Kelly O'Hara and more.

"As much as all of us tried to hold on to the familiar faces from World Cups and Olympics past, maybe it was time for a fresh start. This team is proving it."

Great to hear from you, Eva!

Great to hear from Zal Robles in our email inbox.

Zal says: "Watching the USWNT play under Emma has been incredible! During last World Cup, there were a lot of discussions about whether the players were limited in their ability to play technical soccer.

"However, under Emma, it has been a treat to see our players are extremely talented and have the skills to play a more technical style of football.

"US Women's Soccer is back!!!"

Since Hayes coached her first friendly in June, we’ve often referred to her rapid acclimation to international management as being a crash course. Simultaneously, the world is watching that process so they can start a seminar of their own: how to beat Hayes’ USWNT.

The Olympic sendoff friendlies seemed to clue at an early theory: park the bus, play defense-first soccer and frustrate the United States until you find a chance to try an attack.

The collective approach of Mexico and Costa Rica wasn’t adopted by many at these Olympics, partially to be expected given the difference between friendlies and competitive tournament games.

Germany tried playing a true proactive style in the group stage against the USWNT and learned a hard lesson. They played with their defensive line far closer to the midfield line than their box, working up the flanks in build-up and sacrificing space in midfield. It didn’t go to plan, as Germany suffered a 4-1 defeat.

Needless to say, they’d have to to find a different approach if they hoped to make the gold medal match. For 90 minutes, it looked as though they may have pulled it off, until the USWNT’s Smith had her say.

In a tournament run otherwise lauded for the performance of three attackers, the United States’ semifinal instead showcased a defender at the top of her game.

Since Becky Sauerbrunn was ruled out for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the USWNT backline has been Naomi Girma’s to lead. Girma only debuted as a professional in 2022, yet patrols the defensive third with the kind of composure and all-around excellence that’s more commonly expected from a grizzled veteran.

The United States has relied heavily on her ability on the ground and in the air alike throughout this tournament, especially as her central partner has had to alternate between Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett due to injury concerns around the former.

Throughout Tuesday’s shift, Girma checked all the boxes for a prototypical modern center back. The most confounding part of this all is that Girma only just turned 24 in June.

It isn’t unrealistic to think that she could sustain (or build upon) playing at this caliber for another decade, and she’s bound to refine some technical aspects and pick up some more savvy decision-making as she logs more minutes.

At this stage, it shouldn’t be questioned whether she’s among the world’s best defenders — that much has become clear. In fact, she may be one of the finest players at any position anywhere on this planet.

After 90 minutes of a stalemate against Germany, Smith finally broke open Ann-Katrin Berger’s stolid goalkeeping as she pounced on a lovely through pass from Swanson and, with a little turbo boost, was able to get her foot to the ball and one-time it into the goal.

Berger was coming off of her line to collect and Smith was just that much faster nearly 100 minutes into a hot evening game in Lyon. It was reminiscent of Rodman’s own tiebreaker in extra time against Japan, both goals came from a deep reserve of something that seems beyond just competitive mentality.

Every player on the field is competitive, but Smith, alongside Swanson and Rodman, and backed up against Germany by substitute Lynn Williams, were clearly digging up effort and energy from unknown depths.

Smith went to the huddle after the first fifteen minutes of extra time massaging her right thigh with a light grimace, but you’d never guess she was in discomfort from her performance on the field.

It was truly the marriage of the classic “if we can’t outplay you we’ll outlast you” American mentality with players who actually could still outplay the opposition. No brute force emergency goal for Smith and Swanson but the same balanced one-two punch they’ve been assembling against teams for months.

The best things come in threes and the U.S. women’s national team front three is no exception. On Tuesday in the Olympic Games semifinal, it was Sophia Smith who scored the winning goal. Collectively, Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson have contributed to 10 of the team’s 11 goals this tournament.

By now it’s clear U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes wants to ride her chosen starting XI as far as they can go. The team had some forced rotation when defender Tierna Davidson returned from injury and midfielder Sam Coffey returned from yellow card suspension.

Davidson only played one half, though, substituted for Emily Sonnett at halftime. Another key player, midfielder Rose Lavelle, came off in the 60th minute for forward Lynn Williams, perhaps nursing some foot or ankle tenderness from a hard block in the quarterfinal against Japan.

For their part, Germany didn’t look the freshest either, which seemed to manifest in a highly physical game with plenty of shoves and barges. Was it by design to frustrate the U.S. and break up any attempt at rhythm? Was it just the clumsiness of exhaustion? Perhaps a bit of both?

Regardless of intent, it did chop up the United States’ flow, although it couldn’t fully stop them from finding space behind Germany’s back line. But for all that Rodman and Swanson were able to access the final third, the U.S. had a lot of trouble converting those entries into quality chances.

USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher’s kick save in the final minute of extra time helped seal the victory for the U.S. And below, The Athletic's Jeff Rueter and Steph Yang take us through the game that the U.S. earned a spot in its first gold medal match in 12 years. Enjoy!

They play either Brazil or Spain in the gold medal match.

Brazil face Spain at 3pm ET, 12pm/midday PT, 9pm local time, 8pm BST tonight.

That's kicking off shortly.

We want to hear from you!

Any thoughts, comments, questions or observations from that super Olympic soccer semifinal?

Contact us at: livebloguk@theathletic.com and we'll feature the best responses in this live blog.

So get typing!

Alyssa Naeher, the USWNT goalkeeper, you deserve those hugs all right.

As Steph pointed out, replays showed the true extent of the brilliance of that late save.

After Buhl's free-kick from close range was blocked by the wall, it was chipped up to the back post, where two Germany attackers were lining up to put it in. They both looked offside, they were both onside.

It was flicked goalwards, but Naeher, with a 'starfish' jump reminiscent of former Manchester United men's goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel to block it with the toenail of her outstretched left foot.

Clutch.

Safe to say the USWNT's official X account is pretty hyped.

And why not?

They've done it!

The USWNT have beaten Germany 1-0 after extra time, thanks to Sophia Smith's goal, the only goal of the game.

'Freed from Desire' from Gala pumps out of the speakers in Lyon, the soundtrack to United States joy and German dejection.

How??

Alyssa Naeher somehow starfishes out and blocks a point-blank header rebounding off of a free kick with her foot in mid-air.

There's really not much else to do but boggle at the save.

120' USWNT 1-0 Germany

Oh my goodness. Smith, after giving away the dangerous free kick at the other end, bursts forward on the counter-attack and Germany are caught cold with only two back.

Smith uses her acceleration to sashay past them both, she's one-on-one... but well saved by Ann-Katrin Berger! Berger has been very good today and makes another clutch save to keep the game going.

One minute of added time...