10 July 2019 – FIFA.com spotlights the stats behind USA’s triumphant campaign
- Jill Ellis, Alyssa Naeher, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan star
- Goal ratios, shutouts and a birthday feature
48 – minutes is all it took Megan Rapinoe to average a goal or an assist (nine in 428 minutes) – the best ratio of any player at France 2019 to play at least 100 minutes. The adidas Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner was followed by Alex Morgan (54 minutes), Mallory Pugh (59) and Carli Lloyd (65 minutes). The best ratio from a non-American was by Brazil’s Cristiane (75 minutes).
34 – years and two days was the age at which Rapinoe became the oldest markswoman in the Final of a FIFA Women’s World Cup™. She wrested that record from Carli Lloyd, who was 32 years and 354 days against Japan in the Canada 2015 decider.
26 – goals is what USA scored at France 2019 – a record for a team at a Women’s World Cup. USA in 1991 and Germany in 2003 both netted 25 goals. The USWNT’s 18 goals in the group stage, and +23 goal difference, were also competition records.
13 – goals without reply is what USA put past Thailand to surpass Germany’s 11-0 reverse of Argentina as the biggest victory in Women’s World Cup history. It almost doubled the USWNT’s previous personal best: 7-0 over Chinese Taipei in 1991. Alex Morgan hit five against the Thais to tie Michelle Akers’ record for goals in a Women’s World Cup game.
12 – successive Women’s World Cup victories was what USA made it with a reverse of the Netherlands in the decider. The previous record for consecutive wins was the ten Norway achieved between 1991 and 1995. The US also established a new best of 17 matches unbeaten in the competition, eclipsing Germany’s 15-game run from 2003 to 2011.
9 – of Jill Ellis’s players scored at the tournament – one shy of the competition record set by USA in 1999 and Germany in 2003.
7 – consecutive Women’s World Cup matches involved USA scoring inside the first 12 minutes before the Netherlands shut them out until the 61st minute of the Final. The sequence began with Lloyd scoring twice inside the first 12 minutes in the 2015 Final.
6 – straight Women’s World Cup appearances is what Lloyd became the first player to score in. Having been on target in her last four outings at Canada 2015, the 36-year-old produced goals against Thailand and Chile to outrank Birgit Prinz, who netted in five straight games for Germany in 2003.
4 – Women’s World Cups is what USA became the first nation to conquer – double what nearest rivals Germany have.
3 – Women’s World Cup Finals is what German Birgit Prinz was the only player to have appeared in until five Americans – namely Tobin Heath, Ali Krieger, Lloyd, Morgan and Rapinoe – joined her. Prinz and Rapinoe are the only ones to start three deciders.
2 – penalties in a Women’s World Cup match is what Rapinoe became, against Spain, the second player to score. Her Round-of-16 opponent Jennifer Hermoso had become the first against South Africa in the group stage. Rapinoe then bagged a brace against France to become the first player in the tournament’s history to register multiple goals in back-to-back knockout-phase games.
2 – Women’s World Cups is what Jill Ellis became the first coach to win. The 52-year-old is unbeaten in 14 games in the competition (13 wins, one draw).
0 – goals is what USA, with Alyssa Naeher in goal, conceded in the group stage of a Women’s World Cup for the first time. The US managed to go the entire tournament without trailing for the third time, after doing so in 1991 and 2015.
0 – players in Women’s World Cup history had netted on their birthday until Morgan celebrated turning 30 with the winner against England in the semi-finals. It made ‘Baby Horse’, who was on target against France in the last four in 2011, the third player to score in more than one semi-final after German Bettina Wiegmann and Swede Josefine Oqvist.
(source: FIFA.com)