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Kyle Bonn
The 2024 calendar year gave the United States a golden opportunity to return themselves to the top of the women’s football hierarchy after a slip in the previous four-year World Cup cycle.
Following their worst-ever finish at a Women’s World Cup in the summer of 2023, this year’s results promised to determine the future of the USWNT with regards to their place in the global football landscape.
Sure enough, new head coach Emma Hayes led the USWNT to the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, returning them to the top of the podium for the first time since 2012 and securing redemption for last summer. Through it, the retirement of legendary players Alex Morgan and Alyssa Naeher ushered in the chance for a new generation to shine.
The Sporting News takes a full look at what the USWNT accomplished in 2024 as the national team celebrated their summer triumph with a number of other achievements throughout the year.
MORE: Full 2024 schedule for USMNT
2024 was all about transition for the U.S. women.
With Emma Hayes onboarding as the new permanent manager following Vlatko Andonovski’s departure, there was thought to be a period of uncertainty. Twila Kilgore ran the show on an interim basis for the first half of the year, and Hayes will be stepping right into the mix once Chelsea’s season concludes.
Hayes joined the team for the friendlies in the run-up to the summer Olympics, giving her just mere days to get acclimated before the major competition begins in France. A pair of friendlies against South Korea in June were followed by send-off games against Mexico and Costa Rica before the USWNT jets off to France for the Summer Olympic games.
In Europe, they dominated their three-team group with a trio of wins to secure a perfect start to the Olympics, and what followed was a run of three 1-0 victories in the knockout stage to secure the gold medal. Following the conclusion of the Olympics, the U.S. romped through friendlies against Iceland and Argentina in late October, plus England and the Netherlands late in the year.
Through it all, the retirement of Alex Morgan and Alyssa Naeher left huge shoes to fill both on and off the field as two leaders hung up their boots.
MORE: A closer look at the Summer Olympic football draw for USWNT and US U-23 men
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With successful W Gold Cup and SheBelieves Cup title runs in the bag, the USWNT now turn their sights in earnest to the Summer Olympics in Paris, where Emma Hayes will make her competitive debut as head coach following a quartet of pre-tournament friendlies.
MORE: See the full 2024 Summer Olympics draw here for both the USWNT and the U.S. U-23 men
The U.S. was drawn into an intriguing Group B for the 2024 Summer Olympics, alongside European powers Germany and familiar foe Australia, as well as Zambia who qualified after the draw by topping Morocco in early April.
Defending gold medal winners Canada were drawn into Group A alongside hosts France, while the United States were pooled with European powers Germany as well as the Matildas of Australia. Group C is a tough one as well with World Cup winners Spain who are matched up against Japan and Brazil.
After qualifying for the knockout stage as a first-place group finisher, the United States faced Japan in the opening round, followed by a second meeting with Germany in the semifinals.
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Third Place
Final
Competing in the first-ever women’s edition of the storied CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, the United States emerged triumphant, although it was not without a few bumps along the way.
Convening for its first competitive action since the 2023 Women’s World Cup disaster, the U.S. found itself amidst more adversity as they were beaten 2-0 by Mexico in the final match of the group stage. While it did not eliminate them from the competition, the result made their knockout path significantly more challenging and served as a reminder of the previous summer’s failures.
However, the U.S. women recovered admirably and put forth quality performances against Colombia and Canada in the knockout stage, the latter going to a penalty shootout in ridiculous weather conditions, before beating Brazil in the final.
The SheBelieves Cup has been a spring staple for the USWNT since its inception in 2016, but this year’s tournament saw a bit of a shakeup. To fit better with an updated international calendar, the 2024 competition scrapped its old round robin format and instead played out a four-team mini elimination bracket, reducing the number of matches for each team from three to two.
In this manner, the U.S. topped Japan in a hard-fought 2-1 victory in the semifinals, which set up a second meeting northern neighbors Canada in a month. The U.S. would prevail by the same manner they did in the W Gold Cup semifinals just weeks before, collapsing late in a 2-2 draw before emerging victorious in a penalty shootout.
The event brought Twila Kilgore’s interim stint to a successful conclusion and ushered in the Emma Hayes era to come in the summer.
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Kyle Bonn, is a Syracuse University broadcast journalism graduate with over a decade of experience covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in soccer tactics and betting, with a degree in data analytics. Kyle also does TV broadcasts for Wake Forest soccer, and has had previous stops with NBC Soccer and IMG College. When not covering the game, he has long enjoyed loyalty to the New York Giants, Yankees, and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when not watching or covering sports.
