2023 USWNT FIFA World Cup Loss

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Overview

The 2023 USWNT FIFA World Cup Loss refers to the unexpectedly early defeat of the United States Women's Soccer Team at the 2023 FIFA World Cup to Sweden in the Round of 16. The defeat was considered a stunning upset of the defending champions, and on social media, some Americans celebrated the elimination due to the team controversial, highly publicized legal battle to receive equal pay to the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team in the years prior.

Background

In the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, the normally strong U.S. team looked weaker than usual during the group stage.^[1] In the Round of 16, they fought to a scoreless draw with Sweden and ultimately lost in penalty kicks on August 6th, 2023.^[2] Notably, Megan Rapinoe missed the final penalty kick that sealed the team's fate.

Online Reactions

The defeat was subsequently celebrated by a notable amount of Americans, many of whom disliked the team after it publicly fought to receive equal pay to the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team following the last Women's FIFA World Cup in 2019.^[3]

For example, on August 6th, 2023, following the defeat, former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social^[4] to post about the loss, saying "WOKE EQUALS FAILURE. Nice shot Megan, the USA is going to Hell!!!" The post gained over 10,000 retruths and 40,000 likes in two days (shown below, top). U.S. Soccer Analyst Alexi Lalas^[5] said the team had made themselves "unlikable to a portion of America," gaining over 600 retweets, 1,700 quote-tweets and 7,800 likes in two days (shown below, bottom).

On YouTube, several channels posted videos celebrating the defeat while criticizing the USWNT as "woke." For example, on August 6th, YouTuber Vince Dao posted a video criticizing Rapinoe and the team, gaining over 42,000 views in one day (shown below, left). YouTuber SportsWars did the same, gaining over 95,000 views in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).

A thread inquiring about the unusual reaction by some following the team's elimination was posted on August 6th to Reddit's /r/OutOfTheLoop^[6] subreddit, gaining over 3,200 points in one day.