U.S. Soccer’s women ran through the Olympic group stage. We predict the rest of their run

This time last year, the U.S. women’s national soccer team was in disarray.

In fact, it was July of last year when Megan Rapinoe, undoubtedly the glue of the roster for close to a decade, announced her intent to retire from professional soccer.I t felt like the piling on of a rapildly-growing series of unfortunate events.

Coming off a FIFA World Cup crown in 2019, things started to unravel as the departures of impact players and an iconic coach in Jill Ellis, who led Rapinoe and the Americans to World Cup glory, was followed by short-lived coaching stints, fresh faces asked to take the reins and uncharacteristic results against countries that wouldn’t have stood a chance against the USWNT in year’s past.

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

So when it was announced that former Chelsea women’s manager Emma Hayes was leaving the English Women’s Super League to take over the reins and attempt to steer a once-feared U.S. side back to prominence, there was doubt.

She wasn’t used to how things operated in the United States, she wasn’t fully indoctrinated into the U.S. Soccer Federation, she didn’t coach on the college ranks in the States before moving onto international soccer.

She wasn’t historically the prototype of what supporters of the team felt brought success.

Yet, here we are a few months into her tenure that has brought the U.S. into the quarterfinals of these Olympic Games with a pristine 3-0-0 record in group play, outsourcing opponents by a combined 9 goals to just 2 by their opposition.

It feels like the U.S. of old, comprised of faces that are might not be new, but are the latest in a crop of American talent tasked with bringing home a gold medal from Paris and putting respect back on the name of a nation that has long prided itself on being the most successful in international women’s soccer for close to 40 years.

Photo by PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images

So close…

Two games remain until the United States are assured at least a gold or silver medal. The potential opponents contain many teams that have leapfrogged the USWNT as all of these changes dropped the perennial world No. 1 to No. 5.

First up, Japan, a nation that has always proved a challenge will be the U.S.’ quarterfinal opponent on Saturday (9 a.m., Peacock). A win puts the U.S. into the semifinal round where it could face one of seven hopefuls, six of which are ranked within the Top 10 of FIFA’s women world rankings.

The quarterfinal group isn’t headlined by the U.S. — but by Spain, the current world No. 1, who also ran through the group stage unfazed.

Prediction time

This is a U.S. team that will medal, it’s just a matter of which one at this point. The prowess of Japan is mighty, but the U.S. is on a tear. Our thoughts? This game doesn’t go into penalties and U.S. the emerge as semifinalists courtesy of a 3-1 defeat.

If that happens, they would move on to play the winner of Canada and Germany on Aug. 6 (noon, ET). The Canadians who have been embroiled in a scandal even before the competition started after using a drone to spy on New Zealand, their opening Group opponent, has led for calls for their coach to stand down.

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Still, the Canadians, who captured gold in the last Summer Games have been resilient, but their luck runs out against a very good and physical German group, setting up a semifinal between the U.S. and the Germans. It’s a semifinal that could go one of two ways: the young legs of Emma Hayes’ roster run all over the systematic game plan of Germany or the Germans stiff defense which has gotten the team to this point, allowing just five goals in the tournament (four of which came in a Group B loss to the U.S.) battle in a game that goes into penalties.

It will all come down to which team can remain calm, beat the keeper and move onto the Aug. 10 Olympic final.

Our prediction? It’s the U.S. vs. Spain, giving the Americans a chance to see how close they are to a side considered the world’s best after capturing the FIFA women’s World Cup crown in 2022. Spain ultimately prevails, but provides the U.S. with a really good look at what it’s going to take for this new era of national team stars to retake their spot as the best in the world — along with a nice consolation prize of bringing a silver medal back to the States.

Final score: Spain 3, USA 2.