VANCOUVER, Canada—Carli Lloyd scored a hat trick in the first 16 minutes of the game, and the United States went on to blitz Japan 5–2 to win their third FIFA Women’s World Cup. It was the highest scoring final ever in a FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The final was billed as a battle between the power and strength of the Americans against the possession and highly technical game of the Japanese. It was a rematch of the 2011 final played in Germany, which Japan won in a penalty shootout.
But on this day, as the score indicates, the U.S. team was too strong for Japan and reasserted itself as the top team in women’s football.
Captain Leads by Example
The bigger the game was, the more Lloyd stepped up. It all started for Lloyd against Colombia in the Round of 16 when she scored the second penalty awarded to the U.S. after Abby Wambach missed the first.
Lloyd scored the game’s only goal in the quarterfinals against China. In the semifinal against Germany, Lloyd recorded a goal and an assist. Lloyd won the Golden Ball award for the tournament’s MVP. She narrowly lost out on the Golden Boot award as she was tied with Celia Sasic of Germany on goals and assists, but played more minutes than the German.
