The U.S. is embracing the increased competition at this year’s Women’s World Cup and the team will keep pushing its limits as it chases a record third straight title, midfielder Kristie Mewis said on Monday.
The U.S. has won the World Cup four times – in 1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019. This year, it is in Group E and its campaign begins with a match against first-timers Vietnam on Saturday. The Netherlands and Portugal are also in the group.
The U.S. is the strong favorite to win the title in Australia and New Zealand, but an expanded pool of teams, 32 to be specific, means the Americans will face more competition this time in their quest for glory.
This year’s World Cup is the biggest so far with 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four teams each. The last two editions of the World Cup featured 24 teams.
European champions England, former world champions Germany, Sweden, France, and co-hosts Australia are all among the contenders for the title this time but Mewis is confident the U.S. will be able to successfully defend the title.
“It’s incredible. I think it’s such a good thing,” Mewis told reporters about the increased competition at the tournament. “This is what we want, we want all women’s teams to get better and better, and we want to get better and better. It’s such a (good) time to be in women’s sports and to be following women’s sports.
“We encourage it but obviously we still want to be the best so we’re going to keep pushing the limit and everybody else can try to follow us. It’s always tough being at the top because everyone’s chasing you and giving you their best game, but there’s no place you’d rather be.
“You want to be at the top, you want to be the best team. It’s definitely hard at times but this team historically has handled it so well and been consistent with it.”
The U.S., coached by Vlatko Andonovski, will play all of its group matches in New Zealand.
Since winning the World Cup in 2019, the U.S. has played 65 games as part of its preparation – the highest number of games played by any World Cup participant.
The U.S. roster for the World Cup features veterans Alex Morgan, Kelley O’Hara and Megan Rapinoe as well as youngsters such as Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Alyssa Thompson.
The U.S. is making its ninth appearance at the Women’s World Cup and it is one of seven countries to appear in all nine editions of the tournament.
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