In case you were under a rock, the US women’s national team won the World Cup in record fashion on July 5th. It was a solid 5-2 victory over Japan, who had bested the US in the previous World Cup final.
Japan has a great team, very technical and disciplined. However, Carli Lloyd was on fire, scoring a hat trick within the opening 16 minutes (fastest ever), with an additional goal in that same time frame from Lauren Holiday. Let’s just say I had a pretty good feeling our ladies would win when Lloyd shelled Japan’s goalie from 54 yards out to take our team up 4-0. Japan fought back, but didn’t have enough time or opportunity against a solid defense, even with excellent goal scorers.
What’s more interesting from a marketing perspective is that the game was the second most watched soccer game in US history – coming in only after the final for the men’s World Cup last year, which featured Leo Messi and Argentina vs. the eventual victors, Germany.
In 1999, the last time the US women won the World Cup, 17.9 million Americans watched. This year, 25.4 million were watching. The US women have long been a compelling story, and I’m glad so many people were watching. I can’t wait to see what they can do in 2019.