Paris 2024 Olympics football: Matildas suffer heartbreaking group stage exit after 2-1 loss to USA

The Australian women’s football team bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics after losing its third and final Group B match to the United States by a 2-1 margin at the Marseille Stadium on Wednesday.

Alanna Kennedy (90+1’) scored the consolation goal for Australia after Trinity Rodman (43’) and Korbin Albert (77’) had given the USWNT a two-goal lead.

This was the Matildas’ first group stage exit from an Olympic football tournament since Sydney 2000. The result saw Steph Catley and Co. finish third in their group behind the USWNT and Germany. Zambia finished fourth.

With the top two teams from each of the three groups and the best two third-placed teams from across the groups making the quarter-finals, the Matildas needed results from other groups to go their way to make the cut but unfortunately they didn’t.

Hosts France, USA and Spain made the top eight by winning Group A, B and C, respectively while Canada, Germany and Japan joined them as the second-placed teams. Colombia (0) from Group A and Brazil (-2) from Group C pipped Australia (-3) on goal difference to take the two available berths for third-placed groups.

Incidentally, it was a 4-3 loss to USA in the bronze medal match which ended the Matildas’ bid for a maiden Olympic podium finish at Tokyo 2020.

The Matildas, 12th in the FIFA rankings, began cautiously and focused on keeping their shape at the back in the early exchanges to keep world No. 5 USA at bay.

The Americans threatened to open the scoring nine minutes in but Aussie goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold made a terrific save to keep Trinity Rodman out. Sofia Smith had a second crack from the rebound but hit it over the crossbar.

Despite Tony Gustavsson’s defence first strategy, USA’s wealth of attacking prowess kept Arnold busy under the bar and the 30-year-old made some inspiring saves to keep the scoreline 0-0.

With half-time just around the corner, USWNT finally found a way through from a corner with Rodman applying the finishing touch on a scrappy goal.

The Matildas, going forward, managed a handful of counters with the best of the half chances falling to Mary Fowler around the 25-minute mark but the Aussie forward swept her shot wide of the US goal. The first half ended with the USA leading 1-0.

Despite Australia showing more urgency to find an equaliser after the restart, the second half was a slow burner without any telling chances at either end.

However, with just around a third of the half left, Korbin Albert, a second-half substitute for the USWNT, livened up the game with a stunning long ranger to score her maiden international goal.

USA could have gone 3-0 up minutes later as Sophia Smith’s deflected shot had Arnold rooted to the spot. The ball, however, astonishingly stayed out after bouncing off both posts and the goal-line.

The Americans had a flurry of chances following that but failed to put the game to bed. Going all out to try and get a goal back in the final minutes, Australia did find a goal and from the unlikeliest sources in injury time.

Defender Alanna Kennedy, playing as a makeshift forward, used her substantial height to stretch at full length and booted one in after Michelle Heyman’s header set her up inside the box.

Seconds later, Kennedy almost headed in an Australian equaliser from Heyman’s cross but was whiskers away from making a decisive contact. The miss proved detrimental as the match eventually ended 2-1 in the USA’s favour.

This was the Matildas’ 29th loss to the USWNT. Their only win over the Americans came in a friendly back in 2018.