The United States' Women's World Cup title defence is over. Defeated by Sweden on penalties after a frustrating 0-0 draw across the preceding 120 minutes, in the end it took one of the most dramatic shootouts ever to do it. After Sweden missed two of its four kicks, the U.S. was 3-2 up and striker Sophia Smith had a chance to win it, only to put her effort wide. Goalkeepers Alyssa Naeher and Magdalena Ericksson then kept each side alive before U.S. defender Kelley O’Hara, brought off the bench late on to take a penalty, smacked an effort onto the post. With a chance to win it for Sweden, Lina Hurtig stepped up and Naeher seemingly saved her effort. Only she didn't. Batting the ball away from goal after the low shot, Naeher thought she had kept it out; the referees convened, and VAR determined that the effort had crossed the line by a matter of millimeters. In the game, Sweden wasn't good at all and didn't deserve to advance on the balance of play. The United States produced more. But in a repeat of the 2016 Rio Olympics quarterfinal, Sweden was able to grind out a result and hold its nerve when it mattered most. Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Mucovic kept her side in it during normal time as she produced one of the finest goalkeeping performances the World Cup has ever seen, denying wave upon wave of USWNT efforts on goal (22 shots in total, 11 on target). The moment the game went to penalties, it felt almost inevitable that Sweden would be the one to advance. How could it not? Musovic had been irrepressible the entire game, producing saves that seemed to deny all rhyme and reason. Sweden might not have deserved this, but she did. And for the first time since 2011, the USWNT lost a game at a World Cup. A tournament defined by surprises, underdogs and new nations announcing themselves will now crown a new world champion.
