The U.S. women's team celebrates during a game against the Netherlands on July 30, 2021 in Yokohama, Japan. Photo: Logan Beerman/ISI Photos/Getty Images
The U.S. women's soccer team won the bronze medal on Thursday after beating ninth-ranked Australia 4-3.
Why it matters: Thursday's victory marks the U.S. team's first bronze in Olympic history, handing the team a medal after it failed to earn one during the Rio Games in 2016.
- After Thursday's win, the U.S. women's squad has now won four Olympic gold medals, one silver and one bronze.
Driving the news: U.S. women's team veterans Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd scored two goals each.
The big picture: The U.S. team has seen it all this Olympics — disappointing defeat, overwhelming victory and a nail-biting penalty kick shootout.
- Though not the result the reigning World Cup champions had wanted, they bounced back after a bumpy start to the Games.
- The U.S. team lost to Sweden 3-0 in the team's Olympic debut and then overwhelmed New Zealand 6-1.
- The U.S. women's soccer team faced Australia during the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics, where they eked out a 0-0 tie — just enough to earn them a spot in the quarterfinals.
- The U.S. then beat the Netherlands in a penalty kick shootout before losing to Canada 1-0 on Monday.
What's next: Though the U.S. women's soccer team's Olympic run is over, Canada plays Sweden in the gold medal match Friday morning at 8 a.m. ET.
- The gold medal match was originally scheduled for Thursday at 10 p.m., but was rescheduled after Sweden and Canada complained that it had been scheduled for the hottest part of the day, Axios' Ina Fried reports.