16 Years Later, USA Set to Take on China PR in World Cup Again

U.S. Women’s National Team vs. China PR
2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup – Quarterfinal
Lansdowne Stadium; Ottawa, Canada
June 26, 2015 

QUARTERFINAL PAIRS USA AND CHINA PR IN WORLD CUP FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 1999: The U.S. Women’s National Team will contest a quarterfinal match for the seventh time in its history of Women’s World Cup play when it takes on China PR on Friday, June 26, 2015 at Lansdowne Stadium in Ottawa, Canada, at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The match will be broadcast live on FOX and NBC Universo at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT). Fans can follow all the action on Twitter @ussoccer_wnt and @ussoccer_esp, and follow the team along its journey on Instagram and on Snapchat (ussoccer_wnt). The USA and China will play the second of four quarterfinal matches, with the USA earning its way into the round of eight with a 2-0 victory against Colombia on June 22 in Edmonton.

FANS CREATE HOME FIELD ATMOSPHERE ABROAD: The U.S. WNT played in front of three sold-out crowds during its Women’s World Cup Send-Off Series and the vast majority of the more than 31,000 at Winnipeg Stadium on June 8 and more than 32,000 on June 12 were also solidly decked out in red, white and blue. The match against Nigeria at BC Place in Vancouver proved to be no different as the crowd of 52,193 fans, mostly of whom were backing the stars and stripes, was the fourth largest to attend a WNT match outside the U.S. Once again, fan support was prominent during the Round of 16 match, and although the crowd was smaller in the mammoth Commonwealth Stadium, a large number of the 19,000 fans that showed up for USA vs. Colombia were decked out in U.S. gear yet again on a Monday night. The U.S. average in World Cup matches so far is 33,550 and the quarterfinal against China at Lansdowne Stadium is already sold out.

FAMILIAR FOE: The USA and China PR have met three times in Women’s World Cup play (twice in 1995 and once in 1999), but the two countries have been playing each other since the USA’s seventh ever match in 1986, which was the second year of the WNT program. Of course, the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final is one of the most memorable matches between the two teams, which also met in the 1996 Olympic gold medal match in Athens, Georgia. The most recent meeting in a FIFA tournament came at the 2000 Olympics in Australia, a 1-1 draw.

• 2015 U.S. WNT Schedule & Results
• 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Tournament Page
• 2015 U.S. WNT Statistics
• 2015 U.S. Lineups
• 2015 U.S. WNT World Cup Roster

U.S. ROSTER NOTES:

• Since allowing a goal against Australia in its opening match on June 8 in the 27th minute, the U.S. has shut down opponents for 333 straight minutes.
• The USA has allowed 11 shots on goal over the 360 minutes of action so far and allowed just one against Sweden and two against Nigeria and Colombia.
• Six U.S. players have played all 360 minutes of the tournament so far: midfielder Lauren Holiday, defender Julie Johnston, defender Meghan Klingenberg, midfielder Carli Lloyd, defender Becky Sauerbrunn and goalkeeper Hope Solo.
• That streak will end for Holiday, as she and Megan Rapinoe each received a yellow card during the Colombia match. It was their second of the tournament and will cause both players to be suspended for the USA’s quarterfinal match against China PR.
• The U.S. WNT has now advanced to the quarterfinals of every Women’s World Cup it has participated in (1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015).
• Alex Morgan scored her first goal in this year’s Women’s World Cup against Colombia. Morgan now has three goals in 2015 and 52 international goals in her career. She has scored a total of three World Cup goals after scoring twice in 2011.
• Tobin Heath and Morgan made their first starts in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup on June 16 against Nigeria. It was also the first career start for either in a World Cup match. Morgan’s last start this year came in the WNT’s April 4 match with New Zealand, while Heath’s came in the March 9 match against Iceland. Before her start against Nigeria, Morgan had only played 25 minutes in the tournament, coming off the bench against Australia and Sweden for 12 and 13 minutes, respectively, before playing 65 minutes against Nigeria. After playing 90 vs. Colombia, she has now played a total of 180 minutes.
• Carli Lloyd also scored her first goal of this year’s Women’s World Cup against Colombia. Lloyd now has three goals in 2015 and 64 for her career. She has scored a total of two World Cup goals. With her goal on June 22, Lloyd became the only U.S. player in history to score in every match the WNT has played against Colombia.
• Lloyd currently sits at 199 caps and should hit the 200 mark during the quarterfinal match against China PR. She would become the 10th player in U.S. history to reach that mark and the fourth in the current roster. Christie Rampone, Abby Wambach and Heather O’Reilly are the other three.
• Morgan Brian, Klingenberg, Johnston, Sydney Leroux and Christen Press all made their World Cup debuts against Australia on June 8. All played against Sweden on June 12 as well, with Brian getting her first start. Klingenberg, Johnston and Leroux all saw action against Nigeria on June 16, while Brian, Klingenberg, Johnston and Press saw action against Colombia on June 22.
• Press and Leroux also recorded their first World Cup points on June 8, with Press scoring a goal and Leroux an assist.
• So far, 17 of the 20 field players on the World Cup roster have seen action in the tournament.
• Brian made her first start in a World Cup against Sweden on June 12, while Amy Rodriguez made her first appearance of the tournament in that game as well. Defender Lori Chalupny made her first appearance of the 2015 World Cup when she came in for Ali Krieger in the second half against Colombia on June 22. It was the seventh World Cup appearance of her career.
• Shannon Boxx and Christie Rampone made their first appearance of the tournament against Nigeria on June 16. Rampone became the oldest player to appear in a World Cup match at 39 years 11 months and 23 days. This is Boxx’s fourth World Cup and Rampone’s fifth.
• In its last 14 games, the U.S. has surrendered just three goals and has scored 26. Its only defeat of the year came on the first match, a 2-0 loss to France on Feb. 8, 2015, in Lorient, France.
• Forward Abby Wambach leads the U.S. with six goals in 2015.
• Chalupny scored against New Zealand in her hometown of St. Louis on April 4, marking it her first goal for the USA since she scored against the Republic of Ireland on Sept. 20, 2008. She scored her second goal of the year against Mexico on May 17, just 45 seconds after coming into the match as a second half sub.
• Klingenberg scored her second National Team goal on a long-range blast against New Zealand. Her first goal was a similar long-range effort that came against Haiti on Oct. 8, during Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament last year.
• Johnston has three goals in 2015, all coming in consecutive games. Her three goals were all from set pieces and all assisted by Holiday.
• Eleven different players have scored for the USA in 2015: Morgan, Wambach, Rodriguez, Press, Johnston, Klingenberg, Rapinoe, Brian, Chalupny, Leroux and Lloyd.
• U.S. captain Rampone is currently the second most-capped player in U.S. and world history with 307 appearances.
• Rampone earned her 300th cap against with Mexico on Oct. 24, 2014, and her 307 games are the most of any active player in the world behind only former teammate Kristine Lilly.
• Defender Becky Sauerbrunn is the only player on the roster to start every game for the USA. She has played the most minutes (1239) of anyone on the team.
• Holiday leads all U.S. players on the rosters in assists with five in 2015. Holiday was the 2014 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.
• Brian, the USA’s youngest player at age 22, was the 2014 U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year. She was also named the 2013 and 2014 Hermann Trophy winner while playing for the University of Virginia.
• While Wambach is the USA’s top scorer on the roster with 183 goals, Lloyd is next with 64 career international goals and Morgan has 52. Heather O’Reilly has scored 41.
• Christen Press’ four-goal performance against Argentina in Brazil last December was the ninth such game in U.S. history and second of 2014 after Wambach scored four times against Costa Rica in the final of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship. It was the first-career hat trick for Press.
• All nine NWSL clubs are represented on the Women’s World Cup roster.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS:

• With her first goal of the game against Australia on June 8, U.S. midfielder Megan Rapinoe became the 13th U.S. female player to score 30 goals and tally 30 assists. She currently has 31 goals and 33 assists. Her brace against Australia were her first tallies of 2015.
• Rapinoe became the 31st American female player to reach the century mark in caps, achieving that feat against New Zealand on April 4. She currently has 105 caps. Lori Chalupny became the 32nd player against Ireland on May 10.
• Hope Solo recorded her 87th career shutout against Colombia. It was the third straight World Cup clean sheet for the USA, and Solo’s eighth in World Cup play, the second most by a U.S. goalkeeper behind Brianna Scurry (10).
• Solo also earned her 174th cap against Colombia, the most by a goalkeeper in U.S. history, thus surpassing Briana Scurry’s 173 caps (1994-2008).
• Solo has the most starts by a WNT goalkeeper with 168. Solo is also in 10th place on the WNT’s all-time starts list and behind ninth place Carli Lloyd, who has 171.
• Solo currently has 133 goalkeeper wins, tying Scurry after the 2-0 win against Colombia. Solo could surpass Scurry and become the all-time leader in wins for a goalkeeper in U.S. history during the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
• With three goals against Argentina on Dec. 18 of last year, Carli Lloyd upped her career total to 61 and moved into sole possession of seventh place on the U.S. WNT’s all-time goal scoring list, passing Shannon MacMillan who scored 60 goals in her career. Lloyd, now with 64 goals, is the highest-scoring player in U.S. history who has played exclusively as a midfielder.
• Heather O’Reilly is the ninth player to hit 200 caps in U.S. history after reaching the milestone against Korea DPR on March 12, 2014. Now with 219, she is seventh on the USA’s all-time list. Abby Wambach (246) and Christie Rampone (307) are the only active players ahead of her.
• O’Reilly is the second-youngest player to hit 200 caps for the USA. Lilly was 28 years, 9 months and 15 days old when she earned cap No. 200 on May 7, 2000. O’Reilly was 29 years, 2 months and 10 days old when she earned her 200th cap.
• O’Reilly is currently sixth all-time in assists with 52 and is 13th all-time in goals with 41.
• In addition to breaking Mia Hamm’s world scoring record, Wambach’s June 20, 2013, performance against the Korea Republic also made her the USA’s all-time leader in multiple-goal games with 39 for her career. She has since added six more and now sits at 45. She has 37 two-goal games, five hat tricks, two four-goal games and one five-goal game.
• Sydney Leroux is tied with April Heinrichs in 14th place on the all-time U.S. WNT goal-scoring list with 35 goals.
• With her game-winning goal against England on Feb. 13, Alex Morgan became the 10th player in U.S. history to score 50 or more goals. She now has 52.

2015 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP NOTES:

• After scoring three times against Australia in its opening match of the 2015 FIFA WWC, the USA became the second country to reach and then surpass the century mark of World Cup goals scored. The USA currently has scored 104 WWC goals. Christen Press had the honor of scoring the 100th goal in U.S. Women’s World Cup history. Germany scored 10 goals in its opener on June 7 to hit 101 and become the first team to pass 100. The Germans currently have 110 goals after scoring 19 so far in this tournament.
• The draw with Sweden was the first scoreless draw in U.S. history during group play in a World Cup. It was the second overall scoreless draw for the USA in a World Cup (0-0 against China in the 1999 WWC Final).
• The USA is making its seventh appearance in a FIFA Women’s World Cup and is one of seven countries to appear in all seven editions of the tournament, the others being Brazil, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden. Only the USA, Germany and Japan remain in contention for this year’s tournament title.
• The U.S. is the only country to have reached semifinals of every FIFA Women’s World Cup. The USA won in 1991 and 1999.
• The U.S. WNT has now won its group in the World Cup every year except 2011, when it finished second to Sweden.
• The 90,185 spectators on hand at the Rose Bowl for the USA’s victory against China PR in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup represent the largest attendance in the tournament’s history. The largest venue at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup is Olympic Stadium, which seats 66,308.
• With her first-half goal against Nigeria, Abby Wambach moved into a tie with Germany’s Birgit Prinz for 2nd all-time with 14 World Cup goals. Brazil’s Marta is the leader with 15 goals, including one in this tournament. With Brazil out of this tournament, Wambach has a chance to tie Marta or break the record in Canada.
• Wambach has scored in every World Cup group stage in which she has played (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015). She has scored seven goals, tallying three in final group stage matches.
• Nine players on the current USA roster have scored in a Women’s World Cup tournament: Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Lauren Holiday, Heather O’Reilly, Lori Chalupny, Shannon Boxx, and Christen Press.
• The U.S. WNT is 31-4-5 all-time in the Women’s World Cup, outscoring its opponents 104-33 in 40 games. The 31 wins and 40 games played are all FIFA Women’s World Cup records.
• The USA’s most lopsided victory in the tournament was a 7-0 win against Chinese Taipei in 1991.
• Michelle Akers’ five goals against Chinese Taipei are the most in a single match in tournament history.
• The U.S. holds two other individual records with Kristine Lilly playing a record 30 games in five World Cups and goalkeeper Briana Scurry earning a record 10 shutouts.

BY THE NUMBERS, WWC EDITION:

2	Number of players in U.S. history to be named to Women's World Cup rosters for non-consecutive tournaments: Brandi Chastain (1991, 1999) and Lori Chalupny (2007, 2015).
5	Number of players to have played in five Women’s World Cups: Christie Rampone (1997-present), Kristine Lilly of the USA (1991-2007) and Birgit Prinz of Germany (1995-2011). Formiga of Brazil (1995-2015) and Homare Sawa of Japan (1995-2015) have played in this World Cup, making it six Women’s World Cup tournaments for each of them. Bente Nordby of Norway (1991-2007) was on five Women’s World Cup rosters but played in four tournaments.
6	Players on the roster who hail from California. Four are from New Jersey, two are from Georgia and two are from St. Louis, Mo.
7	Number of games it will take to win the 2015 Women’s World Cup, up from six in the previous six editions of the tournament.
8	Number of clean sheets U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo has recorded in World Cups.
8	U.S. players on their first Women’s World Cup roster: Ashlyn Harris, Alyssa Naeher, Whitney Engen, Julie Johnston, Meghan Klingenberg, Morgan Brian, Sydney Leroux and Christen Press.
9	Number of players on the U.S. roster who have scored in a WWC tournament.
9	Former FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup champions on the 2015 WWC roster: Harris, Heather O’Reilly and Lori Chalupny (2002); Leroux, Alex Morgan, Klingenberg and Naeher (2008); Johnston and Brian (2012).
11	Number of players, out of 13, who played in the 2012 Olympic gold medal game who made this WWC roster.
14	Goals by Abby Wambach in Women’s World Cup play, a U.S. record.
15	Players on the roster that have played for the USA in a FIFA Women’s World Cup at the youth level.
16	Caps for Johnston, the least of any of the field player on the WWC team. (She had nine when she was named to the WWC roster).
22	Women’s World Cup matches played by Wambach, the most on the 2015 WWC roster. Rampone has played in 18 Women’s World Cup games while Boxx has 16. Other players in double figures in Women’s World Cup matches are Carli Lloyd (15), Hope Solo (14) and O’Reilly (11).
22	Age of Brian, the youngest player on the WWC roster. Johnston is 23.
23	Number of players on Women’s World Cup rosters, up from 21 for the 2011 tournament.
24	Number of nations that are participating, for the first time, in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, up from 16 that participated in the previous four editions. The 1991 and 1995 Women’s World Cups featured 12 teams.
28	Average age of the USA’s WWC roster
33	Total Women’s World Cup goals scored by the USA’s WWC roster.
33	Goals allowed by the U.S. Women in WWC play.
40	Number of matches played by the USA in the WWC (31-4-5), most by any team.
40	Age of Rampone, the oldest player on the WWC roster. Boxx is 38.
104	Goals scored by the U.S. Women in WWC play.
106	Average caps per player on the WWC roster.
178	Number of Women’s World Cup matches combined played by the WWC roster.