SYDNEY, Australia (Oct. 20, 2023) – The U.S. Power Soccer National Team earned a third-place finish at the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup, defeating Argentina 2-1 in the Consolation Match after falling 1-0 to England in Friday’s earlier semifinal. Having claimed a top-three finish at each of the four FIPFA World Cups, the USA closed the tournament with an 8-2-1 record, scoring 23 goals and keeping five shutouts while earning rave reviews for the team’s innovation on set pieces throughout the competition.
In the semifinal, a relentless England press kept the USA from earning many of its patented set pieces, and forced the team to open up in order to find more ways to attack. A tight affair throughout, England finally broke through in the 31st minute after Edward Common finished a nice passing sequence at the right post.
The USA bounced back in the Third-Place Match, as Lexi Heer recorded a first-half brace off assists from Riley Johnson and Pete Winslow to lift the USA to a 2-1 win against the rising South American power. Finishing the tournament with six goals, Heer led the team in scoring, becoming the only woman to hold that distinction at the 2023 World Cup. Meanwhile, Winslow finished with a tournament-leading 15 assists and 17 total goal contributions, accounting for 74 percent of the team’s goals.
France and England played to a 1-1 draw in the Final, before Les Bleus defeated the Three Lions 2-1 on penalty kicks to claim its second-straight World Cup title.
| U.S. Results at the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup | ||
| Date | Result | Goal Scorers |
| Oct. 14 | 5-0 W vs. Australia | Z. Dickey (2), Johnson, J. Dickey, Heer |
| Oct. 15 | 1-3 L vs. France | J. Dickey |
| Oct. 15 | 3-0 W vs. Northern Ireland | J. Dickey (2), Johnson |
| Oct. 16 | 2-0 W vs. Republic of Ireland | Winslow, Heer |
| Oct. 16 | 2-0 W vs. Japan | Sefick, Heer |
| Oct. 17 | 3-1 W vs. England | Johnson (2), Winslow |
| Oct. 17 | 2-1 W vs. Denmark | Heer, J. Dickey |
| Oct. 18 | 2-0 W vs. Uruguay | Johnson, Mayer |
| Oct. 18 | 1-1 D vs. Argentina | Z. Dickey |
| Oct. 19 | 0-1 L vs. England (Semifinal) | -- |
| Oct. 20 | 2-1 W vs. Argentina (Third Place) | Heer (2) |
The semifinal between the USA and England was the third knockout round meeting between the two nations at the World Cup, and after losing the two previous encounters, England came out with a gameplan to ensure it wasn’t a third-straight defeat. Having seen the USA’s set-piece prowess in the 3-1 loss to the Americans in the group stage, they did well to limit the amount of dead balls and keep plenty of possession in the U.S. end, a strategy that proved to be a winning one in the 1-0 upset.
Platooning the U.S. in its defensive end for much of the first 10 minutes, England got few shots off, but lead attacker Marcus Harrison relentlessly kept Nathan Mayer and his defensive support Riley Johnson under pressure, looking for any small slip-up to find the breakthrough.
The U.S. rode through the early pressure and started to retain more possession in the attacking end, leading to their first corner in the 12th minute. Pete Winslow’s take pinged around the area, before Johnson settled and played a combination with Jordan Dickey. On the return pass, Johnson hit a spin kick from outside the box that England ‘keeper Christopher Gordon turned away, before coming to the top of the area to deny Johnson’s rebound.
England pinned the USA back again two minutes later when a nice passing sequence led to Edward Common finding Harrison at the top of the box where the attacker’s driven effort was saved off the line by Johnson.
Two minutes after his defensive stop, Johnson again went into attack mode. Winslow’s 16th minute free kick from the left found Johnson cutting into the area, before slicing an effort at the near post that Gordon pushed back off the line to deny the final danger for either team during the first half.
While set pieces were limited, in the second half England also proved to be wiser to the ones that did occur, organizing better before the attempts and then often anticipating where Winslow would place the ball.
The match opened up a bit more through the half-hour mark, and England’s aggressive started to get the better of them as Harrison and Jonathan Bolding were each shown yellow cards for collision fouls in the 27th and 29th minutes, respectively.
Just as it looked like England was losing its cool, another passing sequence stretched the USA out and led to the game’s only goal. Bolding and Harrison played the ball back and forth from the left corner to the top of the area a couple of times, before Bolding the swung it back across goal to find an open Edward Common who tapped it over the line at the right post in the 31st minute.
With the goal in hand, England went into lockdown mode, looking to break up any attacks and slow the game down.
As the USA struggled to break through England’s setup, attack-minded goalkeeper Lexi Heer replaced Nathan Mayer in the 37th minute to give the team more numbers in the final third. After Johnson alertly rode out a ball to win a corner kick, the best U.S. chance came in the 40th minute as Winslow’s spin kick from the left found Jordan Dickey crashing the near post, but his redirected effort was again kept out by Gordon.
From there, England was able to hold the U.S. back in its own end before the referee blew the final whistle, ending the USA’s bid for a third World Cup title.
Match: U.S. Power Soccer National Team vs. England
Date: October 19, 2023 (October 20, 2023 locally)
Competition: 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup Semifinal
Venue: Quaycentre; Sydney, Australia
Attendance: 475
Kickoff: 11 p.m. ET (2 p.m local time on October 20, 2023)
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
USA 0 0 0
ENG 0 1 1
ENG – Edward Common 31st minute
Lineups:
USA: 2-Nathan Mayer; 3-Jordan Dickey, 9-Pete Winslow, 10-Riley Johnson (Capt.)
Substitutes: 5-Lexi Heer
Did Not Play: 4-Natalie Russo-Dickey, 8-Peyton Sefick, 11-Zach Dickey
Head coach: Tracy Mayer
ENG: 7-Christopher Gordon; 4-Edward Common, 8-Jonathan Bolding (Capt.), 9-Marcus Harrison,
Substitutes: 5-David Lewis, 10-Daniel McLellan, 11-Tyler Reeve, 19-Bradley Bates
Head coach: Colin Gordon
Stats Summary: USA / ENG
Shots: 4 / 5
Saves: 0 / 2
Corner Kicks: 3 / 0
Misconduct Summary:
ENG – Marcus Harrison (Caution) 27
ENG – Jonathan Bolding (Caution) 29
Officials:
Referee: Ellie Smithers (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nico Balin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonardo Frega (ARG)
4th Official: Rebecca Gullé (AUS)
The USA got over the semifinal result quickly, resolving to leave Australia with a bronze medal. For the Third-Place Match against Argentina, Tracey Mayer made two changes to the Starting IV that faced England, inserting Zach Dickey and Lexi Heer as wingers with center Riley Johnson and goalkeeper Nathan Mayer.
The switch paid dividends early as the U.S. opened the scoring in the third minute on a lovely passing sequence between the front three. After a turnover at mid-court, Dickey quickly swung the ball to the left for Johnson, who weaved a cutting pass into the area for Heer. She turned her marker and slotted the ball through goalkeeper Lisandro Uretti and Heber López to make it 1-0.
Argentina hit back from a kick-in in the ninth minute. López’s restart on the pinged off of Johnson on the goal line and fell to Valentino Zegarelli. Playing his first match after a two-match red card suspension, the Argentina captain poked it toward goal where Johnson made the initial stop, but Zegarelli continued his stride and put the rebound home to make it 1-1.
Heer continued to prove dangerous for the USA. In the 19th minute, substitute Pete Winslow swung a long free kick from the right into her path. Cutting in on the left, Heer powered her shot towards the right post, but was denied on the goal line.
A minute later, she restored the U.S. lead. After Peyton Sefick earned a kick-in on the right, Winslow spun his take through the top of the penalty area where Heer just made a slight turn to redirect the ball inside the left post for her second of the match to send the USA into halftime with a 2-1 advantage.
The goal was also Heer’s team-leading sixth of the 2023 World Cup, while Winslow collected his tournament-leading 15th assist.
The USA continued to look for goals on the other side of halftime. In the 23rd minute, Winslow’s corner from the right picked out Sefick, whose first-timer was denied on the goal line by López. In the 25th, another Winslow corner, this time from the left, found Heer whose hat trick attempt was denied by Uretti.
Co-captain Jordan Dickey entered around the half-hour mark, helping to shut down any danger from Argentina, and the USA did well to close out the 2-1 win, earning third place at the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup.
Match: U.S. Power Soccer National Team vs. Argentina
Date: October 20, 2023
Competition: 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup Third Place Match
Venue: Quaycentre; Sydney, Australia
Attendance: 450
Kickoff: 4 a.m. ET (7 p.m. local time)
Scoring Summary: 1 2 F
ARG 1 0 1
USA 2 0 2
USA – Lexi Heer (Riley Johnson) 3rd minute
ARG – Valentino Zagarelli 9
USA – Lexi Heer (Pete Winslow) 20
Lineups:
USA: 2-Nathan Mayer; 5-Lexi Heer 10-Riley Johnson, 11-Zach Dickey
Substitutes: 3-Jordan Dickey (Capt.), 8-Peyton Sefick, 9-Pete Winslow\
Did Not Play: 4-Natalie Russo-Dickey
Head coach: Tracy Mayer
ARG: 11-Lisandro Uretti; 7-Heber López, 10-Valentino Zegarelli (Capt.) 13-Khaleb Manzur
Substitutes: 5-Arturo Rodríguez, 8-Juan Bautista D’Angelo, 9-Matías Vignola, 14-Agustín Zanoli
Head coach: Sebastian Tisera
Stats Summary: ARG / USA
Shots: 4 / 12
Saves: 1 / 1
Corner Kicks: 1 / 3
Misconduct Summary:
none
Officials:
Referee: Nico Balin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Simon-Green (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonardo Frega (ARG)
4th Official: Ellie Smithers (AUS)
The U.S. Power Soccer National Team features male and female athletes with disabilities that include quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy, among others. The game is played in a gymnasium on a regulation basketball court with four players who attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch soccer ball in a skilled and challenging game similar to mainstream soccer.
Power Soccer is the first competitive team sport developed specifically for power wheelchair users and has been played internationally since 2006. Thie 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup marks the first world championship event for the U.S. Power Soccer National Team under U.S. Soccer supervision. The team officially became part of the Extended National Teams program in 2022 as part of U.S. Soccer's effort to build out programming for soccer in all of its forms.
For more information on the sport or to inquire about athlete eligibility, please contact U.S. Soccer's Extended National Teams Department via email at extendednt@ussoccer.org.