The U.S. women’s national team will begin their quest for a World Cup three-peat when they kick off group play against debutants Vietnam in a match played in New Zealand.
Despite missing key players due to injury, the USA are the No. 1-ranked team in the world and the favorites to win the tournament, and the result of their opening match against No. 32 Vietnam is not really in question. For the Americans, it will be about building momentum ahead of two tougher matches to come.
The USWNT was drawn into Group E, where, in addition to Vietnam, it will face two challenging European foes in the Netherlands and Portugal. Since goal difference (between goals scored and conceded) is the first tiebreaker for teams level on points, the USA will want to pad their goal total against Vietnam.
Only the top two teams in the group advance to the knockout rounds and finishing first is important: It could be the difference between facing No. 3-ranked Sweden or No. 16 Italy.
The Sporting News will be following USA vs Vietnam live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they happen.
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USA vs Vietnam live score
| 1st Half | Goal scorers | |
| USA | 1 | Sophia Smith (Alex Morgan) 14′ |
| Vietnam | 0 |
Lineups:
USA (4-3-3,…
