The U.S. women’s national team has one final hurdle to overcome before they can claim Olympic glory. The USWNT and Brazil will meet for the third time in an Olympic gold medal match on Saturday, with the two programs in completely different places in their respective developmental cycles. Brazil are saying farewell to the iconic face of their program, after Marta announced 2024 would be her final year with the national team. The United States welcomed new head coach Emma Hayes just three months ago, and her roster of several first-time Olympians will compete for a potential fifth gold medal — the first gold medal match for the team since 2012.
The USWNT is coming off a 1-0 extra-time win against Germany, while Brazil eliminated Spain, 4-2, during the semifinal round. Germany defeated Spain for the bronze medal on Friday, and the remaining medals will be decided between Brazil and the United States. It’ll be the 41st all-time meeting between the two rivals and the U.S. lead the series 32W-5D-3L. More recent fixtures between the two sides have been decided by narrow scores, the gold medal match will be the second game between them in 2024. The North and South Americans faced off in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup final in…
