USA 1 Brazil 0: Mal Swanson’s goal wins first USWNT Olympic gold in 12 years

The U.S. women’s national team are Olympic gold medalists again.

The USWNT made a habit of threatening teams early on at this Olympics, but that was not the case against Brazil in the final. Despite four corner kicks, the Americans looked flat at the Parc des Princes in Paris, with just two shots on goal before the break. Things almost went sideways for the five-time gold medalists in the 16th minute when Ludmila’s apparent goal for Brazil was waved offside.

But the U.S. responded in the second half with Mallory Swanson breaking through in the 57th minute. Midfielder Korbin Albert slotted a long ball through two Brazilian defenders to find Swanson. The forward collected and shot low to the right of goalkeeper Lorena. It was Swanson’s fourth goal of the tournament.

Brazilian icon Marta entered the match in the 61st minute, her last major international final, for Ludmila. Despite a late push, she could not help her side finally overcome a USWNT in a gold-medal match. The last time a team was held scoreless in an Olympic women’s final was Brazil by the U.S. in 2008. The U.S. also beat Brazil in the 2004 final.

Once again, a Seleção game at this Olympics finished with double-digit minutes of stoppage time, which extended to more than 12 minutes after U.S. captain Lindsey Horan went down with a possible head injury. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher ended up making a huge late save to secure the win.

Jeff Rueter and Steph Yang discuss the key moments.

After working hard to recover from injury in 2023, Swanson has been as invigorating as the rest of her Triple Espresso comrades of Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman throughout these Olympics.

After a cagey first half of today’s final, Swanson finally found space to break open a deadlocked match.

Credit to Albert for spotting the industry of Swanson and Smith in the 57th minute, lobbing a ball over the back line seemingly into the latter’s path. The Portland Thorns forward wisely suspected she was offside, providing a decoy to keep the Brazilian defense on lower alert while Swanson swooped in — from an onside position — to collect and carry the ball forward.

From there, it was Swanson at her best.

A well-charted dribble saw her drift from the left toward the box, where she then placed a shot into the far corner with her stronger right foot. The crowd erupted in jubilation, with Smith’s dummy run serving as an honorary assist in combination with Albert’s dime. It was a sequence worthy of winning gold and a fine way to mark a player’s 100th cap.

It’s frankly hard to fathom that Swanson, who turned 26 in April, has already completed her first century of USWNT appearances. Initially a program wunderkind, Swanson bided her time playing more thankless roles for the team, including full-back, earning a spot on the 2019 World Cup champions’ roster as its second-youngest player.

As the old guard hung up their boots in the years after that triumph, also in France, she finally stepped into the forward line.

No attacker in the world was in finer form than Swanson in the first quarter of 2023. However, a torn patellar knee tendon cruelly ruled her out of last year’s World Cup, robbing her of a chance for a landmark tournament showing. She has since made the most of her time at the 2024 Games.

Throughout this tournament, the Americans have made a point of threatening teams early in games to set a tone of dominance whenever possible.

In each of their first five games in France, the USWNT held an advantage in the balance of expected goals. This is due to a higher accumulation of chances created, either in volume or due to their quality and corresponding likelihood of being converted. Whether it was a narrow edge (0.18 in the group game against Germany) or a massive one (4.61 during the team’s tournament opener against Zambia), it was a constant hallmark.

But a tournament final seldom resembles the games that preceded it.

Brazil came out with a point to prove, unflinching against the day’s favorite, and setting themselves up not just to contain the U.S. attack but also create their own threat. They achieved that quite simply: having just four field players in the central third, while camping a center-back, a wing-back, and a winger in each wide space.

Out of possession, this allowed them to close passing lanes to Rodman and Swanson on the flank. It was even more of an advantage in possession, as Brazil’s wingers poured pressure on Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox and drew the center-backs into wide areas — creating open pockets in the box to set up dangerous crosses.

Ultimately, Brazil was unable to capitalize on all of the above with a first-half goal. Naeher came up big on multiple occasions to keep the game scoreless, but considering the USWNT’s struggles in midfield throughout this tournament, it was a savvy tactical adjustment by Brazil to neutralize their opponents’ strengths.

There was something a little bit magical about seeing Marta enter the gold-medal match and strap on the Brazil captain’s armband in the 61st minute.

Call it sentimentality or call it respect, even the pro-U.S. crowd in Paris paused in their chanting to cheer for the GOAT of women’s soccer.

Marta has long plied her career far from home to bring renown to a Brazil program that, at least until recently, hasn’t managed to give back to her as much as it took. Amid pleas for the continued development of women’s soccer and historic disputes with the national federation, Marta has been a stalwart representative of her team and her country, an icon of representation not just for Brazilians but for players worldwide.

So a moment of respect amid a 90-minute match is hardly begrudging the 38-year-old anything.

It was interesting that Marta came on for Ludmila, who was just about the biggest threat in front of the U.S. goal in the first half. She lingered off the center-backs in hopes of disrupting their shape and spacing on quick transition, which made sense given the success Brazil was having stretching the USWNT, and you could see it in effect whenever Marta would check into midfield with a defender trailing her and hoping to not let her distribute or be able to face up to goal.

You can’t not track Marta even if you know she’s trying to warp you like a Photoshop tool.

But it wasn’t enough for Brazil as the Americans withstood waves of late attacks, exhorted by Marta’s efforts around the box.

Afterwards, Marta could be seen speaking in team-mates’ ears, hugging staff, and standing strong amid the tears around her — ever the beacon. She departs this Olympics as a silver medalist once again. But no medal, no matter the color, could truly encompass her career.

Head coach Emma Hayes was always brought in to help transition the U.S. team into the next cycle of play. We saw the first inkling of it when she didn’t name Alex Morgan, now 35, to the Olympic roster. But now, with a gold medal tucked under her arm, she definitely has the cachet to make whatever changes she wants.

That could mean cycling out plenty more older players, names that have long been undroppable. In the lull between this Olympics and the next World Cup in 2027, she can now phase some out with minimal tournament impact.

That might mean names such as Horan, Dunn, Lynn Williams, Emily Sonnett and even America’s Uncle, 36-year-old Naeher.

Viable alternatives abound in this pool.

Albert has looked like a natural midfield partner alongside Sam Coffey, while alternate Hal Hershfelt, Jaelin Howell and Lily Yohannes await their opportunities. Jenna Nighswonger is a natural fit at left-back for Dunn, and Jaedyn Shaw and Croix Bethune may supplant Williams. Recently injured Sam Staab could become a mainstay in defense, while a group of goalkeepers including Casey Murphy, Jane Campbell and 25-year-old Mandy Haught may be ready to don the gloves in Naeher’s stead.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg in a relatively deep pool of players.

With three years to build on this gold-medal showing ahead of that next World Cup in Brazil, we may see a lot of fresh faces on Hayes’ squads.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.