The U.S. women’s national team clinched qualification for the 2024 Olympics Monday night by virtue of a 1-0 victory over Canada in the CONCACAF W Championship final.
The W Championship serves as CONCACAF’s qualifying tournament for both the 2023 World Cup and the Paris Olympics the following year. The USWNT clinched a place at the World Cup by advancing out of Group A last week, and assured themselves of being in their eighth straight Olympiad by beating the defending gold medalists at Estadio BBVA thanks to a 78th minute penalty kick from Alex Morgan and a largely dominant defensive performance that restricted Canada to very few truly dangerous looks.
For the USWNT, a return to the Olympics will mean pursuit of a fifth gold medal for the team, who finished with a disappointing bronze in the Tokyo games played in 2021 after being delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They previously won gold in 1996, 2004, 2008, and 2012, but haven’t been to the final in either of the last two tournaments (they lost in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Olympics).
Canada, meanwhile, will go into a playoff for CONCACAF’s second Olympic berth scheduled for September 2023. They will face Jamaica, who a few hours before the W Championship final defeated Costa Rica 1-0 in extra time to take third place. Further details about that playoff have not yet been announced.
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