USWNT’s painful exit during the World Cup will have been filmed by Netflix – with a film crew following Megan Rapinoe and the team throughout the tournament
- The US lost to Sweden on penalties (5-4) after a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation
- Netflix already released a tennis series Break Point & Formula 1: Drive to Survive
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The US women’s national team will appear in a Netflix docuseries later this year, despite losing to Sweden in the 16th round at the World Cup and expecting to clinch a third consecutive title in Australia and New Zealand.
The series, which is reportedly already in production, will feature newcomers, including 18-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson, as well as veterans, such as Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, according to the streaming giant.
The release is still expected despite the Star and Stripes’ first exit in tournament history. Sunday’s defeat to Sweden (0-0, 5-4 on penalties) is the first time the US has been defeated for the semi-finals.
Rapinoe recently announced that the 2023 tournament, her fourth World Cup, would be her last as she plans to retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season this year.
The series builds on a portfolio of popular recent sports documentaries on Netflix, including tennis series Break Point and Formula 1: Drive to Survive.
The US’s quest for a third consecutive title will be seen on Netflix despite its departure from the Round of 16
Production is said to be already underway, despite the team’s earliest exit in World Cup history
Sweden’s Lina Hurtig scored the decisive penalty kick in a dramatic penalty shootout vs. The United States
Directed by two-time Emmy award winner Rebecca Gitlitz, the series features behind-the-scenes snippets from New Zealand and Australia, as well as showing how world-class athletes deal with pressure, competition and their own legacy in the run-up to the biggest and most attended an isolated women’s sporting event in history.
In addition, it will showcase players’ views on select contemporary topics and their impact on the future of women in sport, including racial diversity, LGBTQ rights, equal pay, family and motherhood.
The USA’s eight-year reign as holder of the Women’s World Cup (since 2015) came to an end in the most dramatic fashion when the Americans missed three of their own penalties against Sweden, who reached the quarter-finals alongside the Netherlands on Sunday.
Sweden will meet Japan in the last eight on Friday in Auckland. Until now, the US has long been the dominant force in women’s international football, having won the World Cup four times since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1991.
Vlatko Andonovski’s side were the better side against Sweden in Melbourne, but they couldn’t beat goalkeeper Zecira Musovic and then lost their nerve in the penalty shootout.
Rapinoe, a two-time World Cup winner desperate to end her career with another title, missed her penalty along with Sophia Smith and Kelly O’Hara before an excruciatingly thrilling end to the penalty shootout took the Swedes to the next rounds. .
Megan Rapinoe will be a major figure in the docu-series as she strives to retire on a high
American goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher thought she had saved Lina Hurtig’s decisive penalty, but the VAR ruled that it had just crossed the line.
Cue belated pandemonium among the Swedish squad and tears for the Americans who, despite dominating big periods of the game, just never got going at this World Cup.
They were held 1-1 in the group stage by the Netherlands in a replay of the 2019 final and also 0-0 by debutants Portugal, meaning they squeezed into the last 16.
“This team was a very special team, I just feel like everyone got along,” striker Alex Morgan said.
“It’s hard to swallow.”
The US has been much more criticized during this year’s World Cup compared to other countries in the past for seemingly cavalier attitudes off the pitch and lack of passion shown when the country’s national anthem is played before games begin.