Fox News reporter Jesse Watters criticized Megan Rapinoe for her Women’s World Cup performance. He said, “It’s hard to root for an athlete who disparages the country over and over again.” The USWNT got eliminated in Round 16 by Sweden on penalties. They had an underwhelming performance in the whole tournament despite entering in it as the defending champions. Not only had they won the 2019 edition of it, they also won it in 2015.
Advertisements were showing how it was impossible to get rid of this team and that they were invincible. However, that did not amount to good performances on the pitch. They started well, beating Vietnam 3-0 in the opening game of the tournament. The team then drew 1-1 with the Netherlands in a rather underwhelming draw.
The USWNT almost got sent home by Portugal in the group stages after they had a chance to score in the last minute. But it ended up hitting the crossbar. The score ended 0-0 and the USA qualified for the knockout stages. They were set to face Sweden in the last 16.
They played the game much better than their other showings but couldn’t score a goal. The game went to penalty shootouts, which they ended up losing. This knocked them out of the tournament, finally bringing in a new champion. Megan Rapinoe’s underwhelming performance is getting huge flack, as she was one of the players who missed the penalty during the shootout. This might also have been her last World Cup, as she has already announced her plans for retirement.