Five Takeaways from the USWNT's Winning World Cup Run

The U.S. Women’s National Team earned their fourth-ever and second-straight Women’s World Cup title after defeating the Netherlands 2-0 in the Final of the Women’s World Cup on Sunday.

They were easily the most dominant team throughout the tournament but faced their share of adversity in the knockout rounds and in the first half of the Final, taking a scoreless match into the halftime break against the Dutch.

The USWNT went through numerous storylines throughout the tournament, from Megan Rapinoe’s political protests to wondering if this is Alex Morgan’s breakout tournament to whether or not this is the best USWNT side ever, let alone best American soccer side ever.

Here are five takeaways from the USWNT’s fourth Women’s World Cup winning run.

The rest of the world is catching up, but the USWNT still holds the throne

The USWNT had a dominant run throughout the Women’s World Cup, there’s no question about that. But it doesn’t go without saying that while they’re still the queens of the pitch globally, the rest of the world showed that they’re starting to close the gap, specifically the European countries with top national leagues.

Spain entered the tournament as the top up-and-coming team and proved that in the Round of 16 against the U.S. If not for a pair of penalty kicks, Spain pulls off what would’ve been one of the sport’s biggest upsets. The host France and England showed that they could hang with the “arrogant” Americans as well in the knockouts.

The Dutch, the defending European champions, played like it in the Final, especially in the first half.

But the USWNT proved why they’re the defending champs and came through in the clutch in the second half. Megan Rapinoe froze Dutch keeper Sari van Veenandaal on the penalty kick and Crystal Dunn’s huge tackle sparked Rose Lavelle’s insurance goal in the 69th minute.

They came through in the clutch defensively. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, who’s getting her first career start in a major international tournament, came through in the clutch in the sports biggest stage. She had an important clear early on in the match on a breakaway by Dutch forward Lineth Beerensteyn, and made a huge save on a shot by Beerensteyn after Lavelle’s goal to keep the two-goal lead.

The rest of the world is catching up to the USWNT. But, for the near future, the USWNT is still the team to beat.

The USWNT is just different than everyone else, USMNT included

The USWNT entered this tournament with massive expectations to repeat as World Cup champions – not an easy feat regardless of which gender is taking the pitch.

But, when doubted, when questioned, when criticized, and when they faced any kind of adversity in a match, they pulled through and ended up repeating as champions anyways.

Amongst the pressure of repeating as champions, they faced the pressure of their equal pay lawsuit against U.S. Soccer in the background of the tournament, any and just about all criticism stemming from their celebrations against Thailand and England, and their political protests against the current American administrations.

Their mentality of overcoming any adversity and pulling through the pressure is something that other teams can look up to (mainly speaking of the men’s side that is currently rebuilding).

With all eyes on Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe stole the show … and we’re not mad about it.

This was, technically, supposed to be Alex Morgan’s legacy tournament. And, to her credit, she started it hot, scoring five goals against Thailand in the opener of the group stage. And then, while Morgan disappeared through the rest of the group stage and early on in the knockouts until her goal against England, Rapinoe stepped into the spotlight.

The newly-turned 34-year-old Rapinoe took home the Golden Boot as the top goal-scorer in the tournament and the Golden Ball for the top player of the tournament.

Both Morgan and Rapinoe finished tied with a tournament-leading six goals and three assists, however, Rapinoe won the tiebreaker over Morgan due to Rapinoe playing fewer minutes than Morgan – she missed the semifinal win over England with a minor injury.

Rapinoe stepped her game up in the knockout rounds and came through in the clutch in the Final, scoring the eventual game-winning goal on her penalty kick about an hour in.

Rose Lavelle had a standout tournament, and her goal in the Final is the validation of her efforts

Although all eyes were on Alex Morgan, then on Megan Rapinoe throughout the USWNT’s World Cup run. But Rose Lavelle deserves a lot of credit for her performance throughout the tournament.

She came in third for the Golden Ball as Rapinoe won the award with her ability to find the back of the net, however, Lavelle played a crucial role in the American midfield and led numerous attacks for the U.S. during the tournament.

Stats don’t tell her story in this World Cup. She nearly scored the go-ahead goal against Spain in the second half of the Round of 16 but drew the penalty that resulted in Rapinoe’s go-ahead penalty kick and the win.

Lavelle’s goal in the 69th minute against the Netherlands in Sunday’s Final was the reward for her efforts all tournament, and even more proof of her growth during the World Cup. Once seen as maybe too small to play in this tournament, Lavelle took the pass from Crystal Dunn, owned her run and hit a perfect low shot to the far post to put the USWNT up 2-0.

She doesn’t have the star power of either Morgan or Rapinoe, but she was just as important as either of the two in this title run.

Alyssa Naeher can only grow after her stellar major international debut in the Women’s World Cup

At age 31, Alyssa Naeher took the reins of her first career World Cup tournament and owned it, well.

She conceded just three goals all tournament, all three coming in all three 2-1 wins in the knockout stages against Spain, France, and England, while shutting out all opponents during the group stages – she didn’t really have to do much at the start of the tournament minus a save or two against Sweden.

However, when her number was called when it mattered most, she stepped up. She made a crucial penalty save in the semifinal against England and made two crucial saves, one early, one late, in Sunday’s Final against the Netherlands in the win.

She had the shadow of Hope Solo over her for through the quarterfinals, but after her clutch performances in the semis and in the Final, she can build her own legacy going forward now.