United States the team to beat

United States expect to end a World Cup winners’ hoodoo in the delayed Tokyo Olympics. Since women’s football was added to the Games programme in 1996, the gold medal has never been won by reigning world champions. This is surprising given the women’s tournament is a fully-fledged international competition, unlike the men’s which is primarily an Under-23s event. Oddly, the US have won four of the six Olympic competitions, but lost on the two occasions they have arrived as World Cup holders: Sydney 2000 and Rio 2016.

Few would bet on a third failure to double up. Despite the 12-month postponement, 13 of the 14 players who featured in the 2019 World Cup final victory were included in the Olympic squad – even Carli Lloyd, who turns 39 five days before the tournament starts. Moreover, unlike many of their rivals the US have maintained a strong schedule. The