The USWNT got their Women’s World Cup title defense off to a flying start with a 13-0 drubbing of Thailand on Monday. The nature of the beatdown sparked much debate among, not just the soccer media, but among the general sports media as well. Topics of the debate ranged from should the US have scored as much as they did to should they have continued celebrating the way they did. The answer to both questions from the players was a resounding yes. As is the case in any sport, there’s always somebody out there who makes the “better save some for the next game” joke when a high margin of victory is attained. And the next game for the US is against Chile.

There’s not too terribly much more to say about the US win against Thailand. It was complete and total domination from start to finish. Alex Morgan dropped five goals, while Rose Lavelle and Samantha Mewis chipped in with two apiece. Lindsay Horan, Megan Rapinoe, Mallory Pugh, and of course Carli Lloyd all got in on the party as well. One point of contention is that during the Thailand game the US should have subbed out their best players and brought on their “weaker” players. Jill Ellis attempted to do that as she used all three of her subs before the 70th minute, but it must say something about the embarrassment of riches the US has when the three subs that come in are Carli Lloyd, Christen Press, and Mallory Pugh. In any case, none of the players or coaches are apologizing for winning big, no should they be. Their job is to put themselves in the best position possible to win the title. A 13-0 win certainly goes a long way towards that. The next team in their way is Chile.

Chile is making their debut at the Women’s World Cup. It’s actually quite the remarkable story because not only is this their first time at this tournament, but they have also never qualified for the Olympics. Being drawn into a group with Sweden and the US is certainly a tough way to be introduced to a major international tournament. Part of the reason for the lack of big time tournament appearances is the fact that the Chilean federation didn’t schedule a sing game for the team from October 2014 until May 2017, a long enough gap that FIFA decided to list the team as no longer active. The fact that they made it to France at all (as runners-up of the 2018 Copa America Femenina) is a miracle in itself. Given that they went nearly three years without playing a game, most of the roster is relatively inexperienced at the international level. Only one player has at least 60 caps (goalkeeper Christiane Endler) and only two players have scored 10 or more goals (Francisca Lara and Maria Rojas). Their form coming into this game is not good. They are winless so far in 2019 and have lost four of their last five (scoring just one goal in that time). In their opening game against Sweden they gave a good account of themselves and were level with the Swedes at 0-0 with less than 10 minutes to play before the quality of the European side finally broke through with Kosovare Asllani getting the winner in the 83rd minute and then Madelen Janogy putting the game to bet in added time.

Notes:

1. Monday’s win by the US was the largest in Women’s World Cup history, breaking the previous record of 11-0 held by Germany over Argentina in 2007.

2. Alex Morgan currently leads the way for the Golden Boot (top scorer of the tournament) with five goals.

3. The Group F standings are as follows: USA (3 pts, +13 GD), Sweden (3 pts, +2 GD), Chile (0 pts, -2 GD), Thailand (0 pts, -13 GD)

When and where to watch the game on US TV and streaming

Sunday, June 16, 2019
Parc des Princes
Paris, France
12pm ET
Live on FOX, Telemundo, fuboTV, Hulu Live and PlayStation Vue (free trial)

All-Time Series

USA leads 2-0-0

Last Meeting

September 4, 2018
Avaya Stadium
San Jose, CA
USA 4-0 Chile

Current FIFA Ranking

USA: 1
Chile: 39

Next Game

Women’s World Cup
Thursday, June 20, 2019
USA vs. Sweden
Stade Ocean
Le Harve, France
3pm ET
FOX, Telemundo