Trump Reacts to US Women’s World Cup Loss: ‘No Other Country Behaved in Such a Manner’

US players show dejection after the team's defeat through the penalty shootout in the FIFA Women's World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Sweden and the United States at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne, Australia on Aug. 6, 2023. Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

U.S. women’s soccer team had hopes of a third consecutive Women’s World Cup title, but a missed penalty shot on Sunday took the team out of the running.

First, Megan Rapinoe, who has led her teams to victory multiple times, missed a critical penalty shot in the Sunday game against Sweden. Then 22-year-old U.S. forward Sophia Smith missed as well. Finally, defender Kelley O’Hara sent her shot into the right post.

It led to Sweden’s opportunity for a penalty shot, which they barely made, winning the game by millimeters.

Online reactions to the loss quickly became political, as Ms. Rapinoe, who announced her retirement from the sport earlier this year, has been a vocal advocate for left-leaning causes.

Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on the loss.

“The ’shocking and totally unexpected' loss by the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team to Sweden is fully emblematic of what is happening to ... our once great Nation under Crooked Joe Biden,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Many of our players were openly hostile to America—No other country behaved in such a manner, or even close.”

“Woke equals failure,” he wrote.

Mr. Trump singled out Ms. Rapinoe, who he had previously criticized after she joined the trend of athletes kneeling during the playing of the national anthem as a form of protest. U.S. Soccer intervened and prevented her from doing so, after which she refused to put her hand over her heart during the national anthem.

“Megan should never disrespect our country, the White House or our flag, especially since so much has been done for her and the team. Be proud of the flag you carry,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter in 2019.

In interviews after her demonstration, Ms. Rapinoe told reporters she thought she was “extremely American” and felt fortunate to be so, but added that the nation was “founded on slavery.”

Earlier this year, the two-time World Cup winner was asked what she thought the team’s legacy would be if they didn’t win again, and Ms. Rapinoe said “I haven’t thought about that yet.

After her shot on Sunday she said, “That’s some dark humor, me missing.”

The Rise of Women’s Soccer

The U.S. Women’s National Soccer team won a $24 million equal pay settlement against the U.S. Soccer Federation last year, after the suit was first filed by five members in 2016. In 2018, the men’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup while the women’s team won the tournament in 2019, leading to 28 members filing a similar suit, bringing the issue back into the spotlight.

Since then, women’s soccer has seen some high profile investments that for many signal the sport’s rise.

Kara Nortman, a tech venture capitalist, had seen the high profile lawsuit and recognized an opportunity.

“You had a billion people watching on broadcast and another half billion on streaming,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “You have an activation at the highest level, but then you can’t do anything with your enthusiasm.”

In 2020, she established Angel City FC, the first women’s professional soccer team in a decade, co-founded with entrepreneur Julie Uhrman and actress Natalie Portman. Co-owners include actress Eva Longoria, former soccer player Mia Hamm, and tennis star Serena Williams.