Last-minute Kristie Mewis goal sinks Mexico

It wasn't the prettiest way to score, a goalmouth scramble in the 89th minute that had the ball ping down off the crossbar only for Kristie Mewis to run through it and knock it in with her left thigh. But it counted, and when the Gotham FC midfielder found the back of the net she lifted a USWNT squad who had thoroughly outplayed a stubborn Mexico, but who couldn’t find a way to score despite a lineup that included the attacking firepower of Rose Lavelle, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe.

Here is the Mewis goal in all its opportunistic glory:

The win gave the USWNT a perfect nine points in the group stage of the CONCACAF W Championship, the awkwardly-named tournament that determines which teams will play in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In fact, the USWNT qualified for both when they defeated Jamaica 5-0 on July 7 —Mewis also scored in that game.

Gotham FC’s Midge Purce scored in the USWNT’s comprehensive 3-0 defeat of Haiti on July 4.

The game against Mexico helped determine the seeding for the knockout round, but it was also played for pride — and to extend the USWNT’s global domination. The Euros might be in full swing, but the best team in the world continues to be the USWNT and it ain’t even close. The USWNT have put up three clean sheets in this tournament, and nine so far this year out of 10 games played — the United States have allowed just one goal in 2022, and that was in the 9-1 dismantling of Uzbekistan in April.

The USWNT will next face Costa Rica in the CONCACAF W Championship semifinal on July 14 at 7 pm ET — that game will be broadcast live on Paramount+.

The winner will face either Canada or Jamaica in the final on July 18 at 7 pm ET.