A 78th-minute penalty goal from Alex Morgan helped the United States beat Canada 1-0 in the CONCACAF Women’s Soccer Championship final on Monday night.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since August 2, 2021, when Jessie Fleming scored from a penalty to propel Canada to a 1-0 victory in the finals of the Tokyo Games tournament.
The Canadians then beat the Swedes in the shootout to win the gold medal. The Americans had to settle for the bronze medal.
This time, it was the United States who obtained the decisive penalty to secure a place at the Paris Games in 2024.
American pressure paid its dividends in the second half when Mexican referee Katia Garcia called a foul following contact between Canadian Allysha Chapman and her opponent Rose Lavelle.
Morgan sat at the penalty spot and eluded Kailen Sheridan’s vigilance to score the 118th international goal of her career.
As CONCACAF champions, the Americans have qualified for the Olympics, but also for the inaugural Women’s Gold Cup tournament, which will also be played in 2024.
The Canadians, Olympic champions, can still get their ticket to Paris, but they will have to defeat Jamaica in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers, scheduled for September 2023. Canada shut out Jamaica 3-0 in the semi-finals of the tournament. CONCACAF.
Substitute Kiki Van Zanten scored in the 102nd minute as Jamaica cruised to a 1-0 win over Costa Rica for third place earlier on Monday.
The four semi-finalists of the CONCACAF tournament have already punched their ticket to the FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2023. Panama and Haiti, who both took the third echelon of their group, will advance to the intercontinental qualifiers for the World Cup.