The Japanese are used to being the underdogs. They weren’t expected to have much of a chance against host Germany, the two-time reigning World Cup champions, in the quarterfinals but won 1-0 in arguably the biggest upset in women’s soccer history. Then Japan was an underdog again vs. Sweden in the semifinals; that same Swedish team had beaten the U.S. 2-1 in group play, which is the Americans’ only group play loss in World Cup history. But the Japanese handled the Swedes 3-1. Japan is a small but quick team that is highly skilled technically. The star is 32-year-old Homare Sawa, who is appearing in her fifth and final World Cup. She is tied with Brazil’s Marta for the most goals in this tournament with four. This is the first World Cup final for Japan, which had only escaped group play once previously.

The Americans are the top-ranked team in the world but were behind Germany in terms of odds to win this tournament. Of course the USA had to escape Brazil in the quarterfinals in one of the great endings in U.S. sports history, and then Team USA beat a game French team 3-1 in the semifinals. Abby Wambach has become a household name in the States, as her header in the 122nd minute improbably tied the match vs. Brazil and then she headed in the go-ahead goal in the 79th minute vs. France. The U.S. is in its record-tying third World Cup final, having won it all in 1991 and 1999.

These two sides are very familiar with one another after playing in the Algarve Cup in March and a pair of friendlies in mid-May. The USA won all three meetings and has never lost to Japan in 25 all-time matches.

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