Lindsey Horan scored the game’s only goal as the United States women beat Brazil 1-0 on Sunday night to claim the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup in front of a sellout crowd at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
The U.S. broke through at the end of an evenly played first half when Horan outmaneuvered her defender and met Emily Fox‘s floated cross from the right side to power a header past Brazil keeper Luciana to give the Americans a 1-0 lead at the break.
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Brazil spent large chunks of the second half in the U.S. side of the field, but some determined defending and solid play in goal from semifinal hero Alyssa Naeher helped the team see out the result to become the first champions in the history of the W Gold Cup.
Interim manager Twila Kilgore’s side seemed to catch fire after a surprise loss to Mexico in its final group stage match, going on to beat Colombia 3-0 in the quarterfinals, then Canada in a dramatic semifinal shootout before capping off the tournament with the win on Sunday.
The next major tournament for the U.S. will be this summer’s Olympics in Paris, with new manager Emma Hayes overseeing the team. Hayes is set to coach her first matches at the helm for the Americans against South Korea at the beginning of June after she finishes off the season as manager of Chelsea in the Women’s Super League.
Brazil, which also qualified for the Olympics in Paris, had won each of its five matches in the tournament, including a 3-0 victory over Mexico in the semifinals, scoring 15 goals along the way.