Rapinoe and USA aim to retain World Cup, but Netherlands stand in their way

Led by the charismatic Megan Rapinoe, the United States are aiming to retain the women's World Cup as they face European champions the Netherlands in the final in Lyon on Sunday.

A sell-out crowd of close to 60,000 is expected for the showpiece game of the landmark tournament, which kicks off at 1500 GMT.

The USA have lived up to their status as favourites coming into the tournament by becoming the first team ever to reach three consecutive women's World Cup finals.

They can win the trophy for the fourth time in eight editions, four years after Carli Lloyd's hat-trick helped them to a 5-2 win over Japan in the final in Canada.

Despite beginning their defence of the trophy with a World Cup record 13-0 victory over Thailand, they have had to fight to get through the knockout rounds, edging out Spain, hosts France and then England on their way.

"We have come through a tough road in terms of the teams we have played to get to this point, so for sure they are battle-tested, but what I love about this group is that they are locked on and still hungry," said USA coach Jill Ellis of her team.

Rapinoe scored braces in the wins over both Spain and France before sitting out the semi-final defeat of England due to a hamstring injury. The pink-haired midfielder, who turned 34 on Friday, was confident she would be fit in time to return against the Netherlands.

"I expect to be good to go for tomorrow and I'm very excited about that opportunity," she said at Saturday's pre-match press conference.

"I'm like a kid in a candy store right now, this is the absolute best stage."
"We know we are playing a top-level team so we need to perform even better and we will defend the way we always do, as a team."
- Female coaches on both sides -
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"They have that idea of what it takes to win a championship more than the other teams we have faced."