USWNT hits new low with worst-ever FIFA ranking

It didn’t seem like it could get any worse for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team after this year’s World Cup debacle.

But with the release of FIFA’s new international rankings, in which the U.S. dropped out of the top two spots for the first time since the rankings began publishing in 2003, it has.

After a miserable loss to Sweden in penalty kicks during the round of 16 in Australia, the USWNT fell out of the top rankings spot, which it had previously held since June 2017.

The Swedes took over the top ranking, while Spain, after emerging victorious against England in the World Cup final, rose to the second spot as the U.S. landed at No. 3.

Following two consecutive World Cup wins in 2015 and 2019 that spawned talk of a dynasty, the failure in 2023 — which marked the team’s worst-ever finish at the tournament — has invited criticism from all across the soccer landscape.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski resigned after the tournament disaster, revealing legitimate concern that the team’s coaching throughout the tournament had not been up to par.

USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan seemed to support that notion with biting comments earlier this week that questioned the team’s preparation.

“When a coach comes in, it’s like, ‘Hey, how do we get the best out of every single individual player putting the most simplicity into a 10-day camp every few months and getting the best out of your team and without over-complicating everything?’ ” Horan recently told former teammates Tobin Heath and Christen Press on “The RE-CAP Show.”

“I could talk about the last four-year cycle, and we don’t need to get into every single thing, but that’s not what we did. We did not get the best out of every single individual.”

Megan Rapinoe, who missed a crucial penalty kick against Sweden, has also been in the crosshairs of the team’s detractors.

The USWNT legend recently spoke out against the criticism she had received over her bewildered laugh following the penalty kick miss.

“For a long time, I have thought about missing one in a really big moment. What are you going to do? The only other thing you could do is to not take one. I’m not going to do that. I would rather step up and be in that moment.

“And I think that’s something that made the criticism after that loss particularly fake and disingenuous and absurd and outrageous to me. It’s like, you’re going to bash on me for getting out there and trying my best?”