The United States and Japan will meet each other on Sunday in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Final in a rematch of the final from 2011. In 2011, Japan came back from being a goal down in normal time and in extra time before winning in a penalty shootout. Will they manage to repeat on Sunday? Or will the United States win their first World Cup since 1999?

The United States got into the final after finishing first in Group D, defeating Australia and Nigeria and drawing with Sweden. They then beat Colombia in the Round of 16 after Las Cafeteras went down to 10 women. Although Abby Wambach fluffed her lines on a penalty which would have opened the scoring, the Americans rebounded and Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd scored to send them through to the Quarterfinals. They then beat China in a hard fought 1-0 game. Up to that point, the Americans had failed to convince and manager Jill Ellis was coming under increasingly denigrating criticism for her team and formation selection. However, she changed things up against the Chinese and the Americans dominated, advancing on Carli Lloyd's headed goal in the second half.

In far and away their most convincing win of the tourney they beat the world number one-ranked Germans by a score of 2-0. The United States finally looked really good in their win over Germany. They dominated the match, and should have been 2-0 up at the half. However, Alex Morgan missed a golden chance and German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer saved a Julie Johnston header from point blank range. Then, in the second half, it appeared that the Germans had been given a golden ticket to the Final. Johnston pulled down Alexandra Popp from behind in the box, and a penalty was awarded. Celia Sasic stepped up to take it, and pulled her strike wide of the goal. Moments later, Morgan was hacked down on the edge of the box and another penalty was awarded. Lloyd stepped up and converted it, opening the scoring. Then, with just moments left on the clock, she picked out a pass to Kelley O'Hara, who scored to close out the game.

Japan went undefeated in Group C play, finishing atop the group. In the Round of 16 they beat the upstart Dutch 2-1. In the Quarterfinals, the Japanese ladies defeated Group D 2nd place finishers Australia 1-0. In their last game, the Semifinal, the Japanese beat the up and coming surprise English 2-1 after an absolutely devastating own goal by England defender Laura Bassett in the 92nd minute to give Japan the victory. According to many pundits, Japan looked very vulnerable and did not play as well as the now bronze medal winning Lionesses.

This game is USA soccer legend Abby Wambach’s last ever for the US so it carries a lot of weight for the American gals. The pressure for the ladies to win a title for Wambach is probably immense and will be something they will feel as the match goes on and have felt throughout the tournament. The United States is 2-1 in World Cup Final appearances.

This matchup is the United States second consecutive against a fellow women’s soccer superpower, the last one of course coming against Germany. This is the United States' fourth title appearance in the Women's World Cup. The United States are looking to become the first ever team to win three women’s world cup titles. The Japanese are trying to get the same result as they did in the 2011 version where they as previously stated defeated the Americans. The Japanese are also looking to become the first repeat champions in tourney history.

This iteration of the women’s world cup final will take place at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada. The game starts at 7 pm ET, on Fox. It will definitely be a great game and both nations will come out gunning. May the best team win.

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About the author
Max ONeill
My name Is Max ONeill, I am currently a Senior at York Prep in NYC, I have written for multiple years for my own blog, Max2theMax. I love NYC Sports including the Yankees, Knicks, Rangers, and Giants. Ithaca College Bound!!