In November 1991, FIFA held its first-ever Women’s World Cup tournament, and eleven teams traveled to China with the dream of becoming FIFA’s first women’s world champion. Among those teams were the United States Women’s National Team, a team loaded with talent from across the country that were viewed as one of the favorites to win the newly enacted tournament.
The team blew through the group stage, beating Sweden, Brazil, and Japan, which today would be a murderer’s row of teams. In the quarterfinals, they destroyed Chinese Taipei 7-0 and then defeated Germany in the semifinals, 5-2.