USA thrash Japan to win Women’s World Cup

Captain Carli Lloyd scored a hat-trick inside the opening 16 minutes as USA beat reigning champions Japan 5-2 to win the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

The American midfielder became the first woman to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final and just the second player overall after Geoff Hurst netted three goals in England’s 4-2 win over Germany in the men’s 1966 final.


But unlike Hurst, whose three goals spanned more than 100 minutes with the last two coming in extra time, Lloyd needed just 13 minutes to complete her hat-trick.

Her first came in the third minute when Megan Rapinoe drove a low diagonal ball across the area and Lloyd timed her run to perfection, meeting the ball with a powerful, first-time drive past Japan keeper Ayumi Kaihori.

If Japan were shocked by conceding so early, they were utterly stunned two minutes later when Lloyd doubled the lead from a set-piece again.

Japan barely had time to regroup before they found themselves 3-0 down in the 14th minute when an awful attempted headed clearance from Azusa Iwashimizu fell to Holiday on the edge of the box, who blasted in a volley.