Women’s soccer kicked off the 2021 Olympics on Wednesday before the Opening Ceremony even begins.
The United States Women’s National Team was the favorite to win gold at DraftKings Sportsbook before losing 3-0 to Sweden in the opener. The Americans were listed at -165 odds, so when you convert those odds to probabilities with the juice removed, it gave the U.S. about a 50% chance to win.
The USWNT still has a good chance to advance to the knockout stage since eight of the 12 teams will qualify, but it’s a pretty major setback for the tournament’s clear favorite.
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2021 Olympic Women’s Soccer Schedule & Results
The women’s soccer slate isn’t broken up by day, with a few games taking place each day, like Euro 2020. Instead, there will be three matchdays featuring all 12 teams in action on Wednesday, Saturday and next Tuesday.
Because of the time change, the games will begin in the early morning in the Eastern Time Zone — anywhere from 3:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. The USWNT will play just once at 7:30 a.m. ET in group action.
All four quarterfinal matches will be played on July 30, with the semifinals and medal-round games the following Monday and Thursday. The gold-medal match will be at 10 a.m. ET and more viewable for the American audience.
Wednesday
| Match | Time (ET) | TV Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Great Britain 2, Chile 0 | 3:30 a.m. | Olympic |
| Brazil 5, China 0 | 4 a.m. | NBCSN |
| Sweden 3, USA 0 | 4:30 a.m. | USA |
| Japan 1, Canada 1 | 6:30 a.m. | NBCSN |
| Netherlands 10, Zambia 3 | 7 a.m. | Olympic |
| Australia 2, New Zealand 1 | 7:30 a.m. | USA |
Saturday
| Match | Time (ET) | TV Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Chile vs. Canada | 3:30 a.m. | Telemundo |
| China vs. Zambia | 4 a.m. | None |
| Sweden vs. Australia | 4:30 a.m. | NBCSN |
| Japan vs. Great Britain | 6:30 a.m. | None |
| Netherlands vs. Brazil | 7 a.m. | Universo |
| New Zealand vs. USA | 7:30 a.m. | NBCSN |
Tuesday, July 27
| Match | Time (ET) | TV Channel |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand vs. Sweden | 4 a.m. | N/A |
| USA vs. Australia | 4 a.m. | USA |
| Chile vs. Japan | 7 a.m. | Universo |
| Canada vs. Great Britain | 7 a.m. | N/A |
| Netherlands vs. China | 7:30 a.m. | N/A |
| Brazil vs. Zambia | 7:30 a.m. | Telemundo |
Group Standings
The tournament is broken into three groups, with the first- and second-place teams from each quartet automatically advancing to the quarterfinals. The remaining two quarterfinal spots will go to the third-place teams with the most points (goal difference and goals scored will be the tiebreakers).
The groups are labeled E, F and G, so they’re not confused with the 16-team men’s tournament, which is using Groups A-D for its competition.
Group E
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
| Great Britain | 3 |
| Canada | 1 |
| Japan | 1 |
| Chile | 0 |
Bet365 made Great Britain a -120 favorite to win this group (a $12 bet wins $10), with Japan at nearly 2-1 and Canada at 4-1 odds.
Group F
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 3 |
| Brazil | 3 |
| China | 0 |
| Zambia | 0 |
The Netherlands is the favorite in this group at -137 ($13.70 wins $10). The Dutch finished runners-up to the U.S. in the 2019 Women’s World Cup, but won the women’s 2017 European championship. They routed Zambia 10-3 in their opener.
Group G
| Team | Points |
|---|---|
| Sweden | 3 |
| Australia | 3 |
| USA | 0 |
| New Zealand | 0 |
Favored to win the tournament and the heavy favorite to win the group, the USWNT had -333 odds to capture Group G ($33.3 bet wins $10) entering the tournament before losing to Sweden in the opener. Odds have not yet been reposted.
The U.S. has won the last two women’s World Cup competitions, but fell to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics after winning gold in the previous three showcases.
Projected Bracket
Friday, July 30
Game 1: 2E v 2F — 4 a.m. ET
Game 2: 1E v 3F or 3G — 5 a.m. ET
Game 3: 1G v 3E or 3F — 6 a.m. ET
Game 4: 1F v 2G — 7 a.m. ET
Semifinals
Monday, Aug. 2
Game 5: Game 1 vs. Game 4 winners — 4 a.m. ET
Game 6: Game 2 vs. Game 3 winners — 7 a.m. ET
Medal matches
Thursday, Aug. 5
Game 7: Bronze medal match — 4 a.m. ET
Game 8: Gold medal match — 10 am. ET
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Odds to Win Gold Medal
Odds via DraftKings before the tournament, with the juice removed from probabilities.
| Team | Odds | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| USA | -165 | 49.61% |
| Netherlands | +600 | 11.38% |
| Great Britian | +800 | 8.85% |
| Sweden | +1000 | 7.24% |
| Canada | +1200 | 6.13% |
| Japan | +1400 | 5.31% |
| Brazil | +1600 | 4.69% |
| Australia | +2500 | 3.06% |
| China | +3500 | 2.21% |
| New Zealand | +10000 | 0.79% |
| Zambia | +20000 | 0.4% |
| Chile | +25000 | 0.3% |
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U.S. Women’s Roster
Goalkeeper (2): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
Defense (6): Abby Dahlkemper (Manchester City), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit)
Midfielders (5): Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage)
Forward (5): Tobin Heath, Carli Lloyd (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press, Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign)