Since women's football was added to the Olympic program in 1996, the United States has dominated, winning three gold medals and one silver.
On Thursday, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and company will look to make it four golds, while a Japanese team that has already secured the best performance in the country's history will look to make Olympic history at Wembley Stadium in London, where the U.S. and Japan will battle for the gold on Thursday afternoon at 7:45 p.m. local time (2:45 p.m. ET in the U.S.).
The match will be broadcast in the U.S. on the NBC Sports Network, and streamed live at NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Olympics Live Extra App for mobile devices. Viewers will have a choice between the NBCSN Simulcast and a second stream without commentary.
The gold medal final will be a rematch of the final at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, which was won by Japan on penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie. With a win, Japan would become the first country ever to win the FIFA Women's World Cup and the Olympic gold medal in consecutive years. The Americans' lone Women's World Cup victory, in 1999 was followed by the country's only silver medal, as the U.S. fell to Norway in the gold medal match in Sydney in 2000.
The teams have two common opponents at the Olympics in France and Canada. The U.S. stormed back from an early 2-0 deficit to score a 4-2 victory in the opening match of the Olympics, while Japan defeated France 2-1 to reach the final. The U.S. required extra time (and some questionable officiating) to defeat Canada in the semifinals, while Japan defeated Canada 2-1 in their first match of the Games.
Wambach leads the U.S. with five goals in five games, followed by Morgan and Rapinoe with three apiece. Yuki Ogimi leads Japan with two goals, while four other players have found the back of the net for Japan.
