The FIFA Women's World Cup will come to a close Sunday with the rubber match between two of the world's best national soccer teams, Japan and the United States.
Japan is the reigning champions of the 2011 World Cup, beating the U.S. in the final, but the latter took the 2012 Olympics gold medal from the former. Now the two international powerhouses will look to break that tie.
BBC Sport and Fox Sports will air the game live online. The match, which takes place at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, Canada, is set to begin at 7 p.m. ET.
Like 2011, FIFA.com noted, the U.S. will be favored over Japan, but the latter has made significant strides since. After losing the gold medal game in the 2012 Olympics to the U.S., Japan won its first AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2014. They may be still considered underdogs Sunday, but by far less of a margin.
"In order to be the best team in the world at the World Cup, you have to beat the best teams," U.S. forward Abby Wambach told NBC Sports. "We just beat the No. 1 team in the world in Germany and now we face Japan, another team that we have so much respect for. They have an amazing team and they're the reigning World Cup champions so I think it's going to be a fantastic final. Everyone will have to bring their 'A' game and whoever finishes their chances the most will come out on top. Hopefully it will be us."
