LYON, France - The United States is about to conclude its summer in France with an opportunity to further cement its status as the best women's soccer team in the world.
The Americans will face the Netherlands in the Women's World Cup final Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT at Stade de Lyon, with Fox televising the game. A victory would give the United States its second straight title and fourth overall at the quadrennial tournament, more than any other nation.
"I'm like a kid in the candy story right now," U.S. star Megan Rapinoe said. "This is the absolute best stage. I already feel more anxious and more nervous than in any of the other games."
The Americans have won a record 11 consecutive Women's World Cup matches dating to 2015 in Canada, surpassing the mark Norway set from 1995 to '99. The United States is undefeated in its past 16 Women's World Cup matches, surpassing Germany's run from 2003 to '07.
"We've celebrated the amazing moments. We've dug in, looked each other in the eye in the hard moments and gone through things as a team," Rapinoe said. "And we get to this final moment, and it's one more game and it's really just about experiencing that game in its fullest for the last time."
The Americans face a Dutch team on the rise. After reaching the knockout round in only its first Women's World Cup four years ago, the Netherlands won the 2017 European Championship for its first major trophy. Dating to that event, the Dutch have won 12 straight games in major tournaments.
They have star power in Lieke Martens, who was FIFA's women's player of the year in 2017. She scored twice in the team's 2-1 win against Japan on June 25 but injured a toe while celebrating, and it has bothered her ever since, with Martens saying it was painful in Wednesday's 1-0 extra-time semifinal victory over Sweden.
"As a player, you always want to play the biggest game of your career," Martens said, "and this one of the biggest ones I hopefully am going to play."
Jackie Groenen, who became the first foreign signee for Manchester United after the recently formed women's team was promoted to England's Super League in May, scored the lone goal for the Dutch against the Swedes.
"It is amazing to be able to play the final. I am so proud. It is amazing to be playing on a team that gives you self-confidence. We give that to each other," Groenen said. "We never knew this would be possible. It is one more match and we could be world champions. It will be difficult, but it will be incredible to win."
The United States defeated England on Tuesday night in the other semifinal, giving the Americans an extra day to recuperate. Even without that bonus, the top-ranked Americans would pose a considerable challenge for the eighth-ranked Dutch.
The United States has had a particularly challenging run to its third straight World Cup final with a quarterfinal against No. 4 France before facing No. 3 England. The Americans won both games 2-1, the same score they posted against Spain in their opening match of the tournament's knockout stage.
They announced their arrival in France with a 13-0 trouncing of Thailand in the opener, added a 3-0 victory against Chile five days later and completed a sweep of their group with a 2-0 win against nemesis Sweden, the team that knocked them out of the 2016 Olympics in the quarterfinals.
"I think we've come from a tough road in terms of the teams we've played to get to this point, so for sure they're battle-tested," U.S. coach Jill Ellis said. "But what I love about this group is that they're locked in and they're still hungry."
Alex Morgan leads the team - and the Golden Boot race as the tournament's top scorer - with six goals. Rapinoe, who has five goals, did not play against England because of a minor hamstring injury but said she expects to be ready for the final. Ellis said no one has been ruled out.
"I feel so good about this group," Ellis said. "They have a closeness that you're optimistic to have as a coach, but it doesn't always come to fruition. This is a very, very close group, and I think that's been a big part of what's empowered them to this point. And obviously I think we've got talented players as well; you can't do without that."