U.S. women’s team wins CONCACAF qualifying final 2-0 over Canada

FRISCO, Texas — Rose Lavelle and Alex Morgan each scored and the U.S. women beat rival Canada 2-0 on Wednesday night in the championship match of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament.

The United States improved to 16-0-2 so far in 2018. The team has gone undefeated in 26 straight matches (23-0-3) dating to last year.

Both had already secured spots in next year’s World Cup in France with victories in the semifinals. CONCACAF sends the top three finishers in the tournament to the World Cup.

Jamaica earned a trip to France on penalties after a 2-2 draw with Panama in the third-place match at Toyoda Stadium earlier on Wednesday. Panama will still have a chance to qualify for France with a two-legged playoff against Argentina next month.

It will be Jamaica’s first trip to the World Cup, and the island nation is the first team from the Caribbean to earn a spot.

The United States, the top-ranked team in the world, is the defending World Cup champion. The Americans beat Japan in the 2015 World Cup final in Canada.

The match was played in steady rain and temperatures in the 50s. Attendance was announced as 6,986.

Canada, ranked fifth in the world, has seen its profile raised in recent years with back-to-back bronze medals at the Olympics. The two teams met in an epic semifinal match at the 2012 London Games, with the United States coming out on top 4-3 in overtime.

The U.S. defeated Jamaica 6-0 on Sunday in the semifinals, with Morgan and Heath scoring two goals apiece. Christine Sinclair scored twice in Canada’s 7-0 semifinal victory over Panama.