Most Important Moments in Sports

#2 United States Recaptures World Cup

The U.S. Women’s National Team stunned Japan in the opening minutes of the match and went on to defeat the defending World Cup champion 5-2, becoming the first three-time FIFA Women’s World Cup winner. 

Photo Credit: (C) ISI Photos by Steven Limentani

In the first 16 minutes of play, the U.S. took a 4-0 lead after Carli Lloyd netted the fastest hat trick in Women’s World Cup history, and then Lauren Holiday added a goal to put the United States up by a wide margin.

Photo Credit: (C) ISI Photos by Steven Limentani

Twenty-three million watched the game on TV, setting a record for soccer-game viewing on a single U.S. network.

Photo Credit: (C) ISI Photos by Steven Limentani

The World Cup also featured two players who played in their record sixth World Cup: Formiga, 37, of Brazil and Homare Sawa, 36, of Japan. Plus, a lawsuit over playing on artificial turf rather than grass and was somewhat overshadowed by the corruption scandal that led to the arrest of several prominent FIFA members.

Read more about the US Team's Victory from Rolling Stone.