Olympic women's soccer draw revealed: USWNT to open against Swedish rivals

It's time to mark your calendars.

The Houston Dash’s international players discovered who they will be playing in the Tokyo Olympics women’s soccer tournament when the draw for the group stage was held on Wednesday morning.

The U.S. women's national team are set to play Sweden, New Zealand and Australia in the group G, while Team GB were drawn in group E alongside Japan, Canada and Chile.

Should they be selected by their respective nations, the schedule will pit Team GB’s Rachel Daly against her Dash teammates Allysha Chapman, Nichelle Prince and Sophie Schmidt on July 27th at the Kashima Stadium in Kashima, Japan.

Should Jane Campbell and Kristie Mewis make the 18 player roster for the summer games, they will face Sweden on July 21st in Tokyo, then New Zealand on July 24th in Saitama, and then finally playing against Australia on July 27th in Kashima.

The tournament will take place between July 21 and August 6. The quarter-finals, which are set to begin on July 30th, is the earliest that Team GB or Canada could take on the current World Cup holders and number one ranked USWNT.

Team GB are playing in their first tournament since 2012, when London hosted the Summer Olympics. They were eliminated by Canada in the quarter-finals. 2021 should provide them an opportunity to get their revenge on the North Americans.

Canada excelled in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, winning their first four matches before being eliminated in the semi-finals to Germany. They did, however, go on to secure the bronze medal by triumphing over their Brazilian hosts 2-1 in Sao Paulo.

More vengeance could be on the cards between the Americans and the Swedes. After winning the gold medal in 2012, the USWNT were shocked by Sweden at the quarter-final stage in 2016. Christen Press missed the deciding penalty in a shootout, after the match had ended 1-1 after extra time. The unthinkable exit was the first time in their history that the USWNT had missed the Olympic final.

Coincidentally, the Scandanavians just played the USA last week during the April FIFA international window. In keeping with their historically close encounters, the match finished 1-1. After Lina Hurtig had initially headed the Swedes into a first half lead, the USA were awarded a controversial 87th minute penalty. Megan Rapinoe cooly tucked the spot kick away, allowing the Americans to unceremoniously avoid defeat in Stockholm.