Women's World Cup Final 2011 LIVE UPDATES: USA vs. Japan

The USA women's soccer team takes on Japan on Sunday in the Women's World Cup final. The game will begin at 2:45 p.m ET on ESPN.

In the quarterfinals against Brazil, the U.S. came back in the 122nd minute after Abby Wambach scored on an incredible header to tie the match at two. They went on to win in a penalty shootout and then dominated France 3-1 in the semifinals.

Despite getting shut out by England in the group stage, Japan managed to crush Germany and then take down Sweden in the semifinals.

Will USA win a record third World Cup? Or will Japan shock the world and pull off the miraculous upset? Follow our Women's World Cup final live blog for updates!

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JAPAN WINS

JAPAN WINS THE 2011 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP!!!

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Wambach Finally Scores

Wambach scores to cut the lead to 2-1. If Japan scores, they win the World Cup!

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GOAL

Sakaguchi puts Japan up 2-0 in penalty kicks.

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ANOTHER SAVE

Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori makes ANOTHER SAVE.

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Japan 2nd Shot

Hope Solo makes a CRUCIAL SAVE! Still 1-0 Japan.

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Lloyd MISSES

Carli Lloyd misses her shot!!!

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Miyama Scores

Miyama easily scores on Hope Solo. 1-0 Japan

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First USA Kick

Japan goalkeeper saves Shannon Boxx's shot.

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PENALTY KICKS

Penalty kicks coming up!

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Japan Blocks It

Japan blocks the free kick. Goal kick for Japan

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RED CARD

Red card issued to Japan's Azusa Iwashimizu. First red card ever in the Women's World Cup Final. USA Free Kick

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Wambach Comes So Close

Wambach gets the ball right in front of the net but kicks it over the goal. So close!

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JAPAN TIES IT

JAPAN TIES IT AGAIN. This time coming off a corner kick! 2-2. THree minutes left until penalty kicks.

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More Shaky Defense

The U.S. defense fails to clear it again and gives Japan a couple more chances to tie the game. But Japan can't capitalize once again and U.S. finally clears it.

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Japan Almost Scores

Japan gets an opportunity to tie the game after some shaky defense by the U.S., but they can't capitalize. Still 2-1 USA

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15 Minutes Left

We have entered the second half of extra time. If Japan ties it, we will move on to penalty kicks.

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GOAL

Wambach has done it again! The U.S. star scores on a beautiful header!! Great pass from Alex Morgan. 2-1 USA.

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100th Minute

O'Reilly tried to cross it to Abby Wambach, but the ball floated too high and went out of bounds. Goal kick for Japan.

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Yellow Card

The ref gave Aya Miyama a yellow card for dissent.

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Morgan Shoots

Alex Morgan gets another shot on goal, but the ball goes wide left. Goal kick for Japan in the 95th minute.

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Wambach Misses

Wambach tried another header but the Japanese goalkeeper makes the save again.

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That's It

Here comes 30 minutes of extra time.

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O'Reilly Misses

O'Reilly gets a scoring opportunity but kicks it over the goal. Japan goal kick.

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Great Defense

2 Minutes of extra time have been added. U.S. getting plenty of good looks in the final minutes but they just can't convert.

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Japan Shoots

Japan gets a shot off but the ball goes wide left.

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88th Minute

Hope Solo clears the ball. Looks like we're going to get an extra 30 minutes.

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Corner Kick

USA corner kick gets batted away by Japan. U.S. controlling the time of possession.

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82nd Minute

U.S. is threatening and playing more aggressive. Free kick by midfield for USA.

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JAPAN SCORES

Aya Miyama somehow gets the ball right in front of the net and easily scores. Two U.S. defenders failed to clear the ball and turned the ball over in front of the goal!!! 1-1

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Offside

It looked like the U.S. was going to make another good run, but Rapnioe was called for offside.

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More

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01:19 PM on 08/07/2011

Fifa U-20 World Cup Squads, schedule, results, match details and more information here..check this

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[Susan Barkdoll]

01:46 PM on 07/20/2011

It is easy to be graceful and polite when one wins the game. The USA Team spoke volumes with the dignity and civility we would hope defines sportsmanship. My ten year old granddaughter learned how to accept defeat with honor by these brave women. The world watched as dreams crashed. We learn more from our defeats that our wins. Thank you for setting a wonderful example for athletes of all ages. I hope the men in professional basketball can be as gracious as the women in soccer!

[elwynn94]

10:22 AM on 07/20/2011

US Lost.. that's tooooo bad,,,

[Justice1]

10:10 PM on 07/19/2011

Those Japanese girls were smaller and out hustled the USA team good job Japanese...you need a boost after all the horrific events this year....

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[Felix99]

05:03 PM on 07/19/2011

Oh, come on. The US team never choked. They played all out for the entire game! They were all over the Japanese for the first 15 or so minutes because the Japanese defence took that amount of time to acclimatize to the American attack. But even then the Americans held the territorial advantage. The Japanese had more possession because they would kick the ball back and forth amongst their defensive players until they found an offensive opportunity. Different strokes for different folks. The US kicking was not at its best on Sunday, but they never lost for lack of trying.

[Lucky S7even]

03:03 PM on 07/19/2011

really good to see the country rally behind these women. really disappointed with the shot selection in the shootout by the US team though. i guess shootouts are only fun to watch when my team wins. good for japan.

[Soccer Swagger]

01:25 PM on 07/19/2011

The U.S. lost, that sucks. Here are 5 things we know now about the Women's World Cup.
http://www.soccerwithswagger.com/5-womens-world-cup-facts/

[yogi5685]

01:08 PM on 07/19/2011

these girls are awesome, inspiring and played an amazing game to watch. they obviously played hard and put all they had into it,so they are still winners! they should always be proud to have made it to the finals. I wish we had more of them. Are the 2012 Olympics possible?

[Backtalkisahorse]

12:28 PM on 07/19/2011

I'm sorry but didn't that solo girl miss three times? Guess it's time for her to pose nekid somewhere.

[Js420]

11:48 AM on 07/19/2011

My fellow Californian, Alex Morgan, who was subbed in at halftime. Scored the 1st goal & had the assist for the 2nd. Could have been the games mvp & snatched up some endorsement deals, she's also a pretty face. Oh well, cant wait til next yrs Olympics.

[bc906]

11:07 AM on 07/19/2011

Hope Solo looked played horrible towards the end of the game. She kept diving for the ball an missing it leaving the goal wide open. The US was lucky it even went to penalty kicks.

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[Terri Lorz]

10:34 AM on 07/19/2011

Good Job, both teams - Terri Jo Lorz

[cocoislerealty]

07:29 AM on 07/19/2011

Where is the dateline with the location of the story subject? I probably overlooked it, but it seems to me Internet journalism has taken dominance yet with sloppy journalism, sorry if it is there an I don't see it, but I am accustomed to obvious professionalism by starting a story like (AP, Honolulu) and so on so you are oriented correctly from the get-go. They talk bout USA, Brazil, Japan, France -- where's is this stuff happening, am I supposed to do a study to find out or am I out of touch with the obvious? I wouldn't bring it up but it seems common to leave the reader out these days.