The US women's national team fashions cruelest World Cup exit ever in shootout to Sweden

The fifth official, standing behind the goal appeared to signal for no goal while the linesperson level with the frame appeared to consult her watch. With the Swede appealing for the kick to be given, and the American shaking her finger profusely in disbelief, referee Stéphanie Frappart put her hand to her earpiece to check in with goalline technology. 

It took 21 seconds to make the judgment the ball had crossed the line. But the final call will be spoken about for decades to come. Even in the cruel arena of penalty shootouts, it's to hard think of a more agonizing finish to a World Cup stalemate settled from the spot. This was an all-time heartbreaker. 

Many Americans will spend today in their living rooms, at watch parties, and on social media arguing over the images of the ball crossing the line, repeating to themselves: "All of the ball has to cross all of the line."

But of all the debatable aspects of FIFA's officiating technology, over the past decade, the goalline decisions have been the quickest, most accurate, and most efficient. 

The system uses 14 high-speed cameras mounted on the catwalk of the stadium and under the roof. The match officials then receive a signal on their watches based on a computer reading where the ball is in relation to the line from the captured footage, although there is a margin for error of about four millimeters. 

It was as close of a call as you will ever find in soccer. But the wrong one? Probably not.

"Penalties, to be frank, they suck," USA captain Lindsey Horan poignantly told the broadcast. 

Alex Morgan's assessment, through deep breaths and heartache, would've resonated even more with the nation of fans who were up between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. in the continental U.S. to watch the match. "I'm devastated, it feels like a bad dream," the USA forward told Fox.

But it wasn't a dream. This was the harsh reality for the greatest international soccer team ever. 

For the first time in its history, the USA has not reached the semifinal stage of the women's World Cup. After only reaching the semifinals of the 2021 Olympics, it is also the first time the two-time winners ever missed out on a final at two consecutive tournaments.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is likely to bear the brunt of the criticism for these unwanted records. His contract with the U.S. Soccer Federation expires at the end of the year and it feels unlikely he will continue. 

When asked about his future by Fox after the match, Andonovski deflected the question and instead chose to talk about the burgeoning young talents in the squad that will be a huge part of the USA for years to come. He promised that the program would be successful because of World Cup debutants Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, regardless of who's coaching them. 

"So proud of the team, I know we were criticized, but I think we came out today and showed what we're all about, the fight, the resilience, the bravery, we did everything we could to win the game," Andonovski said.

What made the USA's untimely exit in Melbourne even more cruel was the fact it was an improved performance overall. As hope reared its head, despair was just around the corner. 

After stuttering and wonky showings against the Netherlands and Portugal, Andonovski managed to fix his "Midfield is Lava" issues. He changed shape, implanting a 4-2-3-1 and a double pivot with Emily Sonnett joining Andi Sullivan.

The USWNT was much more solid. There were more options and bodies in the midfield. Potential passing outlets appeared like seagulls at the beach overhead above a picnic. After the front six attacking players had a 50% pass completion average against Portugal, that was bumped up to 73.3% against Sweden. 

In terms of chances, it was one-way traffic too. The U.S. out-shot Sweden 22 to nine, with eight to one for on-target attempts. But poor finishing in front of goal remained the USWNT's biggest issue. Look at the xG and you notice a much closer match, with the Americans only edging the Swedes 1.29 to 0.81. 

The USA will leave Australia and New Zealand having gone 250 minutes without scoring a goal. It also has the worst goals minus expected goals ratio of any team (-5.09).

As good as Swedish goalkeeper and main American antagonist Zećira Mušović was, she didn't have any truly magnificent saves to make. There was a zippy hit on the half volley by Horan she reacted well to from 16 yards, then a close-range header from Morgan in the 90th minute that she was well placed for but didn't need to stretch to reach. Lynn Williams forced the most athletic stop of the night in extra time, but overall, the Americans never were able to break out into space or cut Sweden open in the box. 

It was the first-ever tournament that Morgan has failed to score in for the U.S. And at full time, the two-time World Cup winner looked more distraught than most. For many veterans on the team, this was a brutal way to go out. 

Megan Rapinoe and Kelley O'Hara missed penalty kicks for what could be their last-ever moments in a U.S. jersey before retiring. The former's went high and wide; the latter's glanced off the post.

As the dust settles on this World Cup, the USA's inability to produce its best attacking soccer might well be the legacy of this tournament — not the millimeters that decided the penalty shootout, not the missed kicks and tormented takers. 

Of course, that won't mean much to Americans right now. This moment is one of cruelty. That's soccer sometimes.