Watch: Sweden dump USWNT out of FIFA Women's World Cup after agonizing VAR drama on pens, video goes viral

The USWNT were eliminated from the Round of 16 of the FIFA Women's World Cup after a penalty shootout defeat against Sweden on Sunday, August 8. There was late VAR drama involved in the penalty shootout.

Vlatko Andonovski's team entered the tournament in Australia and New Zealand as one of the favorites. However, their performances left a lot to be desired as the US won only one of their three group games.

The Round of 16 tie between the USWNT and Sweden reached penalties after neither team could find a breakthrough in 120 minutes of football.

After USWNT scored their first three spot kicks and their opponents scored their first two, Nathalie Bjorn missed Sweden's third, only to see Megan Rapinoe miss America's next one. Rebecka Blomqvist and Sophia Smith missed their shots as well. With the score level at 4-4 in the sudden death part of the shootout, veteran Kelley O'Hara missed her shot.

27-year-old forward Lina Hurtig stepped up to take the decisive spot-kick to send Sweden through to the quarterfinals. Hurtig's shot bounced off Alyssa Naeher, who flapped out a desperate arm to keep the ball out of the net, but a VAR check confirmed that the ball had crossed the line by millimeters. After the confirmation by the match referee, Sweden celebrated their progress as the defending champions were inconsolable.

Incredibly, with their elimination in the Round of 16, the 2023 edition will be the first where the USWNT won't be one of the top-three teams at a World Cup since its inception in 1991.

Piers Morgan took a shot at Megan Rapinoe following USWNT's elimination from the FIFA Women's World Cup

After the USWNT were eliminated from the FIFA Women's World Cup in dramatic fashion, British broadcaster Piers Morgan took a sarcastic dig at Megan Rapinoe on Twitter.

A social media post highlighted the heartbreaking end to Rapinoe's World Cup career as the 38-year-old former Ballon d'Or winner missed a penalty in the shootout. Piers Morgan reacted to the post, writing:

"Oh no."

Rapinoe and Morgan have previously been involved in acrimonious verbal exchanges. When Rapinoe asked for equal pay in men and women's football's pay in 2019, Morgan said (via GOAL):

“Ms Rapinoe sure does love herself. Can’t wait to see our Lionesses dent that stupendous ego.”

Also, back in 2019, Rapinoe said that the USWNT won't visit the White House (occupied by Donald Trump at the time) even if they won the FIFA Women's World Cup that year, to which Morgan replied:

“The arrogance of this is breathtaking. Try winning it first, Ms Rapinoe - then inform us of your latest tiresome political activism.”

The USWNT, led by Rapinoe, did go on to win the 2019 World Cup. The 38-year-old forward retires from the World Cup stage as a two-time winner of the competition.