The game was played in front of 50,644 fans at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the crowd setting a record for the highest attendance ever for a USWNT friendly on home soil and the largest home crowd for any USWNT match since the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
It started so well for Hasegawa, as head coach Futoshi Ikeda’s side went ahead after just 31 seconds, Momoko Tanikawa playing in Kiko Seike before the Urawa Red Diamonds forward fired a low shot home from 10 yards.
USA got an equaliser in the 36th minute as midfielder Sam Coffey split the defence with a pass to find 19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw, the San Diego Wave forward making no mistake with a powerful strike from 20 yards out.
The hosts then took the lead on 77 minutes when Lyon forward and USA skipper Lindsey Horan firing home a penalty kick after Sophia Smith had been fouled inside the box.
Twila Kilgore’s Stars and Stripes will now play the tournament final, facing the winner of Brazil v Canada at 00:00 (UK) on Wednesday. Hasegawa’s Japan will play the other team in the third-place play-off at 21:00 (UK) on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Poppy Prichard was an unused sub as England Under-19s beat group hosts Portugal 1-0 in their UEFA Women’s Under-19 Euro qualifier to secure their place at the finals in Lithuania.
Following their 2-0 victory against Sweden on Wednesday, which saw January signing Pritchard bag the first goal, this win came courtesy of Michelle Agyemang’s strike just before half time, putting the Lionesses top of the group after two games.
With qualification for the finals now set after this victory, England will finish their group schedule against Italy on Tuesday.
