The 'Online Abuse' The USWNT Received Was Two-Times More Than Any Other Team In Women's World Cup, According FIFA

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The USWNT entered the 2023 Women's World Cup with a deadly combination. Not only did the team have a target on its back as back-to-back defending champions, but the squad was filled with outspoken individuals who rubbed many the wrong way off the field with their over-the-top, often political grandstanding.

Add those two things on top of the fact that the team put together the worst Women's World Cup performance in the history of the USWNT and it should come as no surprise they received the most online abuse of all the other 31 teams in the tournament.

READ: ALEXI LALAS ADMITS USWNT HAS BECOME ‘UNLIKEABLE’ FOR THEIR EXTREMELY WOKE POLITICS, IS AT RISK OF BECOMING ‘IRRELEVANT’

A study commissioned by FIFA found that the USWNT received more than twice the number of "discriminatory or threatening posts" than any other squad. The study also found that two individuals received more abuse than any others. One of those players competed for Argentina, while the other was a member of the U.S. squad.

It's safe to assume Megan Rapinoe is the unidentified U.S. player in the report.

The USWNT received more hate than any other team at the Women's World Cup. (Photo by Alex Pantling - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what exact moments triggered the online hate towards the USWNT. The report did pinpoint three specific moments throughout the tournament, and another involving President Joe Biden after the fact.

"According to the Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) data, abusive posts towards the U.S. team centered on the team not singing the national anthem before games. There was a noticeable spike in abuse after the U.S. failed to beat Portugal in a group game on Aug. 1. The detected abuse on all platforms reached a tournament high on Aug. 6 following the USWNT's exit after their defeat against Sweden," per ESPN.

"The SMPS data noted that many abusive messages were sent in response to President Biden commiserating the U.S. players."

Untimely USWNT Tweet

If you remember, Biden's social media team sent off this insanely out-of-touch tweet about how great the USWNT was during the competition shortly after they failed to make it out of the Round of 16:

It's fair to assume that even if the USWNT would have won what would have been its third consecutive Women's World Cup they still would have been on the receiving end of the most online abuse of the tournament.

While Rapinoe had picked up her fair share of haters prior to this year's tournament, even the once incredibly beloved Alex Morgan detached herself from reality with her opinion about trans kids in sports.

Follow Mark Harris on X @itismarkharris and email him at mark.harris@outkick.com

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.