United States defeats Japan to win third SheBelieves Cup

The United States women's national team defeated Japan 3-1 to win the SheBelieves Cup at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on Wednesday.

The U.S. needed only a tie to win the tourney for third time since its inception in 2016.

Megan Rapinoe and Christen Press put the Americans ahead in the first half, before Japan's Mana Iwabuchi made it 2-1 in the 58th minute. Lindsey Horan's header in the 83rd minute extended the lead to 3-1.

Spain (2-1-0) finished second, England (1-2-0) was third and Japan (0-3-0) fourth.

The Americans won the inaugural event and again in 2018. They were second to England last year in part because of a 2-2 tie with Japan.

That was one of the only blips for the USWNT last season before winning its second consecutive World Cup.

Rapinoe gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute. After Horan was taken down on a challenge by Mina Tanaka that drew a yellow card, Rapinoe ripped a 23-yard free kick to the left corner for her 52nd international goal.

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Rapinoe helped make it 2-0 in the 26th. She gathered an errant clearance and passed ahead to Press, who was 22 yards from goal when she saw Ayaka Yamashita off her line. Press chipped the ball over the goalkeeper for her 58th goal.

Japan pulled to within 2-1 off a buildup with Emi Nakajima dropping the ball to Iwabuchi for a strike from 10 yards.

The Americans were tested again in the 75th minute as Japan had a nearly 20-pass sequence before Narumi Miura's tight angle shot from the right side of the box hit the left post.

Horan's 19th goal from a Mallory Pugh corner gave the U.S. the breathing room it needed.

The Americans wore their warm-up jerseys inside out in response to the most recent legal filings by the U.S. Soccer Federation in the gender discrimination lawsuit filed by 28 players.