The chants began before the game started and continued throughout. They emanated from every section of the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims.
“USA! USA! USA! USA!”
You’d be forgiven for forgetting at times that Tuesday night’s U.S. women’s national team World Cup opener against Thailand took place in France and not in Florida.
The game itself was, as expected, extremely uncompetitive. The USWNT had its way in every phase of the game and ripped the overmatched Thai squad apart.
Alex Morgan scored a remarkable five goals and two USWNT players, Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis, scored two goals as the U.S. destroyed their opponents 13-0 to get their World Cup defense off to a record-setting perfect start.
Next Match
It was the largest win in World Cup history, men's or women's.
Naturally this delighted the crowd of American supporters, who had been filing into Reims and livening up the city center from the early part of the day.
"Amazing turnout," midfielder Sam Mewis said after the game. "There have been fans all around our hotel. It’s been awesome to see people coming out, young girls coming out.
"Just seeing people cheer for us is exciting, it makes us happy and that’s why we play."
The U.S., of course, would have won Tuesday night’s game had it been played in front of a home crowd, a neutral crowd, or a stadium filled with 100,000 screaming Thailand fans. But Tuesday night’s game could portend something very important for the U.S. as the World Cup continues and the opponents get tougher.
Buoyed by the World Cup fever that sweeps the nation whenever the men’s or women’s team is playing a part, the United States will have by far more fans in France than any non-French country.
Last week, FIFA said that they had allocated the majority of tickets for the tournament – 460,748 – to French citizens. After that, more tickets were allocated to Americans – 130,905 – than the rest of the world combined. England ranked third with 29,307 tickets allocated.
That means that for the entirety of the World Cup – with the very notable exception of any game against France, the USWNT’s possible quarterfinal opponent – the U.S. will enjoy a significant home-field advantage.
"The more we can get in the crowd, the better," U.S. head coach Jill Ellis said in her post-match press conference. "The crowd was amazing tonight, good turnout.
"The American fans have traveled well from what I understand. I think it's massive. The players want to play in front of their parents, their family and friends but to play in front of a crowd that can get behind you is a part of the game and it's really important so I'm excited to see the U.S. fans turn out."
On Tuesday night, the USWNT's advantage was readily apparent, just as it was four years ago in Canada.
The USWNT played in front of a heavily pro-American crowd in all seven matches in the 2015 World Cup, as plenty of fans made the relatively short journey to their neighboring country to the north.
That support served as a massive boost as the U.S. lifted the World Cup for the first time since the 1999 World Cup – a tournament that took place in the United States and, of course, was filled with partisan crowds.
On Tuesday night, their home-field advantage wasn’t really needed. As the tournament goes on though, it very well might be.