It was business as usual for USA who secured a confident 3-0 win over Republic of Ireland on Saturday in their first match since winning the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ a month ago.

The match at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena – site of the Stars and Stripes’ iconic 1999 World Cup win – saw a healthy 37,040 crowd generate a festival atmosphere on a warm Californian night.

Tobin Heath scored early before further first-half goals from Lindsey Horan and Carli Lloyd had USA in control.

Superstar duo Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, who were recently shortlisted for The Best FIFA Women’s Player, were both unavailable, but the home side still had far too much firepower.

USA will next welcome Portugal on 29 August and 3 September, before two further home matches against Korea Republic in October.

Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, will open their 2021 UEFA Women’s EURO qualifying campaign against Montenegro on 3 September.