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Jaclyn Myers has a chance today to see the United States Women’s National Team win a World Cup for a second time but for the first time with her husband, Drew Myers, in the seat next to her.
The couple from Montgomery County is one of thousands of Americans who have experienced the World Cup in France over the past month and will be among the 59,000 in the crowd supporting the Stars and Stripes in the final against the Netherlands in Lyon.
“My wife was at the World Cup final with her sister in 2015 in Vancouver and I stayed back with the kids so we planned this trip as soon as the tickets came out,” Drew Myers said earlier this week. “For me I was confident enough they were going to make it to buy the tickets and if they didn’t make it well we’re going to watch a World Cup final.”
The Myers love of soccer and the Women’s National Team predates their marriage and the first time they met playing in an adult league. They both grew up with the game and played in college.
Seeing a World Cup in person as they both did when it was in Canada in 2015 was a whole new experience for them, one that has given them the itch to also plan future vacations around the Women’s World Cup (2023 is still TBA).
“We want to make this an every four year thing, going to the Women’s World Cup,” Drew Myers said.
Being in France for the past week has been anything but a typical vacation. They’ve run into fellow American fans nearly everywhere they’ve been and ended up sharing a hotel with some of the teams in the tournament. After England lost to the U.S. in the semifinal, Drew and Jaclyn were sitting in the hotel courtyard planning their next day of activities when players from England’s team and their families arrived and occupied several of the nearby tables.
It was obviously not a joyous occasion and the Myers were still decked out in U.S. gear from the game, where the Americans outnumbered Lionesses supporters.
“It’s more tense, nerve-wracking watching it in the stadium,” Jaclyn Myers said, describing the atmosphere of being at the 2-1 win over England. “We went to Montreal in 2015 when they played Germany in the semifinal and that was much louder but it was also a dome. When Alyssa Naeher saved the PK it was probably equally as loud.”
An estimated 30 percent of the tickets sold for the World Cup were sold to fans from the United States so the Myers have had plenty of company. Certainly, the women’s success has contributed to that but the United States led the way in visitor ticket sales even for the men’s World Cup they didn’t qualify for in 2018.
“We’ve met a lot of people from California and New Jersey,” Drew Myers said. “And we met a couple from Broomall yesterday.”
How to Watch Women’s World Cup Final - United States vs Netherlands
Watch Parties
When: Sunday, July 7, 11 a.m. ET
TV: Fox, Telemundo
Stream: FoxSports.com, Fox Sports app (with cable subscription) or FuboTV (affiliate link).*
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