Megan Rapinoe's Penalty Miss Celebrated by Conservatives: 'So Glad'

Conservatives have celebrated the U.S. women's national team's (USWNT) exit from the World Cup after a defeat by Sweden in a tense penalty shootout, with star forward Megan Rapinoe the main target of online abuse.

The defending champions exited the FIFA Women's World Cup in Melbourne, Australia, as the Swedes won a penalty shootout 5-4 following a goalless 90 minutes and extra time.

Rapinoe, 38, whose off-field activism and support for transgender people has enraged conservatives, missed her penalty kick—giving Sweden a lifeline.

It was a bitterly disappointing end for Rapinoe who announced in July that she was retiring from the sport and that the tournament in Australia would be her last World Cup.

But a number of conservatives online were delighted to see USWNT—one of the tournament favorites—exit the competition.

Conservative Joey Mannarino, who has 265,900 followers on X, formerly Twitter, posted: "I root for America every single time they compete in sports, except for women's soccer.

"The US Women's soccer team got absolutely curb-stomped by Sweden. The game was lost because Megan Rapinoe, the woke piece of trash, missed a penalty kick.

"So Megan now bears the responsibility for why the US lost. I am so glad to see it. Go woke, go broke. Megan Rapinoe will now enter retirement with her head hung in shame."

Self-described MAGA 2020 deplorable Vince Langman, who has 101,600 followers on X, said:" Not only did the anti-American woke woman's soccer team lose today. Megan Rapinoe missed a penalty kick that would have sealed the win for the USA. Talk about a win-win."

Turning Point USA chief creative officer Benny Johnson also celebrated Rapinoe's penalty kick miss, erroneously referred to by him as a free kick.

He posted: "Woke U.S. Women's Soccer Humiliation. After winning back-to-back World Cups the heavily favored Team USA has been eliminated by Sweden in the [Round of 16].

"Team USA's downfall was delivered by anti-America, anti-woman activist Megan Rapinoe's embarrassing free kick here."

Right-wing trolling account "Catturd," which has 1.9 million followers, posted: "The anti-American USA woke women's soccer team has been eliminated and Megan Rapinoe is the cause of it. I can't stop laughing."

But Rapinoe was also received support online, including from first lady Jill Biden who said in an X post: "I love watching you play. As an athlete and an advocate for equal pay and equal rights - you made us pay attention and change. Can't wait to see what you do next."

Rapinoe has been vocal about her opposition to conservative causes, as well as her support for the LGBTQ+ community.

The Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup winner, who is gay, attracted national attention when she knelt for the national anthem during a September 2016 international match—a move taken in support of NFL player Colin Kaepernick's stand against police brutality and racial inequality in the United States.

She also described the Supreme Court overturning national abortion rights as intentionally "cruel."

Speaking after the Supreme Court struck down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, Rapinoe said: "I think the cruelty is the point because this is not pro-life by any means."

She later added: "You can understand from an individual perspective how difficult it is to live in a country where you have a constant, unrelenting, violent tide against you—an onslaught as a woman, and it would be a gay person, and as a nonbinary person, as a trans person."

Newsweek has contacted the USWNT for comment via email.