FACTBOX-Women's World Cup qualifiers United States

Women's World Cup record:

Previous appearances in finals: (6) 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011

Best performance: Winners (1991, 1999)

Drawn in Group D with Australia, Sweden and Nigeria.

- - -

Coach: Jill Ellis

British-born Ellis took over as coach of the national team in May 2014, one month after the departure of Tom Sermanni. She is very familiar with the U.S. set-up, having been development director of U.S. women's soccer programmes since 2011 and has been heavily involved in all aspects of the Americans' successes on the senior and youth levels.

- -

Key player: Carli Lloyd. Age: 32. Midfielder.

Named the player of the match in three of the first six games for the United States, Lloyd went on to score in each of her team's knockout games, including the eventual winning goal in a semi-final win over Germany.

Lloyd was also named to the shortlist for the Golden Ball, the award given to the top player of the month-long tournament.

- -

FIFA world ranking: 2

- -

How they reached the final: Won Group D with 2-1-0 record; Beat Colombia 2-0 in Round of 16; Beat China 1-0 in quarter-finals; Beat Germany 2-0 in semi-finals.

- -

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Ashlyn Harris, Alyssa Naeher, Hope Solo

Defenders: Lori Chalupny, Whitney Engen, Julie Johnston, Meghan Klingenberg, Ali Krieger, Kelley O'Hara, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn

Midfielders: Shannon Boxx, Morgan Brian, Tobin Heath, Lauren Holiday, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe

Forwards: Sydney Leroux, Amy Rodriguez, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Christen Press (Compiled by Simon Evans; Editing by Frank Pingue)