New York City is preparing to honor the queens of soccer on Wednesday morning. Here's what you can expect when Manhattan hosts the now four-time Women's World Cup champions in a ticker tape parade:
WHEN DOES THE PARADE START?
9:30 a.m., followed by a ceremony at City Hall that is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. There, the world champions will be presented a symbolic key to the city.
NY1 will have live coverage at 9:30 a.m.
WHAT'S THE ROUTE?
The procession will move up the Canyon of Heroes, a section of Broadway between the Battery and City Hall in Manhattan. It's not clear how many people will attend, but large crowds are expected for a team that's garnered national attention for over a month.
CAN I STILL GET TICKETS TO THE CITY HALL CEREMONY?
Sorry, the tickets to the City Hall ceremony have already been claimed.
WHAT ELSE CAN I EXPECT?
Aside from large crowds, you can expect tons of paper confetti to rain down on the champions. The last time the city hosted a ticker tape celebration was back in 2015, for the Women's National Soccer team following their World Cup Final victory over Japan. According to the city sanitation department, more than 30 tons of paper rained down in lower Manhattan during that celebration.
HOW DID THE TEAM GET HERE?
En-route to winning its second World Cup title in a row and extending its record to four titles, the U.S. Women's National Team won all of its matches in the World Cup in France amid arguably its toughest route ever. After winning its group, including by defeating Thailand 13-0 in its opening match, the U.S. had to take down heavyweights, host France and England, in tightly-fought quarterfinal and semifinal matches.
In the final on Sunday, the U.S. beat the Netherlands, the defending European champions, 2-0, in front of a crowd of 57,900 at Stade de Lyon. Striker Megan Rapinoe, who won the Golden Boot (World Cup's top goalscorer) and Golden Ball (tournament's best player), converted a penalty kick in the 61st minute to open the scoring. About eight minutes later, midfielder Rose Lavelle added a goal after cutting her way through the Dutch defense.
Fans, many dressed in red, white and blue, chanted "Equal Pay!" at the final whistle, a reminder players sued the U.S. Soccer Federation in March claiming gender discrimination. The sides have agreed to mediate the lawsuit.
Rapinoe drew the ire of President Donald Trump by saying she would refuse to visit the White House. Trump called out Rapinoe on Twitter, saying she should never "disrespect our Country, the White House, or our Flag, especially since so much has been done for her & the team." He said he would invite the team win or lose.
But shortly after the title game, Trump tweeted: "Congratulations to the U.S. Women's Soccer Team on winning the World Cup! Great and exciting play. America is proud of you all!"
Rapinoe also called out FIFA on the eve of the championship, suggesting soccer's governing body was not doing enough to grow the women's game, pointing to unequal prize money and the scheduling of the final on the same day as the championships of the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Chicago and the Copa America final in Brazil.
The U.S. Women's National Team never trailed at the tournament and set records with 26 goals and a 12-game World Cup winning streak dating to 2015. Jill Ellis became the first coach to lead a team to two Women's World Cup titles, and the U.S. joined Germany in 2003 and 2007 as the only repeat champions. While the U.S. has four titles, Germany is the only other nation with even two.
The U.S.'s title follows a loss to Sweden on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics.
Now, after all the memorable drama, they will have a fourth star above the crest on the team's jerseys and a higher platform to advance their cause.
"It's something that we've worked so hard for. All of us, individually, have just faced so much adversity through this whole journey," striker Alex Morgan said. "We've been tested individually and collectively so much. So to see, four years ago, us go from two to three, and now three to four, it's really a dream come true."
The team got shoutouts across social media — including from former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, two-time World Cup winner Mia Hamm, Stephen Curry, Snoop Dogg, Ellen DeGeneres, and many more. Dozens of politicians offered congratulations, and Congress's top Democrats have invited the team to Washington.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The team will go a five-game victory tour beginning August 3, when it faces Ireland at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The other matches are scheduled for August 29, September 3, October 3 and October 6, with opponents and venues still to be determined.
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Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.