U.S. Power NT Defeats Northern Ireland, Falls to France on World Cup Matchday Two

SYDNEY, Australia (Oct. 16, 2023) – The U.S. Power Soccer National Team had split results on Matchday Two of the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup, falling 3-1 to France in a rematch of the 2017 World Cup Final, before rebounding with a 3-0 win against Northern Ireland later in the day. The USA has a 2-1-0 record after three matches.

Match No. 2 Recap: France 3, USA 1 

In a rematch of the 2007 and 2017 FIPFA World Cup Finals, the France-USA clash was one of the most-anticipated matches of the group stage.

After a two-on-one foul was called against the USA at mid-court, France got out to an early lead as captain Bryan Weiss’s free kick from distance threaded through goalkeeper Nathan Mayer and Riley Johnson in the 2^nd minute.

France grabbed another goal in the 10^th minute. After retaining possession on the left side, Weiss powered a cross into the penalty area that deflected through traffic before Mohamed Ghelami pounced to poke it home at the back post to send Les Bleus into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

The U.S. used the break to rally and pulled back to within a goal in the 24^th minute. After a foul was called on France just outside the penalty area, set piece specialist Pete Winslow lined up over the ball with Riley Johnson as a decoy. Winslow spun his kick to the left post where Jordan Dickey finished his second of the tournament. Winslow also collected his fourth assist of the competition on the goal.

France restored their two goal advantage just after the half-hour mark, when captain Riley Johnson was whistled for a foul in the box and shown a yellow card. On the ensuing spot kick, Ghelami sent his take inside the left post to make it 3-1.

As France began to spread the ball around the court, head coach Tracy Mayer deployed fresh substitutes Lexi Heer and Peyton Sefick to try and pull the team into the match, but couldn’t find a goal before the final whistle. 

-U.S. Power Soccer National team match report-

Match: U.S. Power Soccer National Team vs. France
Date: October 15, 2023 (October 16, 2023 locally)
Competition: 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup
Venue: Quaycentre; Sydney, Australia
Attendance: 400
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET (10 a.m. local time on October 16, 2023)

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
FRA                             2          1          3
USA                             0          1          1

FRA – Bryan Weiss                                                        2^nd minute
FRA – Mohamed Ghelami                                           10
USA – Jordan Dickey (Pete Winslow)                      24
FRA – Mohamed Ghelami (penalty kick)                 31

Lineups:
USA: 2-Nathan Mayer; 3-Jordan Dickey, 10-Riley Johnson (Capt.), 11-Zach Dickey
Substitutes: 5-Lexi Heer, 8-Peyton Sefick, 9-Pete Winslow
Did not play: 4-Natalie Russo-Dickey
Head coach: Tracy Mayer

FRA: 1-Sylvain Malard; 8-Bryan Weiss, 10-Mohamed Ghelami, 12-Tristan Le Beller
Substitutes: 5-Morgan Lifante, 9-Aurelien Fillatre, 11-Amine Souabni, 16-Erwan Conq
Head coach: David Vergé

Stats Summary: FRA / USA
Shots: 7 / 2
Saves: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 1 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Riley Johnson (Caution)       31

Officials: 
Referee: Carolyn Bean (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Junichi Saito (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: David Wieber (AUS)
4th Official: Leonard Frega (ARG)

Match No. 3 Recap: USA 3, Northern Ireland 0 

Northern Ireland provided the first real danger with two strong chances early on. A powerful shot from captain Scott Hilland was well saved by U.S. goalkeeper Nathan Mayer in the sixth minute. A minute later, the USA was whistled for a two-on-one foul just outside the box, and substitute Peyton Sefick was there on the goal line to turn away Hilland’s effort from the right.

The USA got past the early pressure and went up 1-0 through another set piece in the 10^th minute. After Jordan Dickey did well to see the ball out for a corner kick on the right, Pete Winslow sent his take straight to Dickey at the top of the box, who powered home a shot inside the left post for his third of the tournament. Winslow bagged his fifth assist in three matches on the goal.

The U.S. nearly replicated their first goal in the 17^th minute, as Winslow served a powerful corner to Dickey at the edge of the penalty box, but his one-time effort flew just past the right post.

Tracy Mayer’s side got things moving again on the other side of halftime. With the U.S. dominating possession early on, the Dickey brothers connected for the game’s second goal as Zach fed a perfect pass from the right for Jordan who sneaked his shot just inside the left post in the 23^rd minute for his second goal of the game and third goal of the day.

The USA would be forced to go on a player down after co-captain Jordan Dickey was shown two yellow cards in the space of seven minutes. The first came in the 28^th minute, when Dickey was cautioned for a collision in the USA’s defensive end. On the free kick, Scott Hilland found Patrick Cumiskey on the right, whose attempt beat Nathan Mayer and trickled toward the goal line before Riley Johnson saved the ball of the line at the right post.

With the USA maintaining possession in the Northern Ireland end, Dickey was cautioned a second time and shown red in the 35^th minute when he was judged to have exited the court before re-entering. With the ejection, Dickey will be unavailable for the team’s next match against the Republic of Ireland.

The match remained chippy and the USA earned a free kick of its own when Northern Ireland’s Jason Browning was whistled for a collision on Riley Johnson and shown a yellow card in the 36^th minute. Following the free kick from Zach Dickey, Johnson took the ball into the area, threaded through two defenders and guided it over the goal line to close the scoring at 3-0.

NEXT UP: The USA continues the 2023 Powerchair Football World Cup with two matches on Monday night in the U.S. and Tuesday in Australia. The team first faces the Republic of Ireland at 7 p.m. ET Monday in the U.S. (10 a.m. AEDT in Australia), on the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup YouTube Channel before taking on Japan at 1 a.m. ET Tuesday in the U.S. (4 p.m. AEDT in Australia.) on the Official FIPFA YouTube Channel.

MATCHDAY TWO ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• The U.S. Power Soccer National Team is 2-1-0 through three matches at the 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup.
• With Monday’s results, the USA moves to 30-3-2 all-time and 19-3-2 at the Powerchair Football World Cup.
• Jordan Dickey, who is suspended for Tuesday’s opening match against Ireland, leads the team with four goals, scoring in each of the team’s three matches.
• After collecting three assists in the opener against Australia, set piece specialist Pete Winslow tallied his team-leading fourth and fifth assists in Monday’s matches.
• Riley Johnson’s 37^th minute goal against Northern Ireland was his second of the tournament.
• Nathan Mayer made two saves against Northern Ireland to keep his second clean sheet of the tournament.
• The USA moved to 1-2-2 in five all-time matches against France.
• The match against Northern Ireland was the first between the two nations in Power Soccer. Northern Ireland is the 14^tt different opponent the USA has faced since 2007.

-U.S. Power soccer National team match report-

Match: U.S. Power Soccer National Team vs. Northern Ireland
Date: October 15, 2023 (October 16, 2023 locally)
Competition: 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup
Venue: Quaycentre; Sydney, Australia
Attendance: 450
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local time on October 16, 2023)

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
USA                             1          2          3
NIR                              0          0          0

USA – Jordan Dickey (Pete Winslow)          10^th minute
USA – Jordan Dickey (Zach Dickey)             23
USA – Riley Johnson                                       37

Lineups:
USA: 2-Nathan Mayer; 3-Jordan Dickey (Capt.), 10-Riley Johnson, 11-Zach Dickey
Substitutes: 5-Lexi Heer, 8-Peyton Sefick, 9-Pete Winslow
Did not play: 4-Natalie Russo-Dickey
Head coach: Tracy Mayer

NIR: 12-Sean McKinney; 2-Bartlomiej Kuszkowski, 8-Scott Hilland (Capt.), 9-Patrick Cumiskey
Substitutes: 7-Jason Browning, 10-Carl McVeight
Head coach: Michael HIlland

Stats Summary: USA / NIR
Shots: 13 / 6
Saves: 2 / 5
Corner Kicks: 4 / 0

Misconduct Summary:
USA – Jordan Dickey (Caution)        28^th minute
USA – Jordan Dickey (Caution)        35
USA – Jordan Dickey (Ejection)       35
NIR – Jason Browning (Caution)      36

Officials: 
Referee: Junichi Saito (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: / Carolyn Bean (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonard Frega (ARG)
4th Official: Nurdin Sabovic (AUT)

ABOUT POWERCHAIR SOCCER

The U.S. Power Soccer National Team features male and female athletes with disabilities that include quadriplegia, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and cerebral palsy, among others. The game is played in a gymnasium on a regulation basketball court with four players who attack, defend, and spin-kick a 13-inch soccer ball in a skilled and challenging game similar to mainstream soccer.

Power Soccer is the first competitive team sport developed specifically for power wheelchair users and has been played internationally since 2006. Thie 2023 FIPFA Powerchair Football World Cup marks the first world championship event for the U.S. Power Soccer National Team under U.S. Soccer supervision. The team officially became part of the Extended National Teams program in 2022 as part of U.S. Soccer's effort to build out programming for soccer in all of its forms.

For more information on the sport or to inquire about athlete eligibility, please contact U.S. Soccer's Extended National Teams Department via email at extendednt@ussoccer.org.