United States' World Cup dynasty ends along with myth of supremacy

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The United States came to the Women's World Cup bullish about their chances of winning an unprecedented third consecutive title but their round-of-16 exit at the hands of Sweden showed their campaign was built more on hope than substance.

After back-to-back World Cup triumphs under Jill Ellis in 2015-19, Vlatko Andonovski's efforts to regenerate the four-times champions will be judged a failure in the wake of their 5-4 loss on penalties in Melbourne on Sunday.

The U.S. suffered their earliest elimination at the World Cup by far, having never failed to reach the semi-finals in all eight previous tournaments.

Megan Rapinoe's brilliant international career ends on a sour note and the Sweden loss will sting for other team mates of a golden generation unlikely to hang on for the next World Cup in another four years.

The 2019 World Cup in France will now be seen as the high-water mark for a once peerless team that seemed bigger than the game itself for much of the decade.

The game has changed irrevocably since the U.S. beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the Lyon final in France, with increased investment in women's soccer paying dividends in Europe.