Women's World Cup Final Preview: USA vs Japan

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Women's World Cup Final is set after Japan beat England 2-1 on Wednesday. This sets up a rematch of the 2011 World Cup Final, when Japan beat the U.S. in penalty kicks, 3-1.

The U.S. has 13 members of the 2011 team that fell to Japan in the last World Cup Final still on the roster.

Hope Solo, Shannon Boxx, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn, Amy Rodriguez, Tobin Heath, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara, Heather O'Reilly, Ali Kreiger and Carli Lloyd all remember losing to Japan in the finals last World Cup and will certainly look for revenge this time around.

Japan is returning 15 players who were on the roster when they won the 2011 World Cup. Three of the four players who took the penalty kicks in sudden death last World Cup for Japan are also still on the roster: Saki Kumagai, Aya Miyama and Mizuho Sakaguchi.

The U.S. is bringing back all four of their penalty kick takers from last World Cup, although only Abby Wambach was able to score her penalty kick in the U.S.' 3-1 loss. Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath and Carli Lloyd all missed their attempts last World Cup.

Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach both scored in regulation of the 2011 World Cup final, which is encouraging since they will be facing the same goalie, Ayumi Kaihori, this time around.

Japan has won every match they have played in the 2015 World Cup. They beat Switzerland 1-0 to open the World Cup, continuing with wins against Cameroon (2-1), Ecuador (1-0), Netherlands (2-1), Australia (1-0) and England (2-1) in the Semi-Finals on Wednesday.

The U.S. has not lost in this year's World Cup, but they do have one draw. However, they have not allowed a goal since their opening match against Australia on June 8. They won their first match 3-1 against Australia, following that up with a draw against Sweden, and then wins against Nigeria (1-0), Colombia (2-0), China (1-0) and most recently Germany (2-0).

The U.S. dominated the Germans in their last match, controlling the game and only allowing one shot on goal.

The U.S. starting defenders Becky Sauerbrunn, Julie Johnston, Meghan Klingenberg and Ali Kreiger, have been absolutely spectacular this World Cup and are a major part of the U.S.' success. Since their first match against Australia in which they allowed six shots on goal, they have allowed seven total shots on goal in five matches since then.

This will be the first rematch of a Women's World Cup Final.

This is not the first rematch of the two teams since Japan took home the World Cup in 2011. The U.S. won the Gold Medal in the 2012 Olympics by defeating Japan in the finals, 2-1.

In Women's World Cup history, the U.S. women have seven semifinals appearances, four appearances in the World Cup Final, and two World Cup titles. They will have an opportunity to win their third World Cup title at 2 p.m. Sunday.