The US wins the Women's World Cup after dismantling Japan with 4 goals in 15 minutes

In one of the best performances in United States soccer history, the US women's national team beat Japan 5-2 to win the Women's World Cup final.

It's the team's first World Cup title since 1999, and they won it in style.

The Americans scored two goals in the first five minutes and four goals in the first 15 minutes in one of the most stunning starts to a World Cup final you will ever see. The final scoreline wasn't as bad a Germany 7, Brazil 1 in the 2014 World Cup semifinal, but the 15-minute onslaught to open the game had the same feeling.

Carli Lloyd scored the first two goals, both off set pieces, and then got a hat trick inside 15 minutes with a ridiculous shot from a halfway line.

Lloyd's first goal, about 150 seconds into the game, came off a pre-planned corner play:

The second came after some sloppy Japan defending:

A Lauren Holiday volleyed goal made it 3-0:

Carli Lloyd scored from the halfway line to make it 4-0. What a goal in a game of this magnitude:

Another angle:

Japan was shell shocked:

While the US has historically been the most dominant team in women's soccer, this is the first World Cup title for this generation of USWNT players. Abby Wambach hadn't won a World Cup title until today. Either had Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, and other key players.

The perfection of those first 15 minutes stand in stark contrast to the way this team started the tournament. Playing with two forwards and a lack of numbers in the midfield, the US looked out of balance early on, scoring just four goals in their three group stage games. But a tactical adjustment in the quarterfinal — where Morgan Brian was brought into midfield in place of Wambach up top — changed everything. The US had its best performance to date against Germany in the semifinal, and then capped it off by going straight-up bonkers against Japan in the final.

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