The United States women's national team is hours away from kicking off action at the 2023 Women's World Cup.
While the U.S. is scheduled to take on Vietnam on Friday night, some other squads have already collected early group stage wins, including hosts New Zealand and Australia along with Switzerland and Spain.
While day two of Women's World Cup action is underway, let's take a look at what a brace is in soccer and when it can be applied:
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What is a brace in soccer?
A brace is when a player scores exactly two goals in a single soccer match.
It does not matter when the two goals are scored by the player within the match -- one can come in the first minute and the other can come in the last minute -- it would still count as a brace.
Why is it called a brace?
The term "brace" dates back to Old English, signifying a pair of something that was hunted or shot down as a brace.
It also goes further back in history to the Anglo-French language, where brace meant "pair of arms."
The term brace in soccer dates back to the 19th century with the phrase “brace of goals."
Who has scored the most braces in World Cup history?
The award for most braces in World Cup competition is Brazilian star Ronaldo with four.
In total, Argentina star Lionel Messi and Portuguese Cristiano Rinaldo each have more than 200 career braces.
