The United States again sits on top of women’s football after a hard-earned 1-0 defeat of Brazil in the Olympic tournament.

Last year, the mighty USWNT produced its worst performance at a major tournament, crashing out of the Australia-New Zealand hosted Women’s World Cup in the round of 16.

On Saturday night at the Parc des Princes in Paris, the Americans made amends courtesy of Mallory Swanson’s 57th minute goal.

The final was fiercely contested, with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher maintaining a clean sheet with a one-handed save to deny Adriana an equaliser in stoppage time.

But the outcome was the same for Brazilian great Marta, the six-time world player of the year, who will retire from international football without a worldwide title.

Marta, 38, has now played at six Olympics, making three finals, all lost to the USA, and a Women’s World Cup final, lost to Germany.

She played the final half-hour in Paris, making a mark but unable to conjure a breakthrough title for Brazil, which is hosting the next Women’s World Cup.

At the final whistle, American players celebrated to Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’, with Tom Cruise and former US star Megan Rapinoe among those in the crowd.

The title is their fifth in women’s Olympic football. No other nation has more than one.

It’s also a triumph for new coach Emma Hayes, who left Sam Kerr’s Chelsea in May to take over as coach.

“I’m going through so many emotions, so many feelings. I’m very emotional,” Hayes said.

“I feel privileged to be the coach of this team. I have no words.”

Unlike men’s football at the Olympics, which is a largely under-23 tournament, the women’s competition is played by the sport’s best players and considered similar stature to the World Cup.

Spain claimed the men’s football tournament on Saturday (local), defeating France 5-3 during extra-time of a helter-skelter final, capping a golden summer which included the European Championships title.