U.S. Women's National Team honored with World Cup victory parade in New York City

The United States Women's National team is celebrating victory as World Cup champions. After beating the Netherlands 2-0 in Sunday's final, they were welcomed home Wednesday morning with a victory parade down the "Canyon of Heroes" in lower Manhattan.

Megan Rapinoe addresses the crowd at victory parade

U.S. Women's National Team co-captain Megan Rapinoe gave a rousing speech at City Hall in front of thousands of cheering fans. Rapinoe was tournament MVP and was awarded the Golden Boot for the most goals scored in the World Cup.

"This is crazy. This is absolutely insane. Such at a loss for words. ridiculous. First and foremost, my teammates, just shout out to the teammates. Everybody give them a clap," she said. "This group is so resilient is so tough, has such a sense of humor, it's just so bad ass! There's nothing, nothing that can faze this group."

As the crowd roared and cheered her on, Rapinoe discussed the diversity of the 2019 World Cup champions.

"We have pink hair, purple, hair, tattoos, dreadlocks," she said. "We got white girls, black girls, and everything in between. Straight girls, gay girls."

Rapinoe ended her speech with a rousing call to action and an inspirational message.

"We have to be better. We have to love more, hate less, listen more, talk less. We got to know this is everybody's responsibility," she said. "Its our responsibility to make this world a better place."

"Be more, be bigger, be better than you've ever been before."

Team co-captain Alex Morgan speaks to the crowd

U.S. Women's National Team co-captain Alex Morgan spoke to the crowd at New York's City Hall.

"I just want to say I'm loving the enthusiasm. It's not even noon yet!" Morgan said. "I want to say thank you for your chants, your signs, your posters. Keep it going. Thank you so much New York City for coming out. Over a million people!"

"I think we have been known as America's favorite soccer team, but from here on out we'll just be known as America's team," she added as she waved to the crowd.

Rare ticker tape parade celebrating women

Before the 2015 victory parade celebrating the U.S. Women's National team's last World Cup win, it had been over 50 years since women were the focus of a ticker tape parade in New York City. CBS News was there Wednesday to capture all of the excitement at the parade for the 2019 World Cup champions.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo rides float at parade

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo rode along on the U.S. Women's National Team float during the victory parade. Earlier in the day Governor Cuomo signed an equal pay bill into law, which eliminates a gender discrimination loophole regarding pay between men and women in the same job.

"Never give up on your team"

Thousands of fans lined the streets in Lower Manhattan to watch the U.S National Women's Team's World Cup victory parade. One young girl at the parade told CBS News the team taught the world, "Work hard, focus, never give up on your team."

Parade route

Here is the route the parade for the U.S. Women's National Team took through the famed "Canyon of Heroes" in downtown Manhattan.

USWNT path to victory

The U.S. women's team won all three matches in the group stage. They beat Thailand 13-0, Chile 3-0 and Sweden 2-0 to win Group F and advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup.

The U.S. faced Spain in the Round of 16 in a match filled with controversial calls. The U.S was awarded two penalty kicks and Megan Rapinoe capitalized on both of them. It was the worst performance by the U.S. this tournament, but the team bounced back in the quarterfinals.

They turned that performance around with a convincing victory over France. A normally unstoppable offense was matched by a clinical defense throughout the first half as the U.S. kept France without a single shot on target and, more importantly, off the scoreboard. Though they stumbled a bit in the second half, their defensive force was worthy of World Cup champions.

In the semifinal round last week, the U.S. defeated England 2-1 in a close match earning the right to advance to the 2019 Women's World Cup final. Starting without sidelined forward Megan Rapinoe, who was out with a hamstring injury, the U.S. wasted no time getting on the board within the first 10 minutes. Her replacement, Christen Press, stepped into the role, heading away her first goal of the tournament to give the U.S. the early lead.

England's Ellen White equalized in the 19th minute. The goal not only tied the score, but briefly gave White the lead in pursuit of the Golden Boot Award for most goals scored in the World Cup.

But U.S. forward Alex Morgan fixed all that, scoring her sixth of the tournament 12 minutes later to give her team a lead they never relinquished. Her goal also brought her back level with Ellen White in the race for the Golden Boot.

In the final match, the U.S. faced Netherlands. With goals from forward Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle, in a physical match, they claimed a 2-0 victory over the Dutch Lionesses Sunday's final, hoisting the trophy for the second consecutive tournament.

Throughout this World Cup, the top-ranked U.S. women had a lead going into halftime of every match they played. They had never been held scoreless in the first half. In the finals against the Netherlands, it took an hour of game time before Rapinoe broke the scoreless tie for the U.S. on a penalty kick.

Midfielder Rose Lavelle's goal came moments later. The the team's up-and-coming 24-year old star cracked a left-footed shot from the top of the 18-yard box after a solo run up the center of the field.

2019 Women's World Cup Bracket

The single elimation knockout stage of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup began June 22 with 16 teams. Each team had advanced from group stage, playing three matches each. The top two winners from each of the groups advanced, along with four third-place finishers.