Australia's Sam Kerr and Julie Ertz of the U.S. battle for the ball during a women's soccer match at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.

Australia's Sam Kerr and Julie Ertz of the U.S. battle for the ball during a women's soccer match at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday. / AP

The U.S. women's soccer team is advancing to the knockout stage of the Tokyo Olympics soccer tournament after a nervy, 0-0 draw against Australia.

In what was an unusual sight for these Olympics, there were a small number of fans in the stadium for the game. About 1,000 schoolchildren had been given tickets.

The result today was enough for the U.S. team to secure the runners-up position in Group G, after losing their first game against Sweden and later defeating New Zealand.

They'll next play the winner of Group F (China, Brazil, Zambia or the Netherlands) on Friday.

The team entered the tournament unbeaten in 44 games, before losing that opening match to Sweden.

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Tags: Tokyo Olympics  uswnt  U.S. Women's Soccer