MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany — Somehow, the Americans seem to find a way to win.

And more often than not, Abby Wambach has something to do with it.

With time running out and France giving the United States all it could handle and then some, Wambach’s winner in the 79th minute put her teammates at ease and set off celebrations on two continents. The 3-1 victory Wednesday night has the Americans in the World Cup final for the first time since 1999, which also just happens to be the last time the United States won soccer’s biggest prize.

“It it was a privilege to take the other side of the field against a great France team,” Wambach said. “However, our team has the ability to fight through adversity. Our team has the ability to stick together when the going gets rough, and I couldn’t be more excited and proud.”

The Americans will face Japan on Sunday in Frankfurt. The U.S. beat Japan by 2-0 scores in a pair of warmup games a month before the World Cup, but don’t make any assumptions off that. This World Cup has been anything but predictable, and it’s not likely to stop until someone is holding that gold trophy.

Germany was the big favorite when the World Cup began, two-time defending champs and sure to get a boost from playing at home. Brazil had Marta, and was due for a good result after coming up just short in the last three major tournaments. Both teams were sent packing early, not even making it to the semifinals.

Instead it was France, which had made only other World Cup appearance, and Japan in the final four along with the Americans and Sweden. And the Japanese made surprisingly easy work of Sweden, the last unbeaten team in the tournament in the other semifinal Wednesday night.

“Tonight, the Japanese were a bit more eager to win,” Sweden coach Thomas Dennerby said after Japan’s 3-1 victory.

The Americans knew they had doubters when they arrived in Germany. They’d lost three games since November, an alarming “bad” streak for a team that can goes years without a loss, and needed to win a playoff just to get to the World Cup.

But the players were unshakable in their belief in themselves, and that will to win has won over the entire country. Even though the game started at noon EDT, people from coast to coast skipped work or took frequent “breaks” to watch the game. Bars opened early. Neighborhoods held watch parties. At the Phoenix airport, dozens of fans crowded around TVs to watch the game.