It's the end of the USWNT's road at the World Cup. Is it also the end of an era?
The U.S. women's national were dealt their earliest ever elimination from the World Cup. After a tournament where the the performances failed to impress, what is next for the four-time champions?
There are two kinds of players in a penalty shootout: those who live for the moment and those who hope to survive it. The U.S. women’s national team had lived through plenty. Four World Cup titles. Eight Olympic medals. Countless moments of defiant brilliance and legacy-defining drama. But in Melbourne, under the eerie tension of sudden death, they came face to face with the game’s most merciless truth — that sometimes, greatness isn’t enough.
The 2023 Women’s World Cup delivered the most jarring image in the history of the sport’s most dominant program: the U.S., eliminated in the Round of 16. For the first time ever, they failed to reach the semifinals. And they did so in the cruelest fashion imaginable — penalty kicks.
Lina Hurtig had the game-deciding conversion for Sweden. As she stepped up to the spot, time seemed to slow. Hurtig's shot was well read by Naeher, who palmed the ball up. The play was still alive as the ball careened back down to earth with some spin. Naeher made a desperate move to keep the ball out. But by a millimeter—if that—the ball was over the line, and after a few moments of discussion, the referee signaled that Hurtig’s winning penalty was good. The final score read 0-0, but favored Sweden 5-4 in the shootout. Ultimately, it was the metric system that came back to bite the Americans. Sweden danced and cavorted in joy. The U.S. held back tears and looked shellshocked.
The USWNT had finally found their footing in the World Cup during the match, dominating possession, and prevailing in shots (22-9) and shots on goal (11-1). Most of the U.S. players were holding back tears as they consoled each other in the wake of the elimination.
"It’s tough to have your World Cup end by a millimeter," Alyssa Naeher said. "I thought I had it. Unfortunately, it must have just slipped in."
But soccer is a sport of fine margins, where luck and skill can seem to decide the outcome in equal measure. While the United States were the superior team for much of Sunday’s match, in the end, Sweden had the edge to sneak through and send the U.S. home.
"I’ve seen pictures, and I still can’t see how [the ball crossed the line]," USA coach Vlatko Andonovski said. "That just shows how cruel this game sometimes can be and how small a detail makes a difference between winning and losing."
The United States had an opportunity to stay alive in the World Cup in the fifth round of penalties, leading 3-2. Sophia Smith, the oft-hyped youngster and endlessly confident striker who scored two goals in the opener, sent her attempt over the crossbar.
The two nations held serve in the sixth round. Then, USWNT veteran and occasional player-coach during the tournament, Kelley O’Hara, stepped up to the spot. O’Hara clattered her shot off the post—the same post that had kept the USWNT alive in the tournament after Portugal’s late effort hit the woodwork.
And by a hair’s breadth, the USWNT were eliminated from the World Cup. The stat sheet reflected a dominant USWNT display, but what stood between the U.S. and a goal in the first 120 minutes of play was Sweden’s goalkeeper Zecira Musovic, who had 11 saves on the night, none more miraculous than when she tracked and stopped Lindsey Horan’s vicious second-half volley through a forest of people.
"She was incredible tonight," Andonovski said. "She made some saves that not many goalkeepers in the world can make. I can’t think of any other reason we’re out of the tournament. I thought that we had a great game plan and a great strategy; we executed the game plan, and we had the right personnel on the field to execute the game plan. And if I had to coach this group and this game all over again, I’d probably do the same."
"We did enough to get the job done," defender Crystal Dunn added.
Finishing chances, though, were a recurring issue throughout the U.S.’s shorter-than-expected trip Down Under. After scoring three against Vietnam, a scoreline that could have been much more lopsided given the opposition, the U.S. only found the net once more in the competition, in their 1-1 draw vs. the Netherlands. Even with an uptick in attacking cohesion and possession against Sweden, the ruthlessness in front of goal never appeared.
"I think you saw a different team out there today," Horan said. "I saw a very confident, poised, and patient team that wanted to play. We controlled the game. It was amazing. I felt joy when I played. It was just so nice. Everything was clicking except for that final piece of putting the ball in the back of the net. That’s football. It stinks, it’s hard, and it hurts; it’s painful. Penalties are the worst thing possible, but at the end of the day, I’m proud."
On the other side of the field, the USWNT kept up their defensive stability and were rarely challenged by Swedish chances throughout the night.
Naeher did all she could to will the team her team to victory. She was courageous on numerous Swedish set pieces, leaping up to punch the crosses clear. She stopped two of the Swedish penalties. And, most amazingly, calmly converted a spot kick herself.
“We practice it just like all the field players do,” Naeher told Fox after the game. “We know if you’re on the field, there’s always an opportunity or chance that you’re going to have to step and take one. And so I’ve put the same preparation into that as I do for every other aspect of the game, so, in the moment, to be ready if my number was called.”
A well-rounded game plan was created by the coaching staff and executed on the field. For the first time in this tournament, the USWNT looked near to their full potential, as they controlled the ball and midfield expertly and snuffed out any Swedish attacks before they could materialized.
"I thought we deserved a lot more," Andonovski added. "We deserved to win this game. We created enough to win this game, and I thought that we put up a fight. I thought that we represented this country proudly, showed what we stand for, and did everything right. We did everything right."
The USWNT retirements and fallout from the earliest exit in World Cup history will come, but one thing is assured: Megan Rapinoe’s last meaningful memory in a USWNT shirt will be her penalty in the fourth round that she struck over the crossbar.
"There’s some dark humor in me missing a f—ing penalty at the end of this game," she said. "I feel like, you know, I joke too often—always in the wrong places and inappropriately. So maybe this is a ha ha’ at the end. I don’t know.
"Nobody’s going to laugh because you guys feel bad," she added to the scrum, which of course had the effect of making everyone laugh. She rambled somewhat, almost processing it out loud in real time, her voice wavering slightly with restrained grief. "But it’s kind of funny. I mean, you guys thought I was going to make it. I was like Jesus Christ, skying it."
Rapinoe’s U.S. career was unparalleled. From her pinpoint cross to pick out Abby Wambach for a last-gasp equalizer in the 2011 World Cup against Brazil; to her dominance in 2019 to carry the USWNT to a World Cup crown; to her outspoken moral stances she took by kneeling during the national anthem in 2016. She never shied away from the spotlight and the tough questions facing the team and the nation.
"I’ve been sort of reflecting from time to time, even during the tournament. It’s hard not to," Rapinoe said. "I’m trying to stay in the moment, but things sort of crop up. But, I mean, I feel pretty good about my World Cup resume. You know, three finals, two championships, four World Cups To be able to play this long and still be impactful. I mean, obviously, you want to win everything all the time, and that’s the goal. But I feel really proud of it, really proud of this team, and really proud of all the players that I’ve played with. I’ve just loved every bit of my career, and I’ll just miss it to death. But yeah, it also feels like the right time, and that’s okay."
What makes the exit even more stunning is the fact that, for most of the game, the U.S.’s World Cup looked set to continue.
Andonovski made a shrewd move by inserting Emily Sonnett as a second defensive midfielder next to Andi Sullivan in the absence of Rose Lavelle, who was suspended due to yellow-card accumulation. This tactical tweak allowed the U.S. to have better control of the middle of the park and stronger links between defense and offense. The move also allowed Horan more freedom to roam and get in on the attack.
From the start, the pace of the U.S.'s exuberant wingers was too much for Sweden’s languid full-backs. Trinity Rodman raced by her Swedish counterpart, Jonna Andersson, on multiple occasions and got crosses and shots off, all of which Musovic was equal to.
"We dominated the game and created way more chances than them," said forward Trinity Rodman after the match. "The only thing we were missing was a goal."
On the other side, Smith used her pace to her advantage but lacked the decision-making skills in the final third to decide whether to release her teammate or take a strike herself.
Alex Morgan made dangerous runs but failed to register a goal in the entire World Cup.
What put the U.S. in a position where they are facing Sweden, the third-best team in the world, according to the FIFA World Rankings, was a slow start to the tournament and an approach that prioritized defending over attacking.
Andonovski never put a resolute team on the field in any of the three group stage games. Against Vietnam, the chance for creation was there, but the finishing was not. Once the U.S. rallied from a disorganized first half against the Netherlands, the coach opted to settle for a draw rather than going for the win and following the traditional hunger to win that made the USWNT so dominant. The Portugal game was two hours of sleep anyone in the U.S. who watched would want to have back, as a lackluster 0-0 along with an insipid performance bookended group play. A second-place spot was secured, but a tougher road to the cup came with it.
"There wasn't much to be said. I think everyone was just feeling the feelings," Rodman said of that huddle. "The main thing was that, at the end of the day, we will always be a team no matter who's on it and who's off of it. We just need to feel what we need to feel because everyone's feeling the same but different things in different parts of their journeys."
What has to be said is that this World Cup is a changing of the guard in women’s soccer. Gone are the days when the U.S. had a fear factor that would make opponents wilt. European nations and Japan have bolstered their fitness to match the USWNT and have superior technical skills. The U.S.’s reliance on and success with its athleticism are no more. Unless Japan wins their second star, a new champion of women’s soccer will be crowned, and with it, a 1990-esque revolution for the women’s game in the country. The U.S. set a marker for the rest of the world, and now the global powers have reached it. It is up to the USWNT to respond.
"This year’s Women’s World Cup is a testament to the growth of women’s soccer on a global scale, and we are excited to see increased investment in these incredible players," U.S. Soccer said in a post on Sunday night. "Our goal remains the same: to win. We are committed to surpassing the standard we helped to create, and we will rise to meet the challenge."
The U.S. has the young pieces to rebound, but need to hire a new coach—assuming Andonovski’s contract is not renewed after this horrendous World Cup performance—who can create a sense of identity, tactics and lineup that gets the best out of the players at their disposal. Retirements and farewells for veterans will be undoubtable. The glimmer of hope for the future of the USWNT stems from Naomi Girma, Emily Fox, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman—as they continue to grow as soccer players—and Catarina Macario and Mallory Swanson, who missed the World Cup due to injuries, but will be integral to the future of the national team once they recover. The Paris Olympics are next summer and offer an instant redemption opportunity. But expect the U.S. to look very different—both in personnel and style of play—at the next World Cup in 2027, which could end up being hosted by the U.S.
In the cruelest of ways and by the thinnest of margins, the U.S.’s campaign Down Under is over. Now it is up to the team and federation to respond to the historically premature exit.
"It's hard to think of moving on as it kind of still feels like you're going to get ready for the next game," Ertz said, "and that's not the case for us."