USWNT vs. Portugal: Three takeaways as USA underwhelm but advance to Women’s World Cup knockouts

The U.S. women’s national team advanced to the Women’s World Cup knockout stages on Tuesday, but the team’s 0-0 draw with Portugal leaves plenty of room for improvement.

The two-time reigning champions finished as runners-up in group play for only the second time ever at a World Cup as offensive woes continued to plague the team. The USWNT again struggled to register meaningful chances and could not find the back of the net against Portugal, whose midfield play challenged the Americans’ game plan throughout the match.

The result leaves head coach Vlatko Andonovski with many questions to answer following an unimpressive group stage campaign where the team won only once and scored just four goals, and potentially a handful of major decisions to make as the Round of 16 approaches.

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1. Few improvements in attack

The USWNT is experiencing an incredibly untimely rough patch up top, and played yet another match where they created plenty of chances but could not score nearly as often as they should have. This time, though, the Americans went scoreless for the first time in 13 games.

The scoring woes continued despite Vlatko Andonovski making two changes to the lineup, giving Rose Lavelle and Lynn Williams their first starts of the World Cup. The results were mixed — Lavelle created three chances but only posted a passing accuracy of 57%, while Williams got forward frequently and put four of her six shots on frame. Williams’ four shots also made up the bulk of the USWNT’s six total shots on target, which made her one of the brighter spots in a dull match.

The USWNT posted 17 total shots, which is similar to the game against the Netherlands when they took 18 shots and had four on goal. Despite this newfound inability to score, captain Lindsey Horan is taking the high road and believes the streak will be snapped sooner rather than later.

“We had our opportunities in front of goal and even two yards out and we have to finish them, and we will,” she told Fox Sports following the match. “We’re going to move forward, we’re through to the next round, and that’s going to come.”

2. Midfield struggles

The USWNT’s attack remained inconsistent against Portugal, but perhaps the team’s biggest area of concern was the midfield. The trio of Lavelle, Horan, and Andi Sullivan never really got into a rhythm and struggled to provide a foundation that would build a consistent, persistent attack. The team had to bypass the center of the park at times to advance up the field thanks to Portugal’s strong performance in midfield.

Megan Rapinoe, a second half sub, said the team lacked patience across the board, but the comments rang true as it pertained to the midfield showing.

“I think in the first half, there was a lot of space for us to play into and just a little bit rushed,” she told Fox Sports. “I think we could’ve switched the point of attack a little bit more. I thought we were finding the width but I think we needed to open them up a little bit more and draw them out.”

Andonovski will be forced into changing the team since Lavelle will miss the Round of 16 encounter through yellow card accumulation. It could open up the door for Savannah DeMelo to reclaim her starting spot, while Kristie Mewis could also be an option. The midfield may be due for more changes to course correct from both this match and the previous one against the Netherlands, particularly in the tone-setting defensive midfield role that Sullivan plays in.

3. The blueprint to beat the USWNT?

The shot tally was not the only similarity between the USWNT’s performances against the Netherlands and Portugal. Both teams successfully stifled the reigning champions by dominating in possession and in particular, winning the midfield battle. The reigning champions looked at their worst in both games when they could not surpass opposition midfields at their best, which was by design for Portugal.

“We know the players of the U.S. are amazing,” Portugal Head coach Francisco Neto said, per Fox Sports. “We know they have really good dynamics, but suffer when they don’t have the ball.”

The performances against both the Netherlands and Portugal provide all future opposition with a clear gameplan to trip up the USWNT, but it does not guarantee wins. Neither the Netherlands nor Portugal beat the Americans, nor did they register a ton of chances along the way — the Netherlands had five shots and just one on target, while Portugal posted six shots and none on frame. The USWNT was never truly out of the game on either occasion, either, and took nearly 20 shots in both matches.

The USWNT’s ability to still execute some of their plans means upcoming challengers will need to do more than the Netherlands and Portugal did to come out on top. With the competition fiercer than ever before, a more clinical team in the right form may be able to put all the pieces together and pick up a statement-making win over the reigning champions.