This World Cup has not gone according to plan for the U.S. women’s national team.
The team set program records for its fewest World Cup group-stage wins (one) and points (five) while looking disjointed, disconnected, and a shadow of the side that was considered the pre-tournament favorite.
But amid plenty of criticism, the U.S. has, at least, managed to do what it set out to do: advance to the knockout round.
Its group-stage performance will not inspire confidence in a third straight World Cup title, nor will a treacherous path that will include a last-16 game against Sweden and a potential quarterfinal against Japan.
But like Kelley O’Hara said: “We did what we had to do. We advanced out of our group and this is the World Cup and that’s the name of the game.”
There may actually be some reason for optimism as well. Was the group stage perhaps not quite as bad as some made it out to be? Let’s look into it.