The U.S. women’s national team did something they’ve never done before, and probably won’t ever want to do again.
The USWNT is out of the World Cup earlier than ever before, exiting in the round of 16 after a scoreless draw with Sweden ended with seven cruel rounds of penalty kicks.
That outcome has consequences. Julie Ertz has already said this was probably the end of her run with the USWNT, while head coach Vlatko Andonovski — following up a disappointing Olympic performance in 2021 — is unlikely to be retained. There will be some soul-searching, plenty of after-action analysis, and potentially a new direction for women’s soccer writ large. The USWNT going out this early will likely have the kind of impact that is impossible to predict.
Before all of that, though, there’s the more immediate issue: a team that underperformed most of last year got back to some bad habits in the group stage at this World Cup. That condemned them to a match against a Sweden side ranked third in the world by FIFA, as opposed to a theoretically easier path to a third straight trophy ceremony.
Here are four main reasons things went so wrong for a team that could have won it all.