Evaluating the hopes of the 16 teams left at this World Cup
A World Cup group stage full of surprises has resulted in a truly intriguing set of 16 teams going through to the knockout rounds.
Some favorites have looked the part, but the list of big teams that have underachieved is significantly longer (it’s not just the U.S. women’s national team, folks). A couple of second-tier teams have stepped their game up, while some unheralded sides have shown that while no one was watching, they were making major strides.
The result is a round of 16 where it feels like nearly anything could happen. Could the USWNT join the likes of Germany, Brazil, and Canada in being out? What about the possibility of teams like Jamaica, Morocco, and South Africa getting to the quarterfinals?
It’s been completely unpredictable, so all of these things are distinctly possible. Still, Pro Soccer Wire tried to sort out the likelihood of any one team making a run to the final. Somewhere between their results in this tournament, past track record, and overall talent level, we’ve settled on a power rankings list that everyone everywhere will surely have no problems with.
Mwape is accused of inappropriately touching one of his players during the World Cup
FIFA has confirmed it received a complaint over Zambia women’s national team head coach Bruce Mwape, who has been accused of inappropriately touching one of his players at the World Cup.
The Guardian reported that several Zambia players saw Mwape rubbing his hands over the chest of a player at training last Friday.
In a statement to multiplemedia outlets, FIFA confirmed it will investigate the claims.
“We can confirm that a complaint has been received in relation to the Zambian women’s national team and this is currently being investigated,” FIFA said. “We cannot provide further details regarding an ongoing investigation for obvious confidentiality reasons.”
In response, Zambia’s FA released a defiant statement, claiming no players had raised any issues over Mwape’s behavior and that the coach would be exonerated by video evidence.
“We wish to state the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has not received any such complaint from any of the players or officials in the delegation that travelled to the World Cup. It has therefore come as a surprise for us to hear of such alleged misconduct by the coach as reported in the said online publication (The Guardian),” said FAZ general secretary Reuben Kamanga.
“As a matter of fact, all the training sessions for the Copper Queens were filmed by the FAZ media team and offers no such footage as envisioned by The Guardian. Additionally, a FIFA film crew attached to the Zambian team at the World Cup was present at all training sessions.”
In its first ever World Cup, Zambia was eliminated after the group stage, which saw the team lose to Spain and Japan before notching its first ever World Cup win in its finale against Costa Rica.
Mwape entered the World Cup already carrying allegations of sexual misconduct, which The Guardian reported on last month.
“If he [Mwape] wants to sleep with someone, you have to say yes,” one player who did not want to be named told The Guardian. “It’s normal that the coach sleeps with the players in our team.”
There were some unbelievable strikes in the group stage
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has been quite eventful thus far, providing a healthy mix of drama, highlight-reel plays, and late-game heroics. And now that the group stage of the tournament has come and gone, let’s take a beat to reflect on some of the best goals of the tournament so far.
It was one of the more stunning days of a World Cup already full of surprises
And just like that, the group stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has come to a close. The final day of group stage contests featured two matches: South Korea versus Germany and Colombia against Morocco.
Some achievable changes that can give the USWNT a real shot at turning this World Cup around
It’s safe to say the U.S. women’s national team has not impressed anyone at this World Cup.
To be fair, things could be worse. Germany and Brazil have already packed their bags, as have the the defending Olympic champions Canada. Australia and Norway had to get their respective acts together to vault themselves into advancement at the last gasp, and a global power like Spain has suffered a 4-0 loss. It’s been wild.
None of that excuses the performances of the U.S. though, which have been extraordinarily frustrating. Setting Canada aside, all of the teams listed above also have had at least one good game at this tournament, a showing that most would agree deserved a grade better than a C-plus. The USWNT can’t say that.
Much of the discussion has centered on lineup choices and substitutions. Should Lynn Williams be in there? What about moving Julie Ertz back into the midfield? People want to see Sophia Smith playing centrally, they want a team that brought three different No. 10s to somehow find playing time for all of them, and on and on.
Pro Soccer Wire has good news, and bad news. We’ll start with the bad: none of these popular talking points would impact much of anything, save possibly disrupting the one bold choice (Ertz partnering Naomi Girma) that has paid off. Putting your fave into the next game isn’t going to save the day.
Why? Putting it bluntly, the USWNT’s tactical approach has mitigated so much of what these players are all good at doing. Swapping starters isn’t going to solve that, because the new player coming in will run into the exact same problem. On The Re-Cap Show, USWNT great Christen Press said it better than anyone: “Every single player, in every single line, is not being set up to succeed.”
When a coaching staff is doing that, shuffling the personnel is rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship. The problems with this USWNT, other than one aspect that we’ll get to at the end, are on a whiteboard, a PowerPoint presentation, and so on. They’re taking the field with a plan that leads them in the wrong direction.
With a round-of-16 match against Sweden (possibly the single team most familiar with how to slow them down on the planet), showing up with the same plan is asking to be sent home ASAP.
Here are some achievable changes that can give the USWNT a real shot at turning this World Cup around.
The USWNT captain admitted that her former teammates words were “frustrating to hear”
Lindsey Horan has admitted that hearing her former teammate Carli Lloyd questioning the U.S. women’s national team’s mentality “hurts a little bit.”
Lloyd made headlines in the aftermath of the USWNT’s 0-0 draw against Portugal to close out the World Cup group stage, offering a scathing assessment of the team’s state of mind.
“I’m just not seeing that passion,” Lloyd said on Fox. “I’m just seeing a very lackluster, uninspiring, taking it for granted, where winning and training and doing all that you can to be the best possible individual player is not happening.”
The USWNT legend’s comments have not gone down well with those around the program, with head coach Vlatko Andonovski saying they were “insane” and Midge Purce calling them “absolutely ludicrous.”
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, USWNT captain Horan wouldn’t go quite that far, but admitted that her ex-teammate’s words stung.
“It’s kind of frustrating for me to hear, especially knowing this team and knowing how much we put into every single game, how much preparation we put into every single game, seeing our trainings, seeing how hard we work,” Horan said in quotes published on ESPN.
The midfielder added: “Again, it’s noise and, again, it’s an opinion and everyone is entitled to their own opinion — we know that’s how it goes. But for me, I always want to defend my team and say: you have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, you have no idea every single training what we’re doing individually, collectively, etcetera.
“So, for anyone to question our mentality hurts a little bit but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t really care. It’s what’s going inside of the team and getting ready for that next game.”
The coach knows his side needs to improve a whole lot heading into the knockouts
U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has evaluated his team’s display against Portugal in succinct fashion, saying bluntly: “The performance was crap.”
Andonovski’s side struggled in its Group E finale against the World Cup debutants, as it was pushed all the way in a nerve-shredding 0-0 draw that barely secured qualification to the knockout round.
The USWNT failed to generate many scoring opportunities against the underdogs, and was nearly sent home when Ana Capeta hit the post deep into stoppage time.
The match against Portugal was the latest underwhelming display as the U.S. set all-time program lows for wins (one) and points (five) in a World Cup group stage.
After beating Vietnam and drawing the Netherlands and Portugal, the USWNT could only manage a second-place finish in Group E, representing just the second time in nine World Cups the team has failed to win its group.
Ahead of a difficult last-16 game against Sweden, Andonovski said he was heartened by his team’s reaction after an admittedly poor display against the Portuguese.
“I think it’s been great actually,” the coach told Fox Sports. “I was a little bit worried after the Portugal game [about] how they’re going to feel and where they stand, but the group has been incredible.
“Some of the more experienced players actually from the get go were very energetic and very positive about the fact that we have [another] game. Nothing changed — like, yes, the performance was crap. We all know that. We have to own it. We have to take accountability. And we have to focus for the next game. Let’s make sure that we don’t have the same performance again.”
Watch Andonovski’s Portugal assessment
"Yes, the performance was crap. We all know that, we have to own it, we have to take accountability."
Hear from USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski on the team's gameplay in its final Group E match against Portugal and @HeatherOReilly's comments afterwards 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/6ryxOk5cJO
Marta may have played her final World Cup match, but she doesn’t see that as any reason to stop supporting Brazil or women’s soccer.
A stunning scoreless draw between As Canarinhas and Jamaica, the latest shock result in a tournament full of upsets, has ended the legendary Brazilian attacker’s tournament early.
Brazil entered this tournament as a threat to win the whole thing, which would have been the perfect storybook ending for Marta’s international career.
They started the World Cup off looking the part, capping off a 4-0 win over Panama with a gorgeous team goal that will not likely be matched as the tournament’s best. Next, they fell 2-1 to France in an electric atmosphere. Brazil played well in defeat, but that result meant they would have to beat Jamaica to get out of Group F.
The Reggae Girlz were considered longshots, but a third straight brilliant defensive effort got them the draw needed to advance for the first time ever. Just like that, an icon left the world stage for the last time.
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Speaking in a post-game interview, Marta addressed the very mixed situation before her: a heartbreaking early exit, but also a tournament getting more attention than ever before, and a Brazil side that has started to show the benefits of more public support and investment.
“It’s hard to talk about this moment. Not even in my worst nightmares was it the World Cup I dreamed of. But, it’s just the beginning. The Brazilian people are asking for a renewal,” said Marta before gesturing towards her teammates. “There, is a renewal.”
At 37 and on a team packed with attacking talent good enough for any team in this World Cup, Marta had only played 20 minutes in Brazil’s first two games before starting against Jamaica. Up until very recently, that would have been unthinkable, but Marta would be the first to say that it’s because Brazil is getting better.
“I think I’m the only old lady [on this team]. Maybe [Tamires] is next to me,” joked Marta even as tears appeared in her eyes. “Most of them are girls who have a lot of talent who have a huge path ahead of them. It’s just the beginning for them. I’m done here, but they’re still here. And you asked for a renewal, there is a renewal.
“I want people in Brazil to continue to have the same enthusiasm they had when the World Cup started, to continue to support. Because things don’t happen overnight. We’re seeing here teams that came to the World Cup and took seven, eight, 10 [years], and they’re playing just like the big teams. This shows that women’s soccer has been growing. This shows that women’s soccer is a product that gives profit, that gives enjoyment to watch.”
“Keep supporting,” urged the most prolific goalscorer in World Cup history (women’s or men’s). “There is no more World Cup for Marta. I’m very grateful for the opportunity I had to play another World Cup. And I’m very happy with all that has been happening in women’s soccer in Brazil and the world. Keep supporting. Because for them, it’s just the beginning. For me, it’s the end of the line now. Thank you.”
Watch Marta’s emotional speech
"Keep supporting. Because for them it's just the beginning. For me, it's the end of the line now. Thank you."
“I’ve seen these players fall to pieces about this team, about this dream of going to the World Cup”
Midge Purce has said she was “baffled” to hear Carli Lloyd questioning the U.S. women’s national team’s mentality, calling her former teammate’s criticism “ludicrous.”
After a 0-0 draw against Portugal in Tuesday’s World Cup Group E finale, USWNT legend Lloyd laid into her former teammates.
“I’m just not seeing that passion,” Lloyd said on Fox. “I’m just seeing a very lackluster, uninspiring, taking it for granted, where winning and training and doing all that you can to be the best possible individual player is not happening.”
Lloyd’s comments have not gone down well with her former USWNT and NJ/NY Gotham FC teammate, who vehemently defended her teammates’ desire and commitment to the cause.
“I was baffled by the comments,” Purce said on “The 91st” show from Just Women’s Sports.
“I’m all for critiquing the players’ performances, their tactical awareness, their positioning, their quality on the ball, but to diminish their commitment and their discipline, their character — that’s absolutely ludicrous to me,” Purce said.
“These are players who when they got the call that they were going to the World Cup, they were trembling. Their phones were shaking, they couldn’t even hold the cameras straight.
“I’ve seen these players fall to pieces about this team, about this dream of going to the World Cup, and then pick themselves back up and put it all together. They tear their bodies apart so that they can get to this stage, get to this level, and then their passion is questioned.”
USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski was similarly incredulous when asked about Lloyd’s comments, which he called “insane.”
Purce narrowly missed the USWNT World Cup roster, with a torn quad suffered in April damaging her hopes of making the team.
Was the group stage perhaps not as bad as some made it out to be?
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.
