The U.S. Women's National Team has some work to do in order to clinch a knockout stage spot in the Women's World Cup.
The group stage of the 2023 Women's World Cup is coming to a close. Each group consists of four teams and the top two in each stage will move on and advance to the knockout stage. Already there have been some surprise finishes and teams with hopes of getting to the final have been eliminated. The United States has come into the World Cup and favorite to reach the final, if not win the whole thing. Now after a tie with the Netherlands in their last game, their back may be against the wall.
The United States Women's National Team (USWNT) is currently seated in Group E. Also in that group are the Netherlands, Portugal, and Vietnam. The USWNT already defeated Vietnam with a score of 3-0. They then went on to tie the Netherlands 1-1, which was the first game the U.S. had not won in a World Cup since 2015. The USWNT is currently sitting atop the group but with a tough game coming up against Portugal there are a few scenarios that must happen for them to advance.
How the USWNT can advance to the knockout stage
First off, the U.S. is tied on points with the Netherlands but up in the point differential, which means they have scored more goals than the Netherlands have in their two games so far and have held their opponents to less. If the U.S. were to win against Portugal and the Netherlands wins or draws against Vietnam without outscoring the U.S., then the U.S. would move on and win the group.
If the USWNT draws with Portugal and the Netherlands either draws or wins by a margin of less than the U.S. score, then the U.S. will move on as well. Also if the U.S. draws with Portugal and Vietnam beats the Netherlands, the U.S. advances.
The United States can also move on as the second-place team in the group but may find a harder path to the final. For this to happen they would need to win or draw against Portugal. A win alone would allow them to advance regardless of what the Netherlands does in their game.
If the U.S. were to lose against Portugal, they could possibly still advance if Vietnam wins or draws with the Netherlands. If both the USWNT and the Netherlands were to lose it would come down to the amount of goals scored by all teams in those two games.
A loss by the USWNT and a win or draw by the Netherlands will not allow them to advance.
The United States needs a high-scoring win against Portugal to make their way in the remainder of the World Cup an easier one. The USWNT has won the last two Women's World Cups and is looking to be the only team to ever win three back-to-back.
Team USA will take on Portugal in their final Group E game on Tuesday at 3 a.m. ET.