The U.S. Ladies’s Soccer staff survived a late scare to stumble into the World Cup knockout spherical following a goalless draw towards Portugal of their final group-stage sport in Auckland, New Zealand.
The sport, which was broadcast on Fox, was an important tie for the four-time world champions, who wanted a draw or win to keep away from being booted from the World Cup within the preliminary group phases for the primary time in historical past.
Staff USA started their journey for a 3rd straight World Cup title in assured type with a 3-0 win towards Vietnam. Nonetheless, the growing old US facet appeared to fall off the fuel after their opening win, clocking a lackluster draw towards the Netherlands and now World Cup debutants Portugal.
The U.S. completed second in Group E with 5 factors — their lowest tally in World Cup historical past. The Netherlands received the group and completed their preliminary marketing campaign with seven factors and a 7-0 win towards Vietnam. The one different time Staff USA didn’t win their World Cup group was in 2011. That yr, they reworked within the knockout rounds and turned their gradual begin right into a title look towards Japan. They finally misplaced that remaining on penalties.
Staff USA now faces a troublesome highway forward within the knockouts. Because the runner-up for Group E, the U.S. will play the winner of Group G, which is at the moment their frequent rival Sweden. The 2 groups final met within the opening sport of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, which Sweden received 3-0.
