USA squeeze into World Cup knockout stage after surviving late Portugal scare

As Americans half a world away slept through the night unaware, or rose prematurely from their slumber to watch a World Cup match with a 3 am ET kickoff, the United States slept-walked through their final group-stage game against Portugal, doing the bare minimum to advance to the knockout rounds of the 2023 World Cup.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands scored early and often against Vietnam, running out 7-0 winners to take the group with seven points to USA’s five and a vastly superior goal difference. USA will now play the winner of Group G – either Sweden or Italy – in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday.

Portugal, the team USA head coach Vlatko Andonovski described a day earlier as “conservative” in their approach, controlled the match in the first half and forced the Americans to defend from a lower position. Portugal enjoyed more possession and made more entries into the final third than the USA, forward Jéssica Silva wreaking havoc as she drifted to the left side of the American defense, popping up in pockets between full-back Crystal Dunn and center-back Naomi Girma.

Heading into the match, all of the talk around the USA was about how disconnected and ineffective their pressure was against the Netherlands. “We weren’t in sync,” the midfielder Andi Sullivan said of that 1-1 draw. Her teammates, and Andonovski, echoed those feelings.

Andonovski also pointed out how much the introduction of Rose Lavelle helped in the second half of that match, and Lavelle started on Tuesday for the first time at this competition. But in the first half, USA were no better than they had been without her

It was Portugal’s Silva who had the period’s best opportunity, at the end of a breakaway 16 minutes into the match. Two central, vertical passes broke the USA’s lines and put her in behind, but she rushed her right-footed shot wide of goal.

USA continued to give away the ball under little pressure at the back, and Portugal continued to knock on the door. Five minutes before half-time, Kika Nazareth unleashed a right-footed shot from distance that dipped, swerved and just missed the top corner.

Making matters worse for the US was the yellow card shown to Lavelle late in the first half – it meant she would be suspended for the last-16 tie should the US advance. Whether that would happen remained in question for the entirety of the match, down to the final seconds.

The USA improved mildly in the second half but still failed to string together consistent passes. Needing a win to advance from the group at their first World Cup, Portugal managed the game like they were the two-time defending champions. And moments after coming off the bench, Ana Capeta ran in behind the USA defense, slamming a shot off the post that then bounced to safety.

This is the first time since 2011 that the USA have not topped their World Cup group – and they only narrowly escaped the infamy of group-stage elimination.