Netflix’s USWNT docuseries leaves World Cup revelations behind, focuses on players’ humanity

Disclaimer: The Athletic senior writer Meg Linehan appears in “Under Pressure” as a commentator. Steph Yang was not involved in the making of the documentary in any way.

A sense of anticipation around sports documentaries usually forms because fans want to see the juicy behind-the-scenes moments that helped inform what they saw on the field. Viewers hope to be a fly on the wall for moments of high tension in the locker room, or in the conversation when a player breaks ranks to say something spicy.

“Under Pressure,” Netflix’s documentary about the U.S. women’s national team’s disappointing run in the 2023 World Cup, won’t necessarily satisfy those fans.

What it does offer, though, is a sincere examination of what happened when the USWNT was knocked out of the World Cup in the round of 16, and how various players felt about it. “Under Pressure” is focused on being thoughtful rather than juicy, and that’s much to its benefit.

In watching “Under Pressure,” as with any story, there’s an instinct to try to impose the beats of an actual story onto the narrative. A buildup, a climax, a tidying up, and a conclusion. But nothing about what happened at the USWNT’s 2023 World Cup was tidy. There is some onscreen attempt to make sense of what was happening,…