AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Pressure has been the companion of the United States women’s national team practically from the beginning. It wasn’t enough to do well: The USWNT had to win trophies and make a statement while doing so, whether it was attracting sellout crowds in 1999 or cementing its argument for equal pay in 2019.
That stress builds throughout a tournament and will be present when the U.S. faces Portugal in its Group E finale on Tuesday (3 a.m. ET, Fox). A draw will be enough to guarantee advancement for the Americans, but merely progressing isn’t the objective; topping the group is. That way a possible round-of-16 matchup against third-ranked Sweden can be avoided.
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Achieving that means not only defeating the Selecao das Quinas, but scoring enough goals to keep the Netherlands — which faces eliminated Vietnam at the same time — in second place in Group E on goal differential, the first tiebreaker. (With a win and a draw, the U.S. has a two-point edge in goal differential going into the game.)
There is a way for the U.S. to…
