The U.S. women’s national team begins their 2023 SheBelieves Cup campaign on Thursday evening, with high-profile matchups against Canada, Brazil and Japan that will replicate the patterns of group stage play against top World Cup-level competition.
Each of the four teams have a shot at walking away with the SBC title, but for the U.S. as hosts and reigning World Cup champions, expectations for wins at home will follow the team through all three matches. Canada will play the U.S. at their own game, Brazil’s attacking quality remains elite with a rising defense, and Japan brings an element of youthful vibrancy to their rebuild.
Fans will expect the U.S. to lift the trophy at the end of next week regardless.
Some of those expectations are increasingly unreasonable considering the level of competition, but in short, it’s also possible the USWNT really just needs a win.
Why the U.S. needs a SheBelieves win
Pre-World Cup USWNT friendly losses are basically woven into the recent history of the team. The U.S. lost their opening game to kick off the World Cup calendar years in both 2015 and 2019, and they didn’t win the 2019 SheBelieves Cup either (that honor went to England, though the USWNT did avoid dropping a game).
This year, the…
