They pushed and they shoved. They gave as well as they got. They traded shots and then they traded goals. But through 90 supremely physical — and at times thrilling — minutes on Thursday, the United States and the Netherlands could not separate themselves at the Women’s World Cup.
And so they walked off after the most eagerly anticipated game of the group stage with a 1-1 draw that will have to be good enough.
The Netherlands, which scored first, may regret that it didn’t come away with a win. But not too much. “I think we’re definitely not unhappy,” Jill Roord, who scored her team’s goal, said of the mood in the dressing room.
The United States, which produced far more scoring chances, may feel it deserved one. Its goal, from Lindsey Horan, came after several good opportunities and was followed by a half-dozen more. “At that point it was our game,” Coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “And I’m just disappointed that we didn’t score more than one.”
The United States and the Netherlands know each other well, of course. This game was a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final, but also of a second meeting, a year later, in the Netherlands, and a third at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The United States won all of those games. But even its playmaker, Rose Lavelle, admitted that these were different teams, with different coaches and different styles. So perhaps it was not a surprise that the result was different, too.
The game at Sky Stadium was a bruising affair, a frigid day marked by tough tackles and professional fouls that at times felt it was only a moment or two away from boiling over. In the end, though, it was decided by two small moments.
The first was a slip by U.S. defender Crystal Dunn in the 17th minute that set off a scramble finished by a hard, low shot by Roord that sneaked past U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
The second moment, the United States’ response, came after yet another hard foul in the 62nd minute. Dropped by a tackle in front of her team’s bench, Horan, the U.S. co-captain, dusted herself off, strode straight to the middle of the penalty area for a corner kick by Lavelle, and then threw herself at it to deliver the header that tied the score.
The United States pressed relentlessly for a winner from there, but the Netherlands — seasoned by history, improved by its past encounters against the Americans — hunkered down and fought off every one of them.
The result left the teams tied atop Group E with 4 points from a win and a draw, and crunching the math that it will take to win the group and reach the knockout rounds. For now, that edge goes to the Americans on goal difference, plus-3 to plus-1, but that could change over the final group games.
The United States will face Portugal on Tuesday, a game that will be played simultaneously with the Netherlands’ game against Vietnam. The Americans and the Dutch will not see each other again unless they both reach the final. Gritty performances like Thursday’s suggest that both teams may have the mettle to hang around for a while.
