Jeff Kassouf explains how the USWNT can build from its loss to Japan in an international friendly. (1:04)
The United States women's national team (USWNT) just wrapped up what might end up being the team's most important international window in its quest to win the 2027 World Cup.
The USWNT bookended a mid-series loss with a pair of impressive victories over Japan, the champions of Asia, in a three-game set that will ultimately go a long way in helping a young group make progress. Coach Emma Hayes will also walk away with a clearer picture of which players are more World Cup ready than others, and which combinations can best unlock a top team.
The Americans won the first meeting 2-1 on April 11, dropped the second match 1-0 on April 14 with completely different lineup, then dominated Japan on Friday in a resounding 3-0 win with close to a first-choice starting XI. That 3-0 win was as dominant as it gets between two of the top-five women's teams in the world, even if Japan currently has an interim coach.
Here are five big takeaways from the U.S.'s international window.
Japan has been lauded for its attractive possession style since its surprising World Cup triumph in 2011, but just as that team's identity has evolved in recent years, so too has the USWNT's.
The Americans are known for their athleticism and ability to beat teams in transition -- a stereotype perpetuated by prevailing styles of play in the NWSL -- but the idea that the USWNT just plays the ball over the top is a dated concept. This three-game series against Japan was an eye-opener for anyone who had not paid attention to the team's progress.
The USWNT kept 60% or more of possession in each of the three games against Japan, per ESPN Insights. It also attempted nearly double the number of passes (635) as Japan in Friday's 3-0 win, in which the opponents put up a measly 0.14 expected goals.
"I think if you took the two crests away and asked people, 'Which team's which?' most people would put Japan where the U.S. are and vice versa," Hayes said after Friday's match, looking at a screen showing the USWNT's statistical dominance. "But I believe to win the biggest things, you have to have the ball."
Hayes' revolving point throughout the week was that the possession must have a purpose. And while the Americans absolutely lacked precision in the final third at various points throughout the week, the final product was there on Friday, from Rose Lavelle's goal off a deep run from midfield, to Claire Hutton hitting the crossbar after the USWNT quickly switched the point of attack.
The USWNT managed to break Japan's high pressure in the first meeting (the 2-1 win) by playing through it rather than over it in a panicked manner. There were moments when full back Emily Fox would connect with a central midfielder, who could then play one-or-two-touch passes to winger Trinity Rodman, to name one common pattern. Hayes criticized the USWNT's lack of creativity in her media roles prior to taking the job in 2023, but that ostensibly unimaginative team is now a thing of the past.
"I think the difference now is that we can break teams down better than we did then," Hayes said after Friday's victory. "We might have been reliant on a super goal or a one-off chance, whereas now I think we're creating at least one xG a half against a top side, which is about par for the course. But I think we're getting into the right areas in a much different way."
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A completely different -- and less experienced -- starting XI lined up against Japan for the second game and lost 1-0 in the pouring rain in Seattle. The squad struggled with precision throughout the match, from errant passes out of the back to missed targets in the final third.
It was easily the roughest match of the three for the USWNT, but it might be the most important in establishing depth and making roster selections. The U.S. plays these types of games in every cycle: A player or group of players who are not bona-fide starters make the lineup against a top team to see how they handle the moment. In 2015 and 2019, those were relatively resounding road losses to France, but the USWNT won the World Cup that year both times.
The 1-0 loss to Japan on April 14 gave several players the type of real-world exposure to a team like Japan that can only come from experience. It was a chance for 18-year-old phenom midfielder Lily Yohannes to see how much quicker she will need to play the ball against a team of that quality; it allowed full back Lilly Reale to see just how deceptive attackers like goal scorer Maika Hamano are; it showed forward Ally Sentnor how quickly top teams make space disappear; and it gave forward Jameese Joseph a brief taste of her highest level yet.
The real-life game lessons from that loss will resonate with the group ahead of the World Cup.
"It's like when someone gives you a Michelin Star recipe," Hayes said after the loss, sparking days of food metaphors from the coach. "They say, 'Well, you can cook it, right?' And you go, 'Well, I'll have a go, but I'm not going to make it look like that Michelin Star chef.'
"I think we've got players that have some of the recipe and they're trying to apply it in their entirety, but it's a work in progress."
Hayes said she could talk about strategies on a whiteboard with those players, but "it's like cooking the recipe. You won't know until you feel it."
Phallon Tullis-Joyce has been the presumptive new No. 1 goalkeeper ever since this time last year when she made a remarkable debut in a 2-0 win over Brazil. Hayes even said earlier this year that Tullis-Joyce was ahead of Claudia Dickey at the moment, but Hayes couched that statement by noting the NWSL (where Dickey plays with the Seattle Reign) was in preseason and Tullis-Joyce was in mid-season form with Manchester United.
This window, which comes a month into the NWSL, might be the one that shifted momentum in favor of Dickey for the starting job.
Dickey played in both victories over the three games with what was clearly Hayes' first-choice lineups, and the goalkeeper (who is half-jokingly nicknamed "The Claw") was solid when called upon, like late in the first game when she stopped a point-blank shot from Riko Ueki to prevent an equalizer.
Crucially, with that save and others, Dickey didn't spill a rebound to lurking opponent. She has looked calm and confident between the posts, and is equally composed with the ball at her feet as the USWNT tries to build from the back in its aggressive 3-5-2 formation.
Wilson made her much-anticipated return to the USWNT this window after giving birth in September. But by the third game, it would have been hard for anyone to tell that she had not been with the team for 17 months.
Wilson built into the week, starting twice and dazzling in the No. 9 role in the third game, especially. She looked like her typically dangerous self in the match, from the spin-volley from seven yards out, to the laced shot from distance to start the second half which led to the corner kick for the team's first goal.
Then there were the explosive moments, like when she spun out of a double team (with legend Saki Kumagai on her back) in her own half and dribbled up field to spark a counterattack. Those are the vintage Wilson moments that put you on the edge of your seat. And there were plenty of them on show on Friday.
The starting No. 9 role remains up for grabs between Wilson and Catarina Macario (who is currently injured). Over these games, Wilson quickly reminded everyone that she held down the spot for the 2024 Olympic gold medal run and could do the same at the 2027 World Cup.
After a SheBelieves Cup marked by progress, full back Gisele Thompson might have played her way into the first XI this window. Hayes called Thompson's performance "fantastic" in the first win over Japan; she was relentless in applying pressure high up the field and her aggressive disposition paid off by creating the turnover that led to the game-winning goal.
Thompson combined spectacularly with her older sister, winger Alyssa, on the left side of the field, and that combination looks like it could pay dividends for years to come. Thompson learned lessons of her own, including being slow to clear her line and leaving Ueki onside for Japan's goal, but her stock rose again in this April camp.
Center back Kennedy Wesley also made strides. She came off the bench on Friday to tally a goal and an assist (both from corner kicks) within 20 minutes, and Hayes spoke of the progress she saw from the 25-year-old throughout the week. Wesley started the first game alongside Naomi Girma, showing that she has jumped up the center-back depth chart since making her debut in October.
Further up the depth chart, there is no denying that this was also another defining window for midfielder Claire Hutton. She has played beyond her years in her two-plus NWSL seasons as one of the league's best holding midfielders, and last week she became the youngest player (20) to captain the USWNT from the start of a game in 25 years.
Hutton has quickly earned the trust of Hayes in the crucial deep-lying No. 6 role, where she started over mainstay and Olympics starter Sam Coffey on Friday. That was likely more about testing a new combination with Lindsey Heaps (who Hayes said had a second-straight phenomenal camp) than a referendum on the position, but Hutton is undeniably ready to play a big role at the 2027 World Cup as a two-way midfielder.
