In a matchup between the reigning World Champions and current European Champions, the United States Women’s National Team traveled to London to take on the England Women’s National Team (a.k.a. Lionesses) at the iconic Wembley Stadium. Both English and American fans packed out the stadium with 76,893 people, a record attendance for a USWNT friendly and fourth highest attendance for any USWNT game (the other three being tournament finals). The record crowd brought an incredible atmosphere that players raved about playing in post-match. Over two hours before kickoff, Wembley Park was filled as fans waited to flow into the ground and cheer on their side. During lineup announcements, warmups, and pregame festivities the crowd was loud and rambunctious, only being quieted for a moment of silence honoring the victims of the recent tragedy at a match between Arema and Persebaya Surabaya in Indonesia in which at least 125 people died. That solemn moment was accompanied by another important message from the players, as both teams came together for a pregame picture while holding a banner reading, “Protect the Players”. This, of course, is in reference to the recent Sally Yates report on abuse within the NWSL, but as many USWNT players made clear postgame, is by no means an issue specific to the United States. Additionally, every player wore a teal armband throughout the match to carry on the message for 90 minutes.
While there was a lot of necessary pregame pageantry, the 76k fans came to Wembley to watch a world-class match, and that’s exactly what they got. Within the first five minutes, both teams had a shot on target, first from Sophia Smith for USWNT then Beth Mead for the Lionesses. England immediately looked dangerous on every counter-attack, supported by the crowd’s excitement as if a goal had been scored each time England broke. That support was rewarded in the tenth minute as England capitalized on their counter-attacking threat through Lauren Hemp, aided by a big mistake from Alana Cook, allowing Beth Mead’s cross through her legs for Hemp to finish easily past Alyssa Naeher. The early Lionesses lead only excited the crowd more, who were enthralled with the end-to-end first half that would continue. Lindsey Horan had a chance on the other end, which was put out for a corner by the backside of Millie Bright before the USWNT was unfortunately forced to bring off left-back Emily Fox for Hailie Mace after the Racing Louisville defender took an elbow to the face. It didn’t slow down the pace of the game though, as the USWNT continued their high press, with Lindsey Horan forcing a turnover from Georgia Stanway while playing it into the feet of Sophia Smith. The 22-year-old Portland Thorns striker took her opportunity as the USWNT number nine, turning on the ball and finishing sweetly into the bottom left corner from the top of the box. Twenty-eight minutes into the game, the United States was finally level in a game they certainly deserved to be. Surprisingly, both at the time and retrospectively, that would end up being the final shot on target for the USWNT in the entire match. Even worse, the level score lasted mere minutes as substitute Hailie Mace kicked Lucy Bronze in the face with a high boot, giving England a penalty after VAR spotted the offense just as it felt the USWNT were gaining a foothold in the match. Georgia Stanway slotted the penalty into the side netting for a 2-1 Lionesses lead in the 33rd minute, which they would not surrender, though they came close just three minutes later. The USWNT broke on the counter-attack (as was the flow of the first half) through a beautiful bit of play starting with a line-splitting ball into the feet of Trinity Rodman from Alana Cook. Rodman cleverly flicked the ball on, sending Sophia Smith bursting down the right wing, as she turned to make a third man run into the box, where she was as Smith played in the cross. Megan Rapinoe copied Rodman with a back-heel flick to set up Trinity for the simple finish, which they thought had leveled the barnstorming first half at two. The star of the show, VAR, saw it differently, ruling out the goal for a marginal offside call on Sophia Smith’s darting run onto the right flank. It was an extremely close decision made by the automated VAR, which Trinity Rodman said the team “still don’t believe it’s offside” after seeing the replay post-match. Whether she’s right or not, the game went to halftime 2-1 to the Lionesses.
While the second half didn’t produce any goals, the pattern of play remained rather similar. The Lionesses continued to dominate possession, playing out of the back while the USWNT attempted to create opportunities through their elite pressing. Yet still, most chances came on the counter-attack, and most often down the right flank, as was the case in the first half. Rose Lavelle and Megan Rapinoe, who briefly switched to the right side, combined well to open up an opportunity for Sophia Smith which she put just wide of the post in the first few minutes. Attacking down the right side was logical for England due to the forced change at left-back for the United States, but for the USWNT it would’ve been beneficial to get Rapinoe more involved. In the short time Rapinoe moved to the right side, she became more involved, and the USWNT became more dangerous, producing that chance for Sophia Smith early on. Instead, the Lionesses controlled the game, creating arguably the best chance of the half for Lucy Bronze which she shanked right of the target after bombing forward from right-back into the box. Of course, the chance also came on the counter-attack, though this time down the left after Alana Cook was caught in possession at midfield. The USWNT backline looked disorganized all night long, unable to find positioning when the Lionesses countered which was evident in both England goals. Going forward they posed a threat on the counter, but it was pressing that was key to turning over possession, a piece of the system Rodman looked a bit uncomfortable with despite being heavily involved in the counter-attacks down the right. When the United States did get in behind the counter there was too much aerial crossing, without much of an aerial threat. These crosses would either be cleared or put behind for a corner, which would then be crossed in any way and cleared. It looked for a second as if the USWNT was going to be let off the hook when Rose Lavelle took a shot straight at Lauren Hemp which was immediately given as a penalty for handball, but on replay, it was obvious Hemp had blocked it with her backside as she turned away from the shot. VAR stepped in again to correct the error. Despite losing the match 2-1, the game ended on a positive note for the USWNT with 17-year-old Alyssa Thompson making her senior debut in the 83rd minute. With her first cap, she became the 70th teenager to ever play for the USWNT and the youngest since Mallory Pugh in 2016. It was a special moment, only made more memorable as she replaced Megan Rapinoe who she admires greatly. Thompson described her emotions as “prepared but super nervous” noting that she “couldn’t have thought of a better sub” to come on for than Rapinoe. Regardless of the result, it was an incredible day for women’s football worldwide, sending messages of unity, passion, and pure class from both sides.
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