Now that the United States women's national team has advanced out of the group stages in the 2023 World Cup, it's on to the "knockout rounds" of the tournament.
Once group play is complete, the 32-team field will be whittled down to 16 teams vying for the prestigious trophy.
Here's how the World Cup knockout rounds work, potential opponents for Team USA and a look at the tournament bracket.
What's a "group stage?"
The group stage is the first phase of the World Cup, involving 32 countries and eight groups. There are four countries in each group. The top two teams in "points" advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Knockout rounds? What's that?
This is where the World Cup will be familiar to fans that follow professional sports in America. The knockout rounds in the World Cup are single-elimination. Win or go home. It's that simple.
The World Cup champion needs to win four consecutive matches to win the tournament.
So this means no 0-0 ties right?
Yes! A tie is only possible in the World Cup group stage. If countries are tied after 90 minutes, the match will head into "extra time." That means there will be two 15-minute periods added to decide a winner. There is no "golden goal" in these periods, meaning the full 30 minutes of extra time are guaranteed to be played regardless of any goals scored.
If the countries are still tied after 120 minutes of play, a penalty kick shootout will decide the winner. A penalty kick shootout involves five players from both sides attempting penalty kicks against the goalkeeper. From there, the country that makes more penalty kicks out of five advances. (Of course, if it's still tied after five penalty kicks the two countries keep kicking until there is a winner.)
OK, I haven't seen any World Cup matches yet. How has the USA performed?
Team USA opened its 2023 tournament with a dominant 3-0 victory on July 21 over Vietnam. Sophia Smith scored two goals in the first half alone.
Then the tournament went sideways.
The Americans needed a second-half goal just to earn a draw against the Netherlands on July 26 in its second group-stage game.
And, still, the United States was leading its group before the deciding game. A shot that hit the post in stoppage time would have granted Portugal the 1-0 win and knocked out the tournament favorites in the group, but the American women survived with a 0-0 draw on Aug. 1.
The poor results (one win and two draws) meant the United States would finish second in its group behind Netherlands.
Now the team's path to the World Cup Final is much more difficult, with juggernauts Sweden and potentially Japan in its path. The group stage, along with key injuries, have opened up vulnerabilities for this 2023 team.
How has the USA done in previous World Cups?
This is the United States' ninth World Cup in its history.
The women's national team has won the World Cup four times (1991, 1999, 2015 and 2019) and hasn't finished worse than third place in any single tournament.
If the United States win the 2023 World Cup, they'll become the first nation to ever win back-to-back-to-back World Cup trophies. Germany is the only other nation (2003 and 2007) to win consecutive World Cups.
Here's how Team USA finished in previous World Cups:
- 2019: 1st
- 2015: 1st
- 2011: 2nd
- 2007: 3rd
- 2003: 3rd
- 1999: 1st
- 1995: 3rd
- 1991: 1st
What other countries are still alive in the World Cup?
Sixteen countries have already qualified for the knockout rounds of the World Cup.
Here are the 16 countries still alive, sorted by FIFA ranking:
- United States (1)
- Sweden (3)
- England (4)
- France (5)
- Spain (6)
- Netherlands (9)
- Australia (10)
- Japan (11)
- Norway (12)
- Denmark (13)
- Switzerland (20)
- Colombia (25)
- Nigeria (40)
- Jamaica (43)
- South Africa (54)
- Morocco (72)
Who does the United States face next?
That would be Sweden, the third-ranked country in the world, according to FIFA. The round-of-16 match is set for 2 a.m. PST on Sunday.
Sweden won Group G with nine points (three wins).
Sweden features one of the best players in the tournament in Fridolina Rolfo and has not lost a World Cup match in 2023. The country finished third in the 2019 World Cup and has the quality to win the entire tournament.
Where can I watch the World Cup games in Seattle?
Rough and Tumble in Ballard is the first women's sports-focused bar in Washington state and just the second of its kind in the United States.
Seattle Center Armory, Westlake Park, The Atlantic Crossing and Doyle's Public House in Tacoma are also holding 2023 World Cup watch parties throughout the tournament.
What are the other World Cup round-of-16 matches?
United States vs. Sweden is one of eight matchups in the round of 16.
Here are the other matches and what time they will begin (all times PST).
Two matches are pending the results of the final group-stage matches on Friday afternoon.
- Switzerland vs. Spain, Aug. 4 at 10 p.m.
- Japan vs. Norway, Aug. 5 at 1 a.m.
- Netherlands vs. South Africa, Aug. 5 at 7 p.m.
- England vs. Nigeria, Aug. 7 at 12:30 a.m.
- Australia vs. Denmark, Aug. 7 at 3:30 p.m.
- Colombia vs. Jamaica, Aug. 8 at 1 a.m.
- France vs. Morocco, Aug. 8 at 4 a.m.
If USA beats Sweden, who would they face?
After fending off one of the better teams in the world, the United States would face another difficult test in the quarterfinals.
Team USA's opponents in the quarterfinals would be Japan (11th-ranked in the world) or Norway (12th-ranked in the world).
That quarterfinal matchup would be on Aug. 11 at 12:30 a.m. PST.
The American's path to the final includes two of the three nations (Sweden and Japan) that have not lost a match in this year's tournament.
While we are here, let's map out Team USA's possible path to the World Cup Final. FIFA rankings are in parenthesis.
- Round-of-16: Sweden (3)
- Quarterfinals: Japan (11) or Norway (12)
- Semifinals: Spain (6), Netherlands (9), Switzerland (20) or South Africa (54)
Is that everything?
Yes! Enjoy the soccer football everyone.