USA 1-1 Netherlands: Women’s World Cup 2023 – as it happened

Sophia Smith battles for the ball with Sherida Spitse during the first-half of the Netherlands-USA match at the Women’s World Cup. Photograph: Carmen Mandato/USSF/Getty Images

4.16am BST

Final thoughts …

Some people may look at the superficial stats and say the Dutch were lucky. The US outshot the Netherlands 17-4. But heading well wide off well-defended corner kicks won’t win games. The US only put three of those shots on target.

The Dutch completed 400 of 509 passes. The US completed 291 of 403. But the US were more ambitious with 29 cross attempts (11 complete) to the Netherlands’ 7 (1).

(All that from the Fifa site.)

Odd stat alert: No NWSL players scored in this game. Horan is the only US player who plays in Europe.

The third matchday in this group now promises to be exceptionally dramatic. Catch those games at … 3 am ET Tuesday? Yikes.

Can the Netherlands turn possession into a lot of goals against Vietnam? Can the US overcome a Portuguese team that gave the Netherlands fits? Could the US be (gasp) eliminated?

I’ll say probably, probably, and definitely not.

Portugal plays Vietnam in a little more than four hours. I’ll be asleep, but if you’re awake, please follow along with us. See you next time. And here’s the report from tonight’s game too:

Danielle van de Donk and Lindsey Horan embrace. Photograph: Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Updated at 4.20am BST

4.07am BST

Our man in Australia (well, one of them) spots a US icon:

Perfect. RGB out supporting @USWNT at USA vs Netherlands match

#USANED #fifawwc @duresport https://t.co/R5DUzOXCRC pic.twitter.com/POgcSbetZU

— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) July 27, 2023