On Saturday, the United States Women’s National Team fell against the Spanish Women’s National Football Team. While the 2-0 scoreline may not tell the full story, the USWNT will need to take some critical lessons from this match if they expect to win big in Brazil at the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
The US looked startled in the third minute when Patri Guijaro sent a rocket to the back of the net from 20-yards out with seemingly no pressure on her. Only 11-minutes later, Salma Paralluelo dashed down the left
side and her cross found Eva Navarro (once again, wide open), who hit a one-touch volley to put Spain ahead two goals before even 15 minutes had elapsed. While the US was able to respond with some promising attacking runs from Alyssa Thompson, Sophia Wilson, and Rose Lavelle, and it was clear that the Spanish defense could not keep up with their speed; in the first half, the US remained shaky and unsettled at best.
In the second half, the US made adjustments to their press including substituting in Gisele Thompson at left fullback. Spain only managed five touches in the opposition’s box and had zero shots. In comparison, the US managed 27 touches in Spain’s box and 7 shots (6 on target) in the second half. Although the US were consistently creating a threat toward goal, they lacked the clinical finishing needed to bridge the gap that Spain set early on.
It may not have been as clear-cut a defeat as the scoreline portrays, but the US will need to learn how not to allow opponents like Spain any opportunity to get ahead so early. As US head coach Emma Hayes said, “You can’t afford to go 2-0 down against the best team in the world, especially the way we conceded those goals. But that’s the learning.”
Thankfully, on Tuesday the US will have another opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned from their first matchup against La Roja. Here are some key lessons that they will need to learn in order to grow from this experience.
Do not underestimate the importance of your six. The defensive midfield or six position is critical for connecting the midfield and defense and also managing the space between those lines. In the absence of tried and true six Sam Coffey, the defense and midfield were completely divorced, and Spain took advantage of that space very quickly on both goals.
On Saturday, the USWNT played a midfield trio of Lily Yohannes, Lindsey Heaps, and Rose Lavelle. Hayes is often trying to position Heaps as a deeper-lying midfielder in order to take advantage of her leadership on the field and field vision while allowing more creative and fluid players like Lavelle to play point guard/playmaker in the attack. However, this is not Heaps’ natural position and both she and Yohannes were caught out of position and without the speed to make up for it multiple times.
Hopefully, Sam Coffey is healthy and available for World Cup Qualifiers in November and next summer. However, relying on her as the only viable starting six is a recipe for disaster (and unfortunately, is not a new problem on the USWNT). Winning a World Cup will require rotation and keen fans will remember that Coffey had to sit out the 2024 Olympics quarterfinal against Japan due to yellow-card accumulation. With exceptional options like Claire Hutton and Jaelin Howell on the bench, it is puzzling why Emma Hayes chose to play essentially without a six against a very dangerous opponent.
Follow-up shots and have runners available on the back post. La Roja is the #1 team in the world, and yet it was clear from early on in the game that they did not want to deal with the speed that forwards Alyssa Thompson, Trinity Rodman, and Sophia Wilson were threatening them with. For the speed and danger that the US attack can present, they lacked a decisiveness and teamwork in front of goal.
Multiple times we watched Alyssa send a cross that had no recipient available on the back post. Shots were blocked with no one running to get a rebound. At one point, Heaps and Lavelle had a ball moving at perfect pace to be 1:1 with the keeper, and neither could agree on who would take it. Thompson had a great run across the top of the box, only to run into Wilson and both lose the ball. Substitute Mallory Swanson also found opportunities for great crosses that rolled right across the goal with no one there to put it in. Overall the front line needs time to develop the connections and chemistry that will make them lethal against any opponent, but it has to start with forwards who are hungry to find the back of the net. Shoot. The. Ball.
Gisele Thompson, LB. The USWNT has struggled to settle on who will start at left fullback. Candidates have included Avery Patterson, Lilly Reale, Jenna Nighswonger, etc., but no one has solidified their place filling the (metaphorically) very large shoes that Crystal Dunn has left behind. A longstanding contender, Gisele Thompson may have written her name in Sharpie with a convincing performance in the second half against Spain.
Gisele has always shared many of the same qualities as her sister—commanding pace with or without the ball, tenacity—and it helps that she and Alyssa have that ineffable sister-connection on the wings. In the past, she has struggled with durability, often picking up knocks in camp that prevented her from even making it to the pitch come match day. However, heading into the 2026 season she made it clear that one of her goals was to increase her durability and availability for the season—making changes to her diet and workouts to help support this goal. Impressively, she is on track to be an Iron Woman for Angel City FC this season. Her growth and persistence have paid off.
On Saturday against Spain, Gisele entered the game in the second half and was a much-needed addition to the defense, while also providing support in the attack as an overlapping option. Gisele is usually deployed on the same side as her sister, but she was playing alongside Trinity Rodman and from the moment she entered the match, she and Rodman clearly had great chemistry and she opened Rodman up to offer more attacking opportunities. Though she was the only lineup change for the US until the 66th minute, her presence made a huge difference in how the team looked coming into the second half. Is the search for a starting left fullback finally over?
