Oct 12, 2024; Austin, Texas, US; U.S. WomenÕs National Team forward Alyssa Thompson (7) passes the ball while defended by Iceland defender Saedis Run Heioarsdottir (19) during the first half at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
Every international friendly is meaningless, to some extent or another. The 2024 SheBelieves Cup had a bit more on the line, given its proximity to the Olympics tournament. But the USWNT’s two matches against South Africa last autumn didn’t have much going for them. The team was without a permanent head coach, and the games themselves were valedictories to Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe, not development opportunities. As such, they were the most meaningless friendlies of the year.
Every year has games like that. This current international window offers up what may be the most meaningless friendlies of the next three years. The gold medal winners get their victory tour, but for head coach Emma Hayes, she is largely spinning her wheels until she can get to January and roll out the game plan for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
Q2 Stadium offered a rousing atmosphere in Austin, Texas on Thursday evening, but in the end, the 3-1 scoreline didn’t necessarily reflect the state of the U.S. at this very moment, for good or ill. We got three dazzling goals, some international débuts, and two post-injury resurgences, as well as some tactical rotation as the game progressed. In the end, this game felt like the first day of school after a long summer break, as friendlies immediately after tournaments often do.
Not that there wasn’t anything interesting to observe. The first 20-25 minutes saw Lindsey Horan pushed up into a strike partnership with Lynn Williams at times, as if this was a midseason PSG match in 2013. The pressing 4-4-2 mid-block out of possession was clean and tidy, with Alyssa Thompson making hay on the right-hand side. Plenty of patience out of the back continued Hayes’s desire for possession and control. Plenty of rotation between the fullbacks and Thompson and Mallory Swanson on both wings continued Hayes’s tactical approach of constant off-ball movement and rotation when in the final third.
Transitional success also followed the blueprint that is not only a byproduct of Hayes’s attacking intentions, but also the strengths of the U.S. attacking core. Alyssa Thompson was justifiably thrilled with her first-ever international goal, a continuation of her run of form with Angel City over the past two months. It was signature Thompson: receive in space in the final third, charge, jink, feint, and then win the 1v1 battle with a glittering finish.
The goal was both preceded and followed by a great deal of in-possession tidiness and out-of-possession sturdiness. Iceland found its occasional moments of transitional success, including seven shots inside the penalty area. Not bad for a team who only carries one serious talent, Wolfsburg’s Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir. A little give-and-go in transition stretched Sam Coffey and Rose Lavelle just enough in the 56th minute to give midfielder Selma Sól Magnúsdóttir enough of a window to hit a banger into the far upper 90. As the fella once said, you do, in fact, gotta hand it to them.
The 4-4-2 had given way to a 4-2-3-1 in the back end of the first half, and the balance in midfield that struggled for much of 2023 and 2024 to find the right balance next to Coffey emerged again. Lavelle has become a defensive stalwart with Gotham and the U.S. this year, and though she put in the effort, her off-ball positioning looked less sharp than usual. Coffey seemed comfortable in a single pivot in the first half, but that didn’t gel with either Lavelle or Horan once she formed a double pivot. Chalk it up to fatigue, or maybe to player chemistry. Tough to say. Hayes needs to decide what she wants to do about Coffey’s midfield partnerships.
Lest we forget, Coffey is a passing wizard, making the assist for Thompson’s goal and dropping the progressive pass that set up Casey Krueger’s assist for Jaedyn Shaw. It was clean and tidy attacking play that will form the core of any ball progression success the U.S. midfield will have in years to come.
That defensive lapse was a mere blip, in the end. Yazmeen Ryan and Hal Hershfelt made their international debuts, overdue in the case of Ryan and well deserved for Hershfelt. Both are having breakout years at the club level, and it will be interesting how they develop in the U.S. environment.
And then Iceland got tired, lost a bit of their control, and the U.S. substitutes opened them up. Casey Krueger laid a ball off to Jaedyn Shaw, who didn’t see a minute of Olympics action thanks to an injury. A tidy finish ended up the go-ahead goal.
Three minutes later, Sophia Smith — another attacking star coming back from an extended injury layoff — played a give-and-go in the box with Thompson, then caught Thompson’s pass on the half-volley and walloped it from long range. Smith might be the only player anyone should trust with a long-range strike like that, and — lo and behold — it proved the dagger for Iceland’s chances.
So, what did we learn? The U.S. is very good. They’re much better than Iceland, who, like so many teams of their level, look even worse when they run out of gas in the second half. Thompson, Shaw, and Smith all look like they back in their grooves. Hershfelt and Ryan both look ready to prove themselves. Coffey is as good as ever on the ball, but defensive balance in the midfield will need to be tweaked.
Two more games to go in this window. Lots of rotation to come. The fans and the players seem happy. The real work begins in January.
