One of the keys when it comes to being in a tournament is to have goals and to have the stepping stones for success.

For the U.S. Women’s National Team, the first step is to make it to the Round of 16, and they were able to do just that with the team’s 0-0 Draw against Portugal on Tuesday.

The match against Portugal is one that has many fans buzzing, as the U.S. Women’s National Team is in the process of finding the formula for success.

Thus far the ladies have a 1-2-0 record, in going up against teams that have been vastly improving in the way that they attack and defend on the team and Portugal showed just how tough this 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup is going to be, by seemingly dominating in most of the categories that were on the field.

With that result under their belt, the USWNT went back to training and went back to finding what it is that makes them a successful soccer club to start with.

The tournament now resets itself as the USWNT takes on Sweden and here is more info on that upcoming match.

Sweden goes up against the U.S. on a high as they won their Group G, and earning their fourth consecutive Women’s World Cup, while also advancing out of their group for the eighth overall in the nine World Cup Appearances.

The U.S. and Sweden are familiar foes, as they have the most-played matchup in the FIFA Women’s World Cup history as this is the seventh meeting. This is going to be a more nerve wrecking meeting though as this is the first that the USWNT and Sweden meet in the knockout rounds.

Thus far the U.S. has a 4W-1D-1L record against Sweden at the World Cup, with the lone loss coming in 2011, which was a 2-1 decision. There was also a scoreless draw in 2015.

What is going to be an interesting task for the USWNT is what are they going to do in the midfield, as one of the igniters of the team’s offense in Rose Lavelle is suspended after getting a Yellow Card in the match against Portugal.

What is the formation for USWNT Head Coach Vlatko Andonovski going to be when the ladies take on Sweden, that is going to be the biggest question.

Two players to keep an eye out for is going to be the Team’s Captain and midfielder Lindsay Horan and First Year Player Lynn Williams.

Horan has been putting the responsibility of helping to elevate the play of those on the field firmly in her hands, along with being a huge part in the USWNT’s offense. As for Williams, the forward got her first start against Portugal on Tuesday and had a ton of positive minutes.

Williams put on a great show for the USWNT fans as she was a part of a ton of the scoring opportunities that the team was able to create. It is hopefully a matter of time before Williams gets her first goal in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Horan and Williams sat with members of the media and shared their feelings about going to the Round of 16 and having the eyes of the world on them during the tournament along with lots more. These thoughts can be seen in the video below and is compliments of U.S. Soccer/Veritone:

With all the pressure of the FIFA Women’s World Cup on the USWNT along with all the noise from the media and supporters surrounding them, it is going to be fascinating to see what the response is going to be from this 2023 USWNT is going to be.

It all leads up to the knockout round game between the USWNT and Sweden that is going to be played on August 6 with the action airing at 5:00 a.m. on the FOX Network.

For more information on the USWNT fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:

USWNT | World Cup Champions | U.S. Soccer Official Site (ussoccer.com)