Losing to Brazil in one or both of their upcoming away fixtures might be the best thing that could happen to the U.S. women's national team as it prepares for the 2027 World Cup.
Yes, this is a team accustomed to winning: four World Cups, five Olympics and over 600 victories to go with fewer than 100 losses. Accepting defeat seems counterintuitive to such a winning culture. No (duh) -- the Americans are not going to Brazil with the express purpose of losing. As ex-NFL coach Herm Edwards once famously shouted, "YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME."
That is true, except in this version of football, you play friendly matches to learn how to win the games that matter. The USWNT should embrace the concept of struggling in a new and uncomfortable environment this month. Struggling -- even losing -- could be instructive for winning the World Cup. That will be especially true when the USWNT plays next summer's World Cup host Brazil in a pair of friendlies on Saturday and Tuesday in Brazil.
"I'm a developer of players, and they need to go through these things," USWNT coach Emma Hayes said after losing to Japan in April. "It will get us one step closer to where we are. We cannot always play just for the result -- but yes, we don't like to lose."
What Emma Hayes learns when the USWNT loses
The USWNT's April loss, along with other defeats to Japan and Brazil last year, are also the games from which Hayes can glean the most valuable lessons for the World Cup. These games against big opponents -- including two recent impressive victories over Japan -- reveal infinitely more than friendlies against lower ranking nations.
"If we would have picked a lesser opponent and I'd have sat here and said, 'What a great night, we won by multiple scorelines,' I'm sure I'd feel good and I'd fill your columns with lots of things that further enhance the reputation of the team -- but I don't believe in it," Hayes said after that April loss to Japan.
"Where you can push yourself to play against the very best opponents in every situation? That is how you improve. We have to keep handling the hard better, no matter who is on the field."
Brazil as an opponent is another perfect litmus test. The Seleção has undergone a renaissance under coach Arthur Elias, returning to its gritty, tough, technical, all-gas-no-brakes identity with a new generation of stars. The U.S. narrowly defeated Brazil in the 2024 Olympic final to win the gold medal. This is the type of opponent that the USWNT needs to truly measure progress.
In each loss to Japan and Brazil over the past year, Hayes played largely experimental teams to throw young players into the fire against top global opponents. Japan and Brazil are among the handful of legitimate 2027 World Cup title challengers at No. 5 and No. 6 in FIFA's world rankings, respectively. They also have completely different styles of play.
Hayes wanted to expose her inexperienced players to top teams and their tendencies early in the World Cup preparation process to let those players feel how much more organized Japan is and how much faster and more physical Brazil is than the average opponent. Hayes had to let those players fail at certain moments then and now to help them succeed at the World Cup.
That meant tossing teenage wunderkind midfielders Claire Hutton and Lily Yohannes into the lineup together against Brazil last year to experience a physical game played at a breakneck pace. Hayes noted afterward that Yohannes doesn't often play that type of match in Europe with OL Lyonnes (or Ajax at the time). It meant starting athletic forwards Emma Sears and Ally Sentnor against Japan in April to force them to solve Japan's compact, organized defensive shape.
Furthering those exposures is why this trip to Brazil means so much to the USWNT with only a year left until the World Cup. Seventeen of the 26 players on Hayes' roster for these two matches in Brazil have not experienced a senior World Cup, and Hayes has been clear that this is largely the group in contention for the qualifying roster.
Hayes has only lost four of 38 games in charge of the USWNT. She has acknowledged in some of those rare low moments that, occasionally, there is a silver lining in a loss. She gets to see how players respond to adversity. She can also assess who is not ready for the big stage.
A trend: Bad USWNT road losses precede World Cup victories
Recent USWNT history proves the importance of losing to or struggling against top opponents on the road. This is the seventh straight World Cup cycle in which the USWNT has traveled to the expected World Cup host country as part of the team's preparations. They have won two World Cups and been to another final in that span.
A few months before the 2015 World Cup, France dominated the USWNT in Lorient. The Americans won the World Cup a few months later in Canada.
Four years later, France comfortably defeated the USWNT again in Le Havre in a friendly. The Americans won the 2019 World Cup six months after that, and their march to a second straight title included a group-stage win over Sweden in Le Havre and a tense quarterfinal victory over the hosts France in Paris.
Contrast that with 2023, when the Americans suffered their worst finish in World Cup history: they arrived to that tournament on a 19-game unbeaten streak, but got eliminated in their first knockout game after a poor group stage. While the reasons for their struggles are varied and can't be blamed on any single thing, the lack of losing in hindsight certainly looks like it was to their detriment.
The 2019 loss in France was used by then-coach Jill Ellis to experiment against a top opponent. In the moment, Ellis' moves were criticized, but they later looked to be part of a vital data-gathering exercise.
A young Emily Fox played left back and got beat one-on-one for the opening goal a few minutes in -- Fox didn't make the 2019 World Cup roster and is now one of the best fullbacks in the world. Crystal Dunn started in the No. 10 role and Morgan Brian (now Gautrat) played as the holding midfielder in place of Julie Ertz that day.
Dunn went back to the fullback position for the World Cup and put in an all-tournament performance. Ertz dominated the midfield during that World Cup triumph. Gathering answers is all that mattered in the friendly.
The USWNT was also under pressure throughout that 2019 France friendly in front of a sold-out, antagonistic crowd that would also host the World Cup. Even more hostile crowds likely await in São Paulo and Fortaleza, which makes this trip equally valuable off the field for a team that rarely plays away from home.
"This is another moment where we get to see how we cope with all of the environment or conditions that come with going to Brazil," Hayes said last week. "Whether that's adapting to different cultures, different training facilities, different hotels, different fan experience, feeling like the away team but with the pressure cooker of a top opponent. All of these things really matter."
It sounds paradoxical, but Hayes will likely learn as much on this trip to Brazil about what -- or who -- isn't working to plan as she will from the positives.
Yes, emerging players also need to show further progress individually. And yes, the Americans need to be competitive and refine their tactical identity. A disastrous showing could diminish chemistry. However, as Hayes said last year about her first loss as USWNT coach, a 2-1 defeat to Japan: "I'd rather do that now than much later."
Everything the USWNT does in Brazil this month is about preparing for 2027, regardless of the results of these two friendlies. Struggling -- even losing -- should be viewed through the lens of progress.
Next year in Brazil during the World Cup is when they truly play to win the game.
