The United States women's national team entered halftime in an unfamiliar position: losing.
A team that had won two straight World Cups and a tournament record 13-straight tournament games was facing its first deficit since 2011.
The USWNT was able to erase that deficit when the team returned to form in the second half, but they walked off the field without a victory for the first time in a long time, finishing in a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in a group stage match of the 2023 Women's World Cup.
The team's unbeaten streak, however, has reached 19 consecutive games. That was thanks in large part to Lindsey Horan, who helped the USWNT team avoid what might have become just its second group stage loss in World Cup history.
The U.S. captain, shortly after shoving Netherlands midfielder Danielle van de Donk following a collision along the sideline, scored the equalizer in the 62nd minute. Off a corner kick from Rose Lavelle, Horan placed a header inside the near post to even the score at 1-1.
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The U.S. momentarily appeared to take the lead minutes later when Alex Morgan scored off a through ball from Trinity Rodman, but the goal was negated by an offsides call.
U.S. defender Julie Ertz later helped preserve the draw by making a deflection on a shot in the box in the 80th minute.
Sophia Smith, who scored two goals for the U.S. in her World Cup debut on Friday, broke free down the flank in the 82nd minute but fired wide of the far post. Neither team managed to score through five minutes of stoppage time.
The United States, which won its opening match against Vietnam 3-0, and the Netherlands, which defeated Portugal 1-0, are both 1-1-0 in Group E with one match each remaining before the Round of 16. The top two teams from the group advance to the knockout stage. The Americans and the Dutch remain atop the Group E standings with a win and a draw, but the U.S. holds the advantage with a greater goal differential.
The Netherlands took an early lead over the U.S. on Wednesday in what was a rematch of the 2019 Women's World Cup final, which the USWNT won 2-0. Jill Roord settled the ball at the top of the box and fired into the corner of the net to give the Netherlands a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
It was just the seventh time in Women's World Cup history that the U.S. conceded the opening goal of a match.
That snapped a 17-match streak in which the USWNT had not trailed in a World Cup game, with the team's last deficit having been in 2011 against Brazil. The U.S. outshot the Netherlands 9-2 in the opening half but went into the break trailing 1-0 for the team's first halftime deficit since 2011 against Sweden in a match they fell 2-1, the team's only loss in the group stage of the World Cup. It was the sixth time in 52 World Cup matches that the United States trailed at the half.
The draw snapped the USWNT's streak of 13 straight victories in the World Cup that dated back to 2015. They are now 8-2-1 all-time against the Netherlands.
Group play concludes with the United States against Portugal, and the Netherlands against Vietnam, with both games Tuesday at 3 a.m. ET.
