When you’re the most successful women’s soccer team of all time, the expectation is to win, always. Anything else is failure.
The U.S. Women’s National Team entered the 2023 World Cup as the two-time defending champions, and winners of four of the eight Women’s World Cups ever contested. But, as the aptly named limited series Under Pressure illustrates in its behind-the-scenes look at the team before and during the 2023 tournament, being the most decorated squad in the record books comes with some major challenges.
“Pressure is a fucking privilege on this team,” U.S. captain and midfielder Lindsey Horan says during a locker room huddle in the documentary’s debut episode. When a player puts on the USA jersey, she’s following in the footsteps of some of the greatest players of all time, legends who helped build the women’s game: Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, and Abby Wambach. But what happens when those high standards aren’t met? The four-part series shows a very different USWNT than the soccer world is used to, one stifled by its own uncertain identity.
In Under Pressure, veteran superstars no longer have the commanding presence they used to, and the team is also burdened with inexperience: Head coach Vlatko Andonovski calls on 14 players who have never played in a World Cup before, making the majority of the 23-woman roster first-timers.
“We’re going to see one of two things,” an analyst says in the opening scenes. “The rebirth of a champion, or the end of an era.”
What got the team to this fork in the road is also telling. Below are four of the most compelling moments in Under Pressure, a revealing look at the USWNT’s greatest hopes and fears for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The USWNT camaraderie within the locker room and on the field is undeniable. But before players take on the world together, they’re in fierce competition with one another to earn a roster spot. In the seven months leading up to the World Cup, players from all over the country are invited to a series of national team camps for tryouts. Under Pressure chronicles the ruthlessness of these practices, from outsprinting the woman next to you to bloodying each other while going for the same ball. “In the back of your head you’re just like, ‘Everything I’m doing right now is being watched, and this could be make or break,’ ” says Horan in Episode 1.
“Every single day you have somebody who is knocking on your door, waiting for you to mess up,” forward Lynn Williams says in the first episode. “Waiting for you to get injured, waiting for you to fail so that they can come in and take your spot. It’s psychotic. But I can’t believe I get to be a part of it.”
No one is guaranteed a position on the USWNT. However, it’s assumed that some players will make it. “We know who they are,” says midfielder Sofia Huerta. Those household names — includingwomen like forward Megan Rapinoe, defender Becky Sauerbrunn, and midfielder Rose Lavelle — make the chances of earning a roster spot even slimmer for everyone else. These lesser-known hopefuls are referred to as “bubble players.”
“A bubble player is someone who is just on the edge of making the roster [or] not making it,” says former USWNT legend Julie Foudy. “They’re on the edge of the bubble. And that’s never a fun place to be. As the pool for the women’s national team grows and grows, it’s just harder and harder to get in the bubble.”
The days leading up to the call from Andonovski arewere anxiety-inducing. “Put me out of my misery,” midfielder Kristie Mewis pleads in the first episode. When it’s time for Huerta to get the call, she looks at her phone with surprise.
“Is he FaceTiming me?”
“Hey Sof,” Andonovski says. “How you doing?”
I’m good, Vlatko,” she says, laughing. “I can’t believe you’re FaceTiming me.”
It might be a far cry fromnot be how the 1991 team found out they made the roster, but after getting over the weirdness of your boss FaceTiming you, the happy tears coame all the same.
The 14 newbies weren’t the only ones making their first World Cup appearance. In 2019, then-USWNT coach Jill Ellis stepped down. Andonovski was hired to replace Ellis, whose longtime affiliation with the national team helped make her one of the most decorated coaches in the international game. Ellis had never lost a World Cup match as head coach, making her a tough act to follow — especially since this was Andonovski’s first World Cup.
“I always say it’s the worst job in the world,” Rapinoe says of the USWNT coaching position in Episode 1 of Under Pressure. “Because if you do your job, then you were just supposed to. And if you do one hair less, you’re going to get lambasted for it.” Andonovski was also facing a rapidly evolving women’s game. The United States might’ve been one of the favorites in the 2023 World Cup, but an abundance of other countries were also gunning for that top spot. The international competition has never been stronger.
Before, the USWNT didn’t have to make many adjustments to their game strategy because they reigned supreme in physicality and skill. “You can’t do that now, because the game has evolved so much,” veteran superstar forward Alex Morgan says in Episode 1. “We still have to adjust our game a little bit defensively and on the attack every game. And I feel like Vlatko is incredibly good at that.” After the World Cup, the rest of the soccer world would disagree.
“This year’s preparation is definitely a little different than previous World Cups,” says Morgan in the second episode. She welcomed her daughter, Charlie, in 2020. Navigating the logistics of taking a small child to a major tournament on the other side of the world is only half the battle for new moms: They also have to train aggressively to return to their former stamina level.
“Coming back from giving birth was really hard, and I didn’t feel super quick,” says Morgan. She had to adjust how she plays the game as she worked on getting her speed back. Morgan wasn’t the only mom who made the 2023 roster: Defender Crystal Dunn and midfielder Julie Ertz also gave birth to their first children in 2022.
“We’re here to do work,” Morgan says. “We’re here to win a World Cup. But we’re also here to break down barriers along the way. I wanted to be my best every single day — not only to show my daughter that, but to show everyone else that moms really can do it all.”
The Women’s World Cup features a 32-team group stage, followed by a 16-team knockout round. Initially, teams are divided into eight groups of four. Those four teams compete against each other for points: A win is worth three points, a draw is worth one, and a loss is worth zero. The two teams that accumulate the most points from each group then advance to the knockout round.
“If we win this game, then we’re obviously through… right?” Mewis asks her dad before the Netherlands match in the third episode. “Everyone tries to explain this to me, and my eyes just glass over. Everyone’s like, ‘Kristie, it’s so obvious.’ ”
All of us trying to do the math in our heads feel you, Kristie.
Watch Under Pressure on Netflix now.
