Despite an unconvincing start through three games, the U.S. women’s national team is onto the knockout rounds of the 2023 World Cup and will be taking on Sweden in the Round of 16 at 5 a.m. ET on Sunday. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski has been hyper-pragmatic in his approach thus far, and the team has performed well enough to advance, if not exactly with cohesion on the field.

But the knockout stage of a World Cup is its own unique challenge, and longtime rival Sweden will be eager to send the Americans packing earlier than ever before. Andonovski has faced questions about his willingness to make necessary changes to regain balance in his starting XI, but the message coming from the team is that they’re trusting the process.

There are a number of roads in front of the U.S. now, and the secret to success could be to lean further into the philosophy that got them to this point.

How to replace Rose Lavelle

One of Andonovski’s changes will be forced, after Rose Lavelle’s suspension due to yellow card accumulation means the creative midfielder will not be available for the U.S. in the Round of 16.

Lavelle’s absence gives Andonovski a chance to rethink his entire approach. The USWNT has been of two minds in the group stage — trying to send numbers forward into the box, while keeping certain contributors pinned back to support the backline. The approach has resulted in a sturdy defense, a tepid attack and bypassing the midfield entirely in favor of long-ball passing.

So, how do you effectively replace a player, when your game plan has already limited their effectiveness? I think Andonovski has one of two options.

He could certainly replace Lavelle with Savannah DeMelo, who brought a competitive edge and an eagerness to aid the attack in the USWNT’s first two matches of the group stage. She now has more World Cup experience than Ashley Sanchez and can fill Lavelle’s positioning, even if she doesn’t have the same experience with creating chances out of limited time on the ball. There’s also another option.

Re-thinking the midfield entirely

If the U.S. wants to go far in this tournament, they might have to resort to grinding out wins, and Lavelle’s suspension gives the team an opportunity to experiment. The U.S. could retain the midfield triangle, but instead of the inverted shape they held in the first three games, they could insert two defensive midfielders to break up play and re-distribute the ball.

The U.S. had Andi Sullivan and Lindsey Horan connect in defensive midfield spaces in the past, but they’ve worked best with Lavelle on the field. There’s also the possibility of inserting Julie Ertz into the midfield in place of Sullivan, but that might irreparably disrupt a center-back pairing that has been the USWNT’s brightest spot thus far. There’s no perfect solution with the roster that Andonovski has constructed, nor with the way he wants to play.

So, at risk of blowing things up even further, the U.S. could fully commit to the grind. Put Ertz in the midfield alongside Sullivan (they occupied many of the same spaces against Portugal anyway), and set Horan as a box-to-box midfielder. Insert Alana Cook into the defense with the understanding she has more support in front of her than in the past, and make the spine of your defense incredibly difficult to play through.

Ertz and Sullivan are then given greater dexterity to send the ball out to the fullbacks, or up to the No. 9 who can deliver to the wingers. Basically, instead of being the U.S. team that lost to Canada in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics, absorb some of the qualities of that Canada side that made them so resilient on their way to a gold medal.

Picking one of two attacking philosophies

Under the grind mentality, starting Alex Morgan at center forward actually makes more sense than in the game-plan in the group stage. Morgan has expanded her skill set greatly in the last four years, becoming the kind of connective back-to-goal player Andonovki has prioritized. Her bigger issue in the group stage, other than clinical finishing, was a lack of service both from the midfield behind her and the wingers to either side of her.

With a very defensive-minded No. 6 duo and the freedom for Horan to run box-to-box, Morgan could slip into the space in front of Sweden’s defense and play the false No. 9 role she’s been trying to occupy since her return to the squad in 2022. The wingers could then make runs in front of Morgan, and give the outside-backs the freedom to get high and wide in possession to present different problems for Sweden’s defenders.

But this ideal probably relies on too much change for the team to comfortably withstand, especially if advancing in a World Cup is on the line. So if the midfield shape must remain the same as in past games, the frontline has to emphasize speed over everything. This would mean starting Lynn Williams, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman as a front three that has the ability to make any defense have to chase, even if chances are few and far between.

If the U.S. is going to bypass midfield channels and send long balls forward, they should have their best 1v1 attackers trying to find the gaps and win individual duels. Smith has had trouble progressing the ball on the dribble from a winger position in recent games. Starting her in her more natural role could be the kind of incremental improvement that gives the U.S. a shot at advancing to the quarterfinals.

Ultimately, the USWNT could rely on the strength of their recovery defense and individual quality to carry them to the next round. Or they could lean even further into an ill-fitting identity, with the hope of clarifying roles. If they have a chance at a deep run, those fine margins could make all the difference.

Projected starting lineups

No. 1: Speed and stability

GK: Alyssa Naeher

D: Emily Fox, Julie Ertz, Naomi Girma, Crystal Dunn

M: Andi Sullivan, Lindsey Horan, Savannah DeMelo

F: Lynn Williams, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman

No. 2: Commit to the grind

GK: Alyssa Naeher

D: Emily Fox, Alana Cook, Naomi Girma, Crystal Dunn

M: Julie Ertz, Andi Sullivan, Lindsey Horan

F: Sophia Smith, Alex Morgan, Lynn Williams

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Stakes are sky-high for Wednesday night's Cy-Hawk Series clash, as undefeated No. 10 Iowa State welcomes unbeaten No. 11 Iowa to Ames for the highest-ranked NCAA women's basketball matchup in the cross-state rivalry's history.

"[If] you grew up in the state, just there's nothing like it," Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of the historic series. "You've dreamed, you've watched those big football matchups when you're little, you watched the basketball games when you were little, and to get to be in one — boy, it doesn't get much better."

"[It's] one of those things where it truly is a rivalry, because teams [go] back and forth and have their streaks and wins and losses," echoed Cyclones boss Bill Fennelly.

The red-hot Hawkeyes enter Wednesday's game with the head-to-head advantage having won three straight against the Cyclones — and eight of the last nine in the series.

That said, the Cyclones have the nation's leading scorer on their side, with junior center Audi Crooks's 27.6 points per game showcasing unmatched efficiency in the 2025/26 NCAA season.

"Audi's tough," Jensen said about the Iowa State star. "She's just really, really incredible…. When you let her get it, she's pretty accurate."

How to watch Iowa vs. Iowa State in the 2025 Cy-Hawk Series

The No. 11 Hawkeyes will visit the No. 10 Cyclones in the 2025 edition of the Cy-Hawk Series at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, with live coverage airing on ESPN.

The Washington Spirit are all in on forward Trinity Rodman, with club GM Nathan Minion telling reporters that the 2025 NWSL runners-up are working "pretty much daily" to re-sign the free agent despite salary cap concerns.

"I think everyone's trying to work together to get a deal in place," said Minion, acknowledging that the NWSL and the Spirit are actively working with each other to retain the 23-year-old star. "[We're] trying to figure this out and trying to get a resolution that can hopefully keep Trinity here with us for a long time."

"The reality is our current salary cap structure — it was built for a different era of women's soccer," said the DC club's recently hired president of soccer operations Haley Carter. "We're going to need mechanisms that allow NWSL clubs to compete for not only players from overseas, but our own players."

The NWSL vetoed the multi-million dollar offer from the Washington Spirit to keep Rodman last week, with the NWSLPA subsequently filing a grievance claiming the league violated the USWNT attacker's free agency rights by blocking the deal.

"These are nuanced conversations, and I would love to just toss the salary cap out the window and pay the players," said Carter. "But we also have to appreciate that, pragmatically, it isn't always payroll that's going to keep our athletes here. It's investment in other things as well."

"We are going to have to start getting creative, I believe, because it's bigger than just one team," continued Carter. "It's bigger than just one player. It's about the league's ability to keep its best players in this league as we continue to grow."

The NWSL transfer and hiring market is ramping up, with both the 14 existing clubs and two incoming expansion teams busy bolstering their 2026 ranks just weeks into the offseason.

Last week, Bay FC announced that England U-23 head coach Emma Coates will become the 2024 expansion club's second-ever manager, with fellow England youth national team and WSL staffer Gemma Davies joining Coates's NWSL crew as an assistant coach.

"I'm truly honored and super excited to build on the strong foundations that have already been established and to implement a clear identity both on and off the pitch," Coates said in Thursday's statement. "[Bay FC] shares my passion for people, performance, and culture, which I believe are fundamental to sustained success."

"Emma is not only an excellent coach, but she also has a proven track record of developing players to compete at the highest levels of both the domestic and international game," remarked Bay Collective CEO Kay Cossington. "Emma has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring players and teams to the next level with clarity, care and purpose. She understands what it takes to build environments where people thrive and perform at their best."

"Bay FC is gaining not only a great coach, but also someone that understands women's football and our athletes inside and out."

While Coates will wrap up her nearly three years at England's U-23 helm to join Bay FC in the coming days, three other NWSL teams are still searching for permanent sideline leaders this offseason, as the Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns continue to conduct coaching searches.

The Thorns joined the leaderless ranks in late November, parting ways with manager Rob Gale following the team's NWSL semifinals exit.

Reigning WNBA champion A'ja Wilson picked up yet another honor this week, as TIME crowned the four-time league MVP its 2025 Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

The Las Vegas Aces center became the first player in WNBA history to win a championship, Finals MVP, league MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, with the 29-year-old sweeping the league's awards this year.

"This year, I collected everything," Wilson said in her TIME interview. "I don't really talk much sh-t — I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Wilson described the Aces' midseason slump as a focusing agent in her 2025 TIME Athlete of the Year feature, with the skid launching the team on course to their third championship win in four years.

"I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can't be satisfied with anything," said Wilson. "There's somebody out there that's going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you're great at it, every single day."

Wilson also spoke to the strained relationship between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose leadership came under fire in October as CBA negotiations kicked into high gear.

"I only know Cathy by when she hands me trophies," Wilson said. "If that's her true self, thank you for showing that. Thank you for saying those things. Because now we see you for who you are, and now we're about to work even harder at this negotiation."

With the latest CBA extension expiring on January 9th, Wilson promised that the players are all-in on negotiations through the holiday season.

“All of us are going to be at the table, and we're not moving until we get exactly what we want."