On Friday, the Netherlands took on the United States in a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final. The Dutch have had several matches over the past couple international breaks as they have been competing for a spot at the 2022 UEFA European Women’s Championship. On October 23rd, they were able to secure qualification after a 7-0 win over Estonia.

WEURO 2022, HERE WE COME!#WEURO2022 #AllesvoorOranje pic.twitter.com/z3udYWTnPj

— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) October 23, 2020

Unlike their opponents, the USWNT have not had an abundance of opportunities to play together in 2020. Their last match was back in March; a 3-1 win against Japan in the SheBelieves Cup — the final football tournament to be held in America before all professional sports across the country shut down due to the pandemic.

Even though the USWNT have not played in eight months, they outclassed the Dutch in pretty much every department, with scores from Rose Lavelle and Kristie Mewis leading to a 2-0 win. (You can read a full recap of the game here.)

The match revealed quite a bit about the current state of both teams, and what to expect as they move into the new year.

Here are three things that we learned from the USWNT’s win.

Who’s ready for some Friday Night Lights?!?

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— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) November 27, 2020

1. The USWNT are still the best team in the world 

With all the time off, especially compared to their opponents, it would have been expected for the USWNT to be rusty. Moreover, this was only head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s 11th game in charge after Jill Ellis stepped down following five years in charge.

However, the team were comfortably able to outmatch and compete against an almost full-strength Dutch team.

It took some time for the USWNT to find fluidity in their attack, but the press was relentless, and the Dutch barely had a say in the happenings of the match. Once the first 20 minutes seemed to pass, the American attack appeared to gain confidence, and after Lavelle finally opened up the scoring in the 41st minute, it looked like the Netherlands were in for a long night, despite only being down one at the half. The USWNT would go on to register 11 shots throughout the match, with six of them being on target.

41' | @roselavelle with her third goal of the year and it’s a BEAUT! ???? pic.twitter.com/KEcK3qNdEV

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) November 27, 2020

It isn’t just their attack that makes America the best team in the world. Defensively, the Dutch barely got a sniff, despite having proven goal-scorers in Barcelona’s Lieke Martens and Arsenal’s Jill Roord in the starting eleven, and VfL Wolfsburg’s Shanice van de Sanden coming off the bench. The back four of Crystal Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper, and Kelley O’Hara excelled in limiting the chances and shots of their opponents, but more on the Dutch’s lackluster attack in a second.

In terms of the midfield, the trio of Sam Mewis, Lavelle, and Julie Ertz have constantly shown up and performed for the national team, and this match was no different. They are the perfect trio in terms of versatility, with each of them having a distinct role to play. Ertz did her part as a defensive midfielder, sniffing out any attacking threat from the Netherlands, which gave Mewis and Lavelle the freedom to bomb forward and threaten Netherland’s defense alongside the USWNT’s front three.

Finally, what makes the USWNT the best team in the world today is their depth. With players like Kristie Mewis, Alex Morgan, Midge Purce, and Sophia Smith (in her first appearance for the team) coming off the bench and immediately contributing, the U.S. can rest assured that that if they ever have injury problems, or just need a new gameplan, there is little to no drop off in the quality of their substitutes.

First cap for the kid ????@sophsssmith makes her ???????? debut, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to appear for the #USWNT pic.twitter.com/QJcM1M5aUg

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) November 27, 2020

Kristie Mewis punctuated this point when she came off the bench to score the second goal of the night.

70' | In her first cap since 2014, @KristieMewie comes through with her second USWNT goal and first since 2013! pic.twitter.com/WdCQxW0Ade

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) November 27, 2020

2. The Dutch desperately missed Vivianne Miedema

Despite the USWNT going into this match as the clear favorites, the Dutch are no team to scoff at. They were runner-ups at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and were the 2017 champions of the UEFA Women’s Euro’s. And though they lost 2-0 against the USWNT in the World Cup final as well, that match was much more balanced then the one that took place on Friday.

The glaring omission in the friendly was the absence of Vivianne Miedema, who had to pull out of international duty due to a hip injury.

Miedema is considered one of the best players in the world, and a taliswoman for her country. For Arsenal this season in the FAWSL, she’s had 12 goal contributions (10 goals, and 2 assists), and on October 18th, became the first to score 50 WSL goals, overtaking Nikita Parris’ all-time league record of 49.

Just @VivianneMiedema things ????

???? 19/20 @UWCL top scorer
???? 19/20 @BarclaysFAWSL top scorer
???? All-time @BarclaysFAWSL top scorer

And now a nominee for The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2020 ????

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) November 25, 2020

The Netherlands were missing a superstar playing at the peak of her powers, and it showed. Against the U.S., the Dutch only registered two shots on goal, and both were off the target.

Despite having more possession (62% vs 38%), the Dutch really struggled to get the ball into the box, and while credit to the USWNT’s defence is due, without Miedema, Holland lost their main target and their best finisher. They were unable to form coherent attacking plays, and were often stuck with the ball in their own half, or on the flanks of the pitch in the final third.

It is unclear how serious Miedema’s hip injury is, and the hope for the Dutch is that it is not a long term injury that keeps her out for the upcoming 2021 Olympics.

3. The competition within the USWNT is at an all-time high — and big names will be cut for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo

The Olympics are set to start on July 23rd, 2021, after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, unlike the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which has a limit of 23 players per final squad, the Olympics has a cap of 18. As mentioned before, the USWNT has amazing strength in their depth, and that means that several players who may be deserving of a call-up won’t get one.

There have not yet been any set USWNT matches scheduled from now until the Olympics, but with a training camp scheduled in January, the SheBelieves Cup in February, as well as some friendlies expected to happen, Andonovski will have lots of time to narrow down a selection. This USWNT squad is so talented, it’s only inevitable that big names and fan favorites will have to be cut in order to fit the 18-player limit.

The Women's Super League (WSL) is growing, with the UK league's top two flights deciding in a Monday expansion vote to enlarge its top tier from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The number of matches played each season will also balloon from 22 to 26 games to accommodate the incoming clubs, as will established cup competitions.

Monday also saw the WSL vote down a prior proposal to temporarily suspend the relegation and promotion process to accommodate this expansion, deciding instead to adopt a "two up, one down" model for the second-tier WSL2 next season.

As such, the top two finishers of the 2025/26 WSL2 season will automatically join the higher-tier WSL, while the WSL's last-place team will battle the WSL2's third-place club in "a high-profile, high stakes match" for the final spot in the top flight.

After reaching 14 teams, both leagues will return to relegating the last-place WSL finisher while promoting the WSL2's top team for the following season.

Along with the increased investment in club infrastructure, a 14-team WSL keeps pace with the global women's game — most notably, the NWSL, which will become a 16-team league in 2026.

"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction, and incentivize investment across the board," said WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet.

With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.

While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.

Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.

Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.

In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.

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Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.

To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.

Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.

The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.

The 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup will wrap up its conference play on Tuesday, as both Eastern and Western teams battle for a ticket to the in-season competition's championship game — and a cut of the $500,000 prize pool.

With 12 of the league's 13 teams facing off across Tuesday's WNBA courts, the results will set the stage by minting the two squads who will battle in the July 1st final showdown.

Reigning Commissioner's Cup champs Minnesota have the West's easiest path, as a win over the Las Vegas Aces will send the Lynx to a second straight final.

Should the Lynx fall to the Aces, however, Seattle can grab the Western Conference berth by beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

Meanwhile in the East, a surging Atlanta could land a trip to the final by topping New York, while the Liberty need both a win over the Dream plus a loss by the Indiana Fever to clinch their own return ticket to the Cup's grand finale.

If New York does take down Atlanta, the Fever could advance to the team's first-ever Commissioner's Cup final by beating the struggling Connecticut Sun.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

All of Tuesday's six WNBA games count toward the 2025 Commissioner's Cup tally.

The action begins with the Atlanta Dream tipping off against the New York Liberty while the Indiana Fever battles the Connecticut Sun at 7 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made headlines this week, with the second-year WNBA forward announcing that she has trademarked word "mebounds" — a slang term opposing fans use to describe Reese rebounding her own missed shots.

"Whoever came up with the 'mebounds' thing, y’all ate that up, because mebounds, rebounds, keybounds...anything that comes off that board, it's mine," Reese said in a TikTok video on Saturday.

"And a brand? That's six figures right there," she continued, referencing her trademark application. "The trolling — I love when y'all do it because the ideas be good!"

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Currently averaging 11.9 boards per matchup, Reese is leading the WNBA in rebounds for the second straight season.

Her rookie campaign saw Reese average 13.1 boards per game, a rate that set a single-season league record. She also blasted through the WNBA's consecutive double-double record last season, claiming it with 10 straight before extending it to an impressive 15 games.

Along with the average rebounds record, Reese also broke the single-season total rebounds record previously held by retired Minnesota Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles — a mark that was later surpassed by 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson following Reese's season-ending wrist injury.

"Statistically, all the rebounds that I get aren't always just mine," Reese added in her Saturday social media post. "They're the defense's, too, or somebody else on my team."