Ranked No. 1 in the world and established as pre-tournament favorites, the Americans put a surprising lineup on the pitch. Head coach Vlatko Andonovski named an unchanged side from the win over Vietnam, leaving Rose Lavelle on the bench despite Lavelle having recovered fully from her knee injury.
Under that setup, the United States were putrid through the first 45 minutes, unable to find any spark as the Dutch midfield controlled the match. The Netherlands went ahead in the 17th minute as Jill Roord finished a low shot from distance against a scattered U.S. defense.
The USWNT were unable to find a response before the break, and they went into halftime trailing in a Women's World Cup match for the first time since 2011, a run of 17 matches.
Lavelle would enter at the break, but that was the only sub Andonovski made the entire match. The USWNT were better in the second half, and Lindsey Horan found an equalizer in the 62nd minute with a thumping header. They poured on the pressure late but ran out of time to find a winner.