'Regression to the mean' USWNT's recent struggles are no predictor of game vs. Sweden

MELBOURNE, Australia − It would be understandable if Sweden came into this latest game with the U.S. women thinking it has the edge. Simply based on recent results, they do.

There’s that 3-0 drubbing in the opener at the Tokyo Olympics, the last time they met, the USWNT’s worst loss in a major international tournament since the 2007 World Cup. That came after Sweden’s win on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of the Rio Games in 2016, the only time the USWNT has failed to reach the semifinals at a World Cup or Olympics.

And at this World Cup, Sweden’s been cruising while the USWNT has been on the struggle bus. Sweden won all three of its group games, outscoring its opponents 9-1 in the process. The USWNT won only one group game for the first time ever at a World Cup. If not for a shot ricocheting off the post against Portugal, would be on the sidelines along with Germany, Canada and Brazil.

Yet Sweden’s coach and his players were very careful not to put too much stock in, well, anything Saturday. A win two years ago does nothing in Sunday’s round-of-16 game, coach Peter Gerhardsson said.

As for the USWNT’s woes, Gerhardsson referred to a little thing called the “regression to the mean.”

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“If you play very bad, it's going to get better,” he said. “If you play very well, it's sometimes toward the middle.”

Or, put another way, it’s probably not wise to bank on the two-time defending champions and world’s No. 1 team continuing to play as poorly as it has. Because at some point, they won’t.

“We know what team we’re up against. It’s a very skilled team,” Gerhardsson said. “If they had got all the balls on target, if they had scored, who knows what would have happened? Small margins sometimes.”

Easy as it’s been to pile on the U.S. women − Why aren’t you scoring in bunches? Why aren’t you winning? Why aren’t you as ruthless as the USWNT usually is? − they really aren’t that far from doing all the things people expect of them.

The U.S. women have taken 59 shots, according to FIFA’s Football Data Platform, but only 15 were on target while 36 were off. Sweden, by comparison, has taken 41 shots and had 18 that were off target. If the Americans make just two or three of those shots, especially against the Netherlands or Portugal, no one’s talking about the pending demise of the USWNT dynasty.

“We’ve broken down what went wrong, how we can fix that … how we can capitalize on the chances we have in front of goal, how we can create more chances in front of goal, how I can put away the chances I’m given,” Alex Morgan said Saturday.

“It hasn’t been the tournament that I would have hoped,” said Morgan, who has yet to score despite multiple chances. “But at the same time, having this incredible opportunity in front of us, in the round of 16, facing Sweden, a team we know extremely well, there’s no question we’re highly motivated to play this game tomorrow.”

If there’s a heated rivalry in the women’s game these days, it’s the USWNT and Sweden. This will be the 10^th time the teams have met at the major international tournaments, including every World Cup since 2003.

“I feel like it wouldn’t be a major tournament if we weren’t facing Sweden,” U.S. captain Lindsey Horan said earlier this week.

It’s not only the familiarity, though. The USWNT and Sweden are very similar teams. Both have opportunistic forwards and dynamic midfielders. Both are dangerous on set pieces. Both teams are physical.

“We’re facing a side very different to the three teams we faced in the group stage,” Gerhardsson said.

And both have something to prove.

Sweden has yet to win a World Cup or Olympics despite long being one of the world’s top teams. (It’s currently ranked No. 3 in the world). It won the silver medal at the last two Olympics, and finished third at both the 2019 and 2011 World Cups.

“We have grown year on year, and we feel we have everything that’s necessary,” captain Kosovare Asllani said.

Therein lies the danger, because the USWNT does, too. If it can fix its mistakes and find its rhythm, it won’t just be Sweden that will be in trouble. It’ll be the entire field.

There’s no guarantee it will. It’s quite possible Sweden wins on Sunday, sending the USWNT to its earliest exit ever at a major tournament and signaling an end to the four-time champions’ dominance of the game.

But the USWNT cannot struggle like this forever. They know it, and Sweden does, too.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.