Emma Hayes believes the United States women’s national team will gain valuable lessons by facing Brazil’s style of play in a pair of friendlies that she expects to feel messy, physical, and demanding. The USWNT will play Brazil in São Paulo on Saturday and in Fortaleza on Tuesday, with the matches also giving the Americans a rare chance to operate as the away side.
Brazil will host the games at 2027 Women’s World Cup venues, which adds another layer of relevance to the trip for a U.S. squad that is still being shaped under Hayes. The coach said the purpose is not only to compete, but to expose players to different conditions and pressure before major tournaments return.
Brazil’s style as a test
Hayes has repeatedly described Brazil as a team that can unsettle opponents through player-to-player defending, physical pressure, and a fast-moving, chaotic rhythm. She pointed to the challenge of meeting a side with a clear identity in front of a passionate home crowd, saying that for many teams in the world, Brazil is the toughest opponent to face in that environment.
She also backed up that view with numbers, noting Brazil’s unusual attacking and defensive profile. Hayes said the team produced 117% more throw-ins than the average game and recorded zero eight-plus pass sequences, details that underline how often matches against Brazil can become fragmented.
That is exactly the kind of scenario Hayes wants her team to experience. “My job is to expose our players to those differences to prepare them,” she said, adding that this also means dealing with “a lot of chaos” because that is what high-level games can look like.
A different challenge from Japan
The Brazil matches follow the USWNT’s three meetings with Japan in April, a team Hayes described as equally strong but very different in style. That contrast matters to her approach, because she wants the squad to learn how to adjust to multiple tactical problems rather than settle into one familiar pattern.
Defender Tierna Davidson said Brazil forces quick decisions on both sides of the ball. She noted that the team must solve pressure offensively while also covering spaces properly defensively, which makes the matchup difficult but valuable for the group.
For Hayes, those lessons are especially important because the current window is the last one until October. Concacaf World Cup qualifying begins in November, so every top-level test now helps the team build habits before the stakes rise again.
Back together again
This trip also marks the return of forward Mallory Swanson from maternity leave, bringing back the attacking trio known as “Triple Espresso” alongside Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman. The three have not started together since the 2024 Olympics, when they scored 10 of the USWNT’s 12 goals.
Swanson’s return adds another important layer to the camp because Hayes wants the group to rebuild chemistry and timing during this window. She said the team has had to go a long stretch without its top three forwards, and she praised the wider roster for developing during that absence.
The coach also said the team now has “many more strings to our bow than two years ago,” a sign that the depth around the star attackers has grown. That depth will matter as the USWNT tries to sharpen its combinations while facing an opponent that rarely gives clean, settled moments.
A familiar rivalry with rare context
The U.S. has a strong historical edge in the rivalry, having won 34 of the 43 meetings and lost only four times. Three of those U.S. wins came in Olympic gold-medal matches, which gives the matchup a long record of big-stage importance.
Recent results, however, show that Brazil remains a serious threat. The Americans won 2-0 in California in one meeting last month, but Brazil answered with a 2-1 victory in their most recent clash in April 2025.
That balance of history and recent competitiveness adds weight to the current series, especially with Brazil hosting and the U.S. adjusting to life as the visiting team. Hayes sees that setting as part of the lesson, because the more her players learn to manage noise, pressure, and physical duels on the road, the better prepared they should be for what comes next.
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