FORTALEZA, BRAZIL (June 9, 2026) – The U.S. Women’s National Team responded from its 2-1 loss to Brazil three nights ago with a hard-fought 1-0 victory on Tuesday in front of a wildly partisan crowd of 55,744 fans at Arena Castelão, which will host matches next summer in the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The game-winner in the tremendously physical match came from a Brazil own goal in the 63rd minute that was created by forward Sophia Wilson. The USA had created several golden chances to score before the goal came, including a point-blank shot from Wilson that was remarkably saved by Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena, but the Americans more than deserved a goal when it came.
Wilson collected a throw-in from the left sideline, brought it to her feet and split two defenders as she raced toward the top of the penalty box. She struck a shot that took a wicked deflection off the foot of Brazil defender Isabela, wrong-footing Lorena, before rolling into the right side of the net.
In a chaotic match that featured multiple stoppages, hard fouls and a remarkable eight ejections – one to Brazil head coach Arthur Elias, three more to bench personnel, two to players during the match and two more to players after the final whistle – the USWNT maintained its emotional control to see out the game. Though just one of the USA’s 13 shots found the back of the net, the team held 55% of possession and limited Brazil to just six shots and none on goal.
Unlike the matchup on June 6 that saw three goals within the opening 15 minutes, both sides went into halftime scoreless. The U.S. created most of the chances in the first half, starting in the 21st minute when midfielder Lindsey Heaps, who played a fantastic match winning long balls with her head, sent a ball to Wilson down the left side. Wilson dropped her defender with a cut inside and dribbled into the box before attempting to slip her shot near post, but it was collected by Lorena. Minutes later, forward Michelle Cooper, who switched to an attacking right back in the second half, timed her run well to get in behind Brazil’s backline off a ball over the top from midfielder Lily Yohannes, but Cooper’s shot was right at Lorena.
Brazil’s best look of the night came after a long delay around the 37-minute mark that saw the referee give a yellow card to Elias. Defender Isa Haas redirected service from a corner kick and headed it into the back of the net,but it was correctly called offside.
The U.S. had back-to-back opportunities to take the lead in first-half stoppage time but was thwarted both times by Lorena. Heaps played forward Emma Sears down the left flank, and Sears created distance from her defender with a cut inside to her right foot. She blasted a shot from inside the box, forcing a point-blank save from Lorena. The rebound landed in front of Wilson, who attempted a low shot down the center of the goal, but Lorena leapt backwards to make an amazing save from the ground.
The momentum carried into the second half for the Americans starting with a sequence of passes up the field in the 55th minute. Halftime substitute Trinity Rodman made a central pass to Wilson who played a ball to midfielder Rose Lavelle making an overlapping run on the right. Lavelle carried the ball inside the box before shooting towards the far corner, but her shot barely skipped past the outside of the post.
In a match that could have seen three to four more U.S. goals, a second nearly came two minutes after the own goal. Rodman forced a turnover near midfielder and midfielder Olivia Moultrie collected the loose ball. She played a pass to Sears down the right side, who returned it to Moultrie inside the penalty box. Moultrie settled the ball and shot on the ground, but it smacked squarely off the left goalpost.
The flow of the game was massively disrupted during the final 25 minutes due to the ejections both on and off the field. Elias was ejected in the 78th minute along with his strength coach and two goalkeeper coaches for foul and abusive language. Near the end of regulation, in the 89th minute, another member of the staff was sent off. The referee then added 10 minutes of stoppage time, and she would add another two after that, due to the Brazil’s lack of discipline. Bia Zaneratto was ejected after seeing her second yellow card in the fourth minute for punching Emily Sonnett and then central defender Tarciane received a straight red card for striking Wilson in the 90+9th minute. After the final whistle, two more players were shown red cards – Kerolin and Ludmila – for confronting the referee.
Goal Scoring Rundown:
USA – OWN GOAL (Isabella), 63rd minute: Defender Avery Patterson played a throw in to Sophia Wilson down the left side. Wilson held possession of the ball before splitting two defenders on a run towards goal. Her right-footed shot from outside the box deflected off the leg of a Brazilian defender and into the right corner of the net. USA 1, BRA 0
Additional Notes:
- Tonight’s Starting XI averages, 54.1 caps heading into the match, which is 3.5 caps less than last match.
- U.S. head coach Emma Hayes made six changes from the last match. Joining the Starting XI were forwards Michelle Cooper and Emma Sears, Rose Lavelle in the midfield, Avery Patterson and Kennedy Wesley in the back, with Claudia Dickey in goal.
- Ahead of the match on June 6, the U.S. last played in Brazil in the 2016 Olympics and the last time the U.S. played Brazil in Brazil was in December of 2014.
- With her cap today, Fox passed Sydney Leroux for sole ownership of 52nd place on the USWNT all-time caps list with 78.
- With her cap today, Lavelle passed Lorrie Fair for sole ownership of 35th place on the USWNT all-time caps list with 122
- This was the first time this combination of players (Fox, Sonnett, Wesley, Patterson) will start a match on the backline together.
- Claudia Dickey earned her eighth shutout and her 11th win in as many appearances for the USWNT.
- Tonight’s crowd set the all-time women's sports attendance record for the city of Fortaleza with 55,744 spectators. It also shattered the previous women's soccer attendance record for the entire Northeast region of Brazil, which was 33,272 set at Arena Pernambuco.
- U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT -
Match: United States vs. Brazil
Date: June 9, 2026
Competition: Friendly
Venue: Arena Castelão
Attendance: 55,744
Kickoff: 9:30 p.m. local / 8:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 65 degrees, clear skies
| Scoring Summary |
1 |
2 |
F |
| USA |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| BRA |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| USA — Own Goal (Isabela) | 63rd minute |
Lineups:
USA: 1-Claudia Dickey; 23-Emily Fox (2-Trinity Rodman, 46), 14-Emily Sonnett, 6-Kennedy Wesley, 3-Avery Patterson; 7-Lily Yohannes (15-Claire Hutton, 62), 10-Lindsey Heaps (Capt.), 16-Rose Lavelle (13-Olivia Moultrie, 62), 11-Sophia Wilson (20-Ally Sentnor, 90+12), 17-Michelle Cooper, 19-Emma Sears
Substitutes not used: 4-Croix Bethune, 5-Tara Rudd, 8-Jaedyn Shaw, 9-Mallory Swanson, 18-Mandy McGlynn, 21-Alyssa Thompson, 22-Gisele Thompson, 25-Lilly Reale
Not dressing: 12-Tierna Davidson, 24-Jane Campbell, 26-Riley Jackson
Head Coach Emma Hayes
BRA: 1-Lorena; 2-Isabela, 23-Isa Haas (3-Tarciane, 72), 20-Mariza (6-Rafaelle, 81), 17-Ary Borges (26-Kaylane Vieira, 80); 25-Aline Gomes (22-Raissa Bahia, 72), 8-Angelina (5-Duda Sampaio, 72), 21-Gio Garbelini (11-Kerolin, 46); 18-Gabi Portilho (14-Ludmila, 46), 7-Dudinha (16-Bia Zaneratto, 33), 19-Taina Maranhão (10-Marta, 80)
Substitutes not used: 4-Lauren, 9-Amanda Gutierres, 12-Lelê, 13-Ana Vitória, 15-Thais Ferreira, 24-Kemelli
Head coach: Arthur Elias
Stats Summary: USA / BRA
Shots: 13 / 6
Shots on Goal: 6 / 0
Saves: 0 / 6
Corner Kicks: 5 / 5
Fouls: 8 / 20
Offside: 1 / 6
| Misconduct Summary |
| USA — Rose Lavelle (Caution) | 17th minute |
| BRA — Gio Garbelini (Caution) | 23 |
| BRA — Arthur Elias (Caution) | 37 |
| BRA — Bia Zaneratto (Caution) | 43 |
| USA — Lindsey Heaps (Caution) | 43 |
| BRA — Taina Maranhão (Caution) | 48 |
| BRA — Arthur Elias (Caution) | 78 |
| BRA — Arthur Alias (Ejection) | 78 |
| BRA — Bench (Ejection) | 78 |
| BRA — Bench (Ejection) | 78 |
| USA — Claire Hutton (Caution) | 82 |
| BRA — Bench (Ejection) | 89 |
| BRA — Kerolin (Caution) | 90+1 |
| BRA — Bia Zaneratto (Caution) | 90+4 |
| BRA — Bia Zaneratto (Ejection) | 90+4 |
| USA — Claudia Dickey (Caution) | 90+5 |
| USA — Emma Sears (Caution) | 90+8 |
| BRA — Tarciane (Ejection) | 90+9 |
| BRA — Marta (Caution) | 90+9 |
| BRA — Kerolin (Ejection) | 90+14 |
| BRA — Ludmila (Ejection) | 90+14 |
Officials:
Ref: Paola Cebollada Lopez (ESP)
AR1: Silvia Fernandez Perez (ESP)
AR2: Rocío Puente Pino (ESP)
4th Official: Deborah Cecilia Cruz Correia (BRA)
VAR: María Eugenia Gil Soriano (ESP)
A-VAR: Judit Romana García (ESP)
