What a luxury it is to be able to treat the group stage of a World Cup as a week-and-a-half long warm-up exercise. The Americans’ final group game Thursday against Sweden, some thought, would be the moment when the tournament really began for the United States. But then it really didn’t. Sweden didn’t seem up for a challenge. And so the United States cruised to a 2-0 win in the Stade Océane and left wondering when the first real speed bump might come.

Source: New York Times June 20, 2019 18:47 UTC