USA vs. Portugal: Start time, channel, how to watch and stream women’s World Cup

The U.S. women’s national soccer team will punch their ticket to the next round of the World Cup with a win or draw against Portugal, but you’ll need to set an alarm if you want to watch the game.

The U.S.-Portugal match is scheduled to kick off at 3 a.m. Eastern Tuesday morning from Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand (New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of Philadelphia, so the game will be played locally at 7 p.m.). The game will air live on Fox in English and on Telemundo in Spanish.

The Americans’ 13-game World Cup winning streak came to an end with a draw against the Netherlands last week, but they remain in good position to advance to the Round of 16 — all they need is a win or a draw to move on. The U.S. could also face elimination if they lose to Portugal, an underdog playing in its first women’s World Cup who still has a shot of advancing.

“For me, I’m excited,” said U.S. women’s soccer veteran Megan Rapinoe, who is playing in her final World Cup. “You have a must-perform, must-win type of game. … It’s a pressure moment, and that’s what the tournament is now. Every single game from here on out is that pressure moment, and that’s the best part of being at a World Cup.”

Here’s everything you need to know to watch Tuesday’s United States-Portugal World Cup match:

The U.S. women’s team’s match against the Portugal is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning at 3 a.m. Eastern on Fox. The game will be played at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, which first opened as a cricket ground in the early 1900s. It’s also the largest stadium in New Zealand, with a capacity of about 50,000.

JP Dellacamera, the former Philadelphia Union TV voice who is broadcasting his 17th World Cup, will call the game. Alongside him in the booth will be former U.S. star Aly Wagner. Reporting from Eden Park will be Jenny Taft and Tom Rinaldi.

On Telemundo, with play-by-play voice Andrés Cantor will join analysts Natalia Astrain and Manuel Sol.

» READ MORE: Full women’s World Cup TV schedule, live streaming, kickoff times on Fox and Telemundo

United States-Portugal and every other World Cup match is available to stream on the Fox Sports app, though it’s only available to those with a cable subscription.

The game will also stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries Fox, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

If you’re looking to stream the game for free and you live in or around Philadelphia, your best option is using a digital antenna, since all the U.S. games will air on broadcast television.

Want to stream the game in Spanish? Telemundo’s live streaming is available on the network’s website if you have a cable subscription. Otherwise it’s available on Peacock, NBC’s streaming platform, though you’ll have to pay for the premium tier to get all the games.

While Philadelphia is not impacted (Fox Corp. owns Fox29), viewers in 42 markets aren’t able to watch the World Cup on Fox on DirecTV or DirecTV Stream due to a carriage dispute with Nexstar, which owns the local stations. It includes some major cities, including Denver, Cleveland, St. Louis, and Charlotte.

» READ MORE: Before the Union, the Kixx were Philly’s soccer team, and U.S. manager Vlatko Andonovski played for them

The U.S. women’s team is competing in Group E, which also includes Vietnam, Netherlands, and Portugal. Vietnam has already been eliminated after two losses.

The two teams with the most points will advance to the knockout stage. Teams receive three points for a win, one for a tie, and zero for a loss. Overall, it will take seven wins to take home the World Cup trophy.

Here are the standings heading into Tuesday’s games:

With four points, the U.S. is in a solid position to advance to the Round of 16 for the ninth straight World Cup. But because they only managed a draw against the Netherlands, they’ll likely need to run up the score against Portugal if they want to finish in first place.

The Dutch are scheduled to face Vietnam in their final game, which will also kick off at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning (FS1 in English, Universo and Peacock in Spanish). Vietnam has given up five goals in their two losses, so if both the Netherlands and the U.S. win, the final standings would come down to tiebreakers.

Here are all the scenarios for the U.S. to either advance or be eliminated, not including tiebreakers:

If the U.S. and the Netherlands both win Tuesday morning, the final standings in Group E will come down to tiebreakers.

Here is the order the tiebreakers would come into play:

Fox’s pregame coverage ahead of U.S.-Portugal is scheduled to begin at 1 a.m. Eastern.

Hosting Fox’s studio coverage will be Rob Stone. He is joined by a cast of analysts headlined by retired U.S. soccer star and Delran native Carli Lloyd, who is making her women’s World Cup broadcast debut.

Other studio analysts include Alexi Lalas, former Philadelphia Independence and Canada goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc, former U.S. star Heather O’Reilly, Kate Gill, Ariane Hingst, and Stu Holden.

Here’s the full U.S. women’s schedule for the 2023 World Cup:

Jonathan Tannenwald, The Inquirer’s soccer reporter, is in New Zealand and Australia covering all the World Cup action. Here are some of his recent stories, and you can follow all our coverage at Inquirer.com/soccer: