The country that has long defined the beautiful game produced one of the ugliest on record on Tuesday, and a match that will be remembered more for Brazil’s mischief should also serve as a defining moment for the United States women’s national team.

Brazil were issued eight red cards total in a 1-0 loss to the USWNT on Tuesday at Arena Castelão in Fortaleza, Brazil — two of which were shown after the final whistle and just moments before police in riot gear surrounded the referees.

The USWNT had not beaten Brazil on home soil since 1997, a stretch that included a 2-1 loss just three days ago. The Americans ended that skid on Tuesday and, more importantly, showed the type of toughness and responsiveness that they will need if they want to win a FIFA Women’s World Cup in those same grounds next year.

Tuesday’s game was a brawl more than it was a soccer match, but that was by design. This was how Brazil head coach Arthur Elias wanted his team to play. It was how Brazil would add to the intimidation presented by of 55,744 home fans. And the USWNT’s response was exactly the type of fight that head coach Emma Hayes wanted to see from her team.

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Brazil self-destructed in the face of resistance. Four coaches, including Elias, were sent off, before two players received red cards during regulation. The latter of those saw defender Tarciane take a swing at United States forward Sophia Wilson in blatant frustration. Two more players were sent off after the final whistle in a moment of mass confrontation.

The scenes were chaotic and ludicrous — and nothing like the USWNT is used to enduring. Most USWNT games are played at home, with rare road trips typically taking place in Europe.

But conditions in Brazil are “unlike anything else,” Hayes said this week. Tuesday was about winning ugly. On Saturday, the USWNT struggled through the first half as Brazil applied pressure and tested the limits of what defined a foul or a caution. The Americans eventually adapted at halftime of that game but failed to convert an equalizer.

Hayes made sure that her team was ready from the start by rolling out a “tougher” lineup to match Brazil’s brutality.

Avery Patterson and Michelle Cooper both started Tuesday after coming on at halftime three days earlier and changing that game. On Tuesday, both went the full 90 minutes, including a remarkable shift from Cooper as a winger in the first half and a fullback in the second half.

Wilson’s shot that led to the game’s only goal in the 63rd minute was eventually ruled an own goal due to a gnarly deflection off Brazil defender Isabela. It was a weird, flukey goal befitting of one of the strangest games that the two rivals have played (save for the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal that will live in infamy in Brazil).

Brazil goalkeeper Lorena denied Wilson in the first half and Trinity Rodman in the second half from inside the six-yard box each time. Olivia Moultrie hit the post. Rose Lavelle pushed a one-on-one shot wide. Emma Sears was twice denied by Lorena from close range.

The USWNT’s inability to finish their most obvious big chances remains a concern that needs improvement heading into next year. Their wastefulness left a talented Brazil in a game that the hosts had practically removed themselves from (eight of them quite literally in the end).

But this two-game trip to Brazil was always about the experience of playing on hostile ground against a talented team that thrives in the dark arts of soccer. The USWNT was up for that challenge on Tuesday, matching Brazil’s intensity without crossing the line emotionally.

USWNT defender Emily Sonnett and Dudinha wrestled each other 30 yards off the ball in the opening minutes, exactly the type of “grappling” that Hayes had described the day prior. Lavelle took a yellow card for a professional foul to stop a promising early attack for Brazil, a lot like what needed to and didn’t happen in a similar play in the previous match between the teams. Center-back Kennedy Wesley, in the biggest start of her career, won 100% of her tackles. Patterson did the same, along with winning every duel.

Each time Brazil hit back, USWNT players mostly walked away. The Americans played their part in the ugliness of the game, no doubt. They strayed into gamesmanship, when necessary, like in the final minutes when Claire Hutton accepted the fate of a yellow card for jumping in front of Lorena to prevent the goalkeeper form punting the ball forward to start a counterattack. At one point in the second half, Cooper’s boot appeared to touch the knee of Taina Maranhão as Cooper stood up, something that several of Brazil’s players took issue with after the match.

But where the Americans bent, the Brazilians broke. The frustrations were led by Elias, who was first shown a yellow card in the first half for (apparently) not changing his shirt, which was too close a match to the USWNT’s navy jersey. He put on a white training bib and then flashed it to the crowd like an entertainer. He swirled his finger around his head as he laughed at the referee to indicate she didn’t know what she was talking about

Elias earned his second yellow card in the 77th minute for kicking a ball away. He proceded to remove that same bib and put it on the shoulder of the assistant referee. Two of Brazil’s assistant coaches were sent off at the same time, with a third to follow a few minutes later.

Brazil forward Bia Zaneratto, who had come on to replace an injured Dudinha in the first half, was sent off for a second yellow after she pushed Sonnett in the back in second-half stoppage time. Sonnett, the USWNT’s chief instigator and ever-reliable center-back, sold the moment well without retaliating.

There was no doubting the intent a few minutes later as Tarciane left the ball inside her own penalty area so she could take a swing at Wilson, while Sears ran onto the ball and went to goal. The significance of Tarciane’s contact with Wilson was irrelevant; the intent was violent and the wheels had fully fallen off for Brazil.

The literal victory could be a defining one for the USWNT as it continues to build toward its quest of winning a fifth World Cup next year (if they first qualify, as Hayes will keep reminding everyone). And while there are few moral victories at this level of elite sport, Tuesday certainly was one for the Americans.

Yes, because they took the slightly higher road in a game that unraveled emotionally, and because they added a new layer to the ways in which they can win. USWNT’s of past generations have slogged through games like this led by the towering presence of an Abby Wambach or Michelle Akers.

This new generation had not yet played through these types of conditions in this type of game. If Saturday’s loss to Brazil was about experiencing that adversity, Tuesday’s victory was about managing it and overcoming it. A mix of youth, like Sears and Lily Yohannes, joined the charge of veterans Sonnett and Lindsey Heaps. And they did it without the injured Sam Coffey and Naomi Girma, or forward Mallory Swanson, who didn’t come off the bench in either game in Brazil — potentially due to the conditions of the match.

The USWNT is plenty talented to win games with dominant possession, as they did twice recently against an equally strong Japan side. They can still win by playing direct. A mix of that helped them win the 2024 Olympics, beating Brazil in the gold medal game.

At some point next year, though, if they are to win the 2027 World Cup, they will likely need to win a game like they did on Tuesday in Fortaleza — maybe even against the hosts Brazil, who have stood in their way at seemingly every major tournament.

After Tuesday, this younger, less experienced group can shed some of that outdated label. If and when they are asked to get into a fight, they have now proved to themselves that they can handle it.