The United States are yet to show their complete potential and must start "clicking" on the pitch, star played Alex Morgan stated as her side gear up to face their 2019 final foes the Netherlands in Wellington on Thursday.
The Netherlands lost to the Americans 2-0 in the previous World Cup final while also suffering defeat against the same country on penalties in the quarter-finals at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
"This is going to be an incredibly difficult match up, very challenging," said Morgan, who is competing in the tournament for the fourth time.
"We watched the Netherlands the other night, and they have a lot of the same players as we played them in the World Cup four years ago."
The ninth-ranked Netherlands will be without the services of their record goalscorer Vivianne Miedema but are still expected to pose a big challenge for the four-time World Cup champions United States in Group E after they beat Portugal 1-0 on Sunday.
The American defense was solid in their 3-0 victory over Vietnam on Saturday. But the US missed many chances to find the net and Morgan, who fluffed a first-half penalty against Vietnam, conceded that there is room for improvement.
"We saw a lot of glimpses of our potential, but I feel like we weren't always clicking on the field. I feel like some of the plays that we had were a little forced or rushed," said Morgan.
"We know that we have to be at our best, and we're doing everything we can at the training field, in the meetings, watching video, doing everything we can. But this is going to be a very big match up."