Dutch star Daniëlle van de Donk given bizarre injury treatment at Women's World Cup | OneFootball

An encounter between the United States and Netherlands was one of the most highly-anticipated match-ups during the group stage of the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

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The two teams played in the tournament’s final in 2019, with the US claiming a record fourth title with a 2-0 victory.

Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle scored on that occasion, and both players started this year’s match on the bench.

Lavelle came on as a substitute but was unable to help her side find the winner, with the match ending 1-1.

Daniëlle van de Donk was a key player for the Dutch, battling with her American opponents all over the pitch. She had a particularly heated exchange with Lyon teammate Lindsey Horan at one point.

But it was a clash of heads with Lavelle that left her down on the pitch and in pain. While she recovered from the incident, she bizarrely continued to play in a swimming cap.

Van de Donk and Lavelle clashed heads towards the end of the Group E match at the Wellington Regional Stadium in New Zealand.

While the US player was able to walk away from the incident relatively unscathed, van de Donk took some time to recover and was left with a gash in her head.

She was patched up, and then bizarrely, had a swimming cap placed over her head, presumably to keep her bandage in place.

The 31-year-old midfielder played the rest of the fixture with the cap on her head, and even completed post-match media duties with it on, during which she confirmed she and Horan had made peace with each other after the final whistle.

It was one of the more unusual moments at the Women’s World Cup, so take a look at van de Donk in her swimming cap.

Daniëlle van de Donk told to fake injury by manager

It’s not the first time that van de Donk has been involved in an eye-catching incident at the Women’s World Cup.

The Netherlands started their tournament with a 1-0 win against Portugal, during which van de Donk was told to fake an injury by Dutch manager Andries Jonker.

After the player went down and called for treatment, Jonker gathered the rest of the team and passed on tactical advice.

It’s been a positive start to the Women’s World Cup for the Netherlands, who now look likely to qualify to the knockout stages. A win against Vietnam in their next match on August 1 would see them through.

Similarly, the United States will progress if they defeat Portugal on the same day. A shock exit from the group stage is still on the cards for the reigning world champions, however.

That would be seen as an abject failure for the US and manager Vlatko Andonovski, whose side is among the favourites and on the hunt for a record third World Cup title in a row.

So far, Germany, Spain and Japan have emerged as the teams who could end the US’s winning streak at the Women’s World Cup.