As much as the Americans want to focus on the present, the team has historically used failure as fuel. A loss to Norway in the 1995 World Cup semifinals was followed by a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics. A loss to Japan in the 2011 World Cup final led to a dominant performance against many of the same players in the 2015 title game.

Midfielder Julie Ertz said she had kept a photograph from the 2016 Olympic defeat as the screen saver on her phone. Forward Christen Press, who missed the final United States penalty kick in the shootout that day, said Wednesday that she had watched parts of that loss.

“The biggest lesson for me was about character,” Press said. “When I look back on my career, all the moments I’m most proud of have come after failure. That’s the easiest one to point at and look at that clear failure and then evaluate how I did responding to it.”

. “When small failures happen day to day,” she added, “I can look back at moments like that and know that I can deal with it.”

That game changed Sweden’s mind-set as well. Now the Swedes know they can beat the Americans. Sweden long has been a power, but it has been thwarted by its American rival throughout the World Cup’s history. No other teams have met more often in the tournament, and this is the fifth time they have been placed in the same group.

With a win or draw Thursday, the Americans would finish first in the group and play Spain in the round of 16. A potential showdown against host France looms after that in the quarterfinals. The team that finishes second in the group would presumably have an easier road, avoiding France. But neither team was willing to concede any ground on Wednesday.