USA Retool Squad to Chase Third-Straight World Cup Title

By Greg Oldfield

The United States Women’s National Team will make its World Cup defense this July with a few new names and faces. The two-time defending World Cup champions have endured a bit of a change since the last title, with head coach Vlatko Andonovski seamlessly bringing in younger players while relying on an experienced core to maintain the high expectations.

Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Kelley O’Hara will represent the U.S. for a fourth World Cup, while Alyssa Naeher and Julie Ertz will make their third appearances. Crystal Dunn, Emily Sonnett, Lindsay Horan, and Rose Lavelle will be playing in their second World Cups.

Meanwhile, 14 players will be making their World Cup debuts, including Sophia Smith, Lynne Williams, Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez, Andi Sullivan, and Alyssa Thompson, the second-youngest player to be named to a U.S. World Cup roster behind assistant coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak.

Naeher likely will be the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. The former Penn State AllAmerican shined in the last World Cup, earning four shutouts while only conceding 3 goals in 7 games. Her penalty save in the 84 th minute preserved the U.S.’s 2-1 win over England in the semifinals in 2019. Either Morgan (206 caps) or Dunn (131 caps) will wear the captain’s armband with Rapinoe and O’Hara likely to feature off the bench.

The U.S. will be without stars Mal Swanson and captain Becky Sauerbrunn. Swanson injured her knee during a friendly against the Republic of Ireland in April while Sauerbrunn injured her foot in May and has not been able to fully recover in time. Sauerbrunn’s absence means Alana Cook and Naomi Girma will likely be the preferred back pairing. The duo, with just 39 combined caps compared to Sauerbrunn’s 216, played together in the U.S.’s 1-0 win over Japan in the She Believes Cup.

Dunn, the unsung hero of the 2019 title, and Emily Fox will likely start as the outside backs. Swanson’s injury, though a major blow due to her experience, may not be as big a loss as Sauerbrunn’s. Sophia Smith, the reigning NWSL Player of the Year and potential breakout star of this World Cup, will start on one side of the front three alongside Morgan while Rodman, Thompson, or Williams will play the other side, giving the U.S. one of the best attacking trios in the world no matter the combination.

The U.S. midfield will feature Andi Sullivan, who took over Ertz’s six role, and Rose Lavelle, who could be one of the best players in this tournament. Lindsay Horan, who recently announced her permanent move to Lyon, has been a regular in the lineup for the past five years. Ertz, Ashley Sanchez, and Kristie Mewis will add experience and depth in the midfield.

The U.S., currently ranked number 1 in the FIFA world rankings, will open the group stage in New Zealand, facing Vietnam (No. 32) on July 21 st . The U.S. will then face Netherlands (No. 9) on July 26 th in a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final in Lyon, France. The U.S. won that game 2-0 on secondhalf goals by Rapinoe and Lavelle to claim their fourth title. The group stage will conclude for the U.S. August 1 against Portugal (No. 21).

Expected to finish top-two in the group, the U.S. will face its greatest test in the knockout rounds. In the 2020 (2021) Summer Olympics, they lost to Sweden in the group stage 3-0 before rallying against New Zealand and earning a draw against Australia to finish second. In the quarterfinals, they beat the Netherlands on penalties (2-2: 4-2) before falling to Canada 1-0 in the semifinals. The women topped Australia 4-3 to claim the Bronze Medal while Canada beat Sweden 2-1 for the Gold.

In the second round, the U.S.’s group will face Group G, which includes Sweden (No. 3) and Italy (No. 16), who reached the quarterfinals in 2019. Should the U.S. advance to the quarterfinals, potential opponents could be New Zealand, Norway, Japan, or Spain. The U.S. beat Japan in the 2015 final, and it took a late Rapinoe penalty, her second of the game, to get past Spain in the 2019 quarterfinals. If both teams win their groups, the U.S. will not see Sweden until the semifinals. On the bright side, the U.S. will avoid Australia, Canada, England, Brazil, Germany, and France, essentially all their other rivals until the finals.

Alex Morgan

ONE OF THE U.S’S MOST PROLIFIC SCORERS AND MOST RECOGNIZABLE players, Morgan ranks in the top-ten in USWNT history in goals (121), assists (49), and multigoal games. Twice named U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year (2012, 2018), Morgan scored a penalty in the Concacaf W final to beat Canada 1-0 and lead the U.S. to berths in the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the 2022 NWSL season, Morgan won the Golden Boot for expansion team San Diego Wave, scoring 15 goals in 17 games.

A two-time World Cup champion, Morgan won the Silver Ball in 2019 with 6 goals and 3 assists and tied Michelle Akers with 5 goals in a game, which came in the U.S’s opening win over Thailand. She scored the first goal in the semifinal win over England, and her drawn penalty led to the opening pk of the final. Morgan made her World Cup debut in 2011, scoring twice, the first in the 3-1 semifinal win over France and the second in the final loss to Japan. Named to the FIFA Best XI five times and a finalist for FIFA Women’s Player of the Year three times, Morgan became the 13 th player in USWNT history to reach 200 caps last November. She scored her first international goal against China in 2010, a 1-1 draw at Subaru Park.

Crystal Dunn

A BREAKOUT STAR AT THE 2019 WORLD CUP, DUNN HAS BEEN ONE OF THE team’s most consistent players over the past five years, mainly as an outside back after several years in the midfield, where she still plays for club side Portland Thorns. She played every minute of her six starts in the 2019 World Cup, with Player of the Match performances in the knockout stages, especially in the 2-1 win quarterfinal win over France in Paris. Dunn was the only player to start all six games in the 2020 Olympics. She has 24 goals and 19 assists in 136 appearances. In March 2020, Dunn captained the side against Spain in the She Believes Cup in Harrison, NJ, close to her hometown of Rockville Centre, NY. In that game, she was honored for making her 100th appearance. Making her return in late 2022 after her pregnancy, she scored a stoppage-time winner against San Diego in the NWSL semifinals. Portland went on to win the title over Kansas City. She helped lead Portland to three titles in 2021 (Challenge Cup, Women’s ICC, and Supporter’s Shield) and North Carolina Courage to back-to-back NWSL titles in 2018 and 2019. In 2016, she scored six goals to help the U.S. win the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying and later played in four games at the Rio Olympics, starting twice, and scored her first international goal in a 2-2 draw with Colombia in the group stage. Dunn made her first USWNT appearance in 2013 against Scotland in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sophia Smith

ONE OF U.S. SOCCER’S RISING STARS, SMITH EMERGED LAST YEAR WITH A historic run of form, ending with her being named Female Athlete of the Year. Smith led the USWNT in scoring with 11 goals and led the Portland Thorns to the NWSL title, scoring the opener in the 2-0 win over Washington to claim the game’s MVP honors. With a club-record 14 goals, Smith was named the league’s MVP, the youngest player to win the award at age 22. Smith became the fifth player to win both the senior award and Young Female Player of the Year, which she won in 2017. In the Concacaf W Championship last year, Smith started all five games and scored twice in the U.S.’s 5-0 win over Jamaica. She scored a hat-trick against Uzbekistan in April 2022, becoming the fifth-youngest player (21 years, 242 days) to score a hat-trick in USWNT history. She scored in the 2-1 loss to England at Wembley Stadium last October and in the 1-1 draw with Germany in Harrison, NJ.

In 2021, Smith scored 7 goals in her debut NWSL season, helping Portland to the Challenge Cup, ICC, and Supporter’s Shield. With the U.S. Youth National Team, Smith was named Best Player at the Sud Ladies Cup in 2018, leading the U.S. U-20s to victory with 4 goals. The next year, as a sophomore at Stanford, she scored 7 goals in the NCAA tournament to lead the Cardinal to the College Cup title and was later drafted No.1 by Portland in the 2020 NWSL Draft.

Despite receiving her first call up in 2017 at the age of 16, Smith made her first USWNT appearance in November 2020 and scored her first international goal against Paraguay in September 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio.