Get all the latest Nike gear ahead of the tournament
The United States women’s national team is eyeing up another World Cup title.
The four-time world champs are looking to defend their 2019 World Cup title, which was earned when the USWNT topped the Netherlands in the final in France.
Alex Morgan is back with the USWNT like never before
The 2023 Women’s World Cup is rapidly approaching, and for superstar Alex Morgan, it’s the fourth time she will don the red, white and blue for soccer’s biggest event. While Morgan burst onto the stage in 2011 as the US Women’s National Team’s youngest player, she is now 33 and is playing in the World Cup for the first time as a mother.
Morgan – who is partnering with protein powder company Orgain this time around to fuel her journey to Australia and New Zealand this summer – gave birth to her daughter Charlie in 2020 after helping the U.S.A. win the 2019 World Cup. With two World Cup titles under her belt (Morgan also was a major part of the 2015 champion team) Morgan is trying to add to the collection.
Balancing her family life with daughter Charlie and husband – professional soccer player Servando Carrasco – and keeping up the same level on the pitch has been key, and she’s heading into this summer’s event with drive and clarity.
“I take pride in like the balance of my life and just really appreciating my support system, my husband, my family, my friends, those who really uplift me in my most vulnerable times,” Morgan told GOAL in a recent interview.
When she’s not playing, Morgan told For the Win that cooking with Charlie is her happy place and way to unwind. That makes her collaboration with Orgain make even more sense. “Orgain is my go-to for high-quality, clean plant protein powder, helping fuel my body so I can embrace my days to the fullest, whether it’s enduring hard training sessions for the upcoming big game or spending quality time off the field with my family,” she says in the press release announcing their partnership.
Teaming up with @drinkorgain to offer an experience of a LIFETIME!
Enter to win a trip for 2 to see USA vs Portugal on August 1st in NEW ZEALAND!
A big moment, two teams in top form, and lots of wind in the NWSL weekend that was
It’s only week two in the NWSL, but we’re already getting mid-season levels of intensity and weirdness.
One long weather front extending from the Atlantic coast to deep into the Midwest resulted in a lightning delay in New Jersey and a goal scored by a gust of wind in Chicago. We had a two-goal comeback, a remarkable return to the field for Sinead Farrelly, and a month’s worth of league drama packed into one game between Angel City FC and the Orlando Pride.
If you’re the Portland Thorns or San Diego Wave, another thing at mid-season levels is the performance quality. These two seem, at least right now, head, shoulders, and arguably whole torsos ahead of the rest of the pack. It’ll come around for at least a few other teams, but for now, two of the preseason favorites seem to be meeting any expectation fans might have placed on them.
FIFA just barely cleared a low bar, not that Infantino seems happy about it
A deeply unpopular choice from FIFA to bring Visit Saudi aboard as a 2023 World Cup sponsor is off.
At the FIFA Congress in Rwanda, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Thursday that the premier women’s soccer tournament on the planet would not be sponsored by the tourism board of a country that has been roundly criticized for laws restricting women’s freedom.
Infantino sought to downplay the entire episode, telling the FIFA Congress that while “there were discussions with Visit Saudi,” no contracts ever materialized. “It was a storm in a tea cup.”
Infantino tries to side-step issue
The FIFA president then pivoted to an unrelated point about how Australia and Saudi Arabia engage in trade, which is of course not the issue at hand.
“When it comes to Australia, they have trade with Saudi Arabia, $1.5 billion per year. This doesn’t seem to be a problem,” said Infantino. “FIFA is an organization made up of 211 countries. There is nothing wrong with taking sponsorships from Saudi Arabia, China, United States of America, Brazil, or India.”
Infantino kept digging, eventually concluding that everyone should just be happy and not yell at him or FIFA.
“This year we will have the Women’s World Cup. This should be a celebration of women, it has to be,” said Infantino. “And yet there’s this negativity which always comes out. Why is that? Why can we not try a little bit to focus on the positive?”
A solid enough answer to these rhetorical questions can be found from the tournament’s hosts. Football New Zealand released a statement applauding the choice to avoid a sponsorship backed by the government of a country whose “Personal Status Law” — which effectively enshrined a male guardianship system for women as Saudi law — was recently decried by Amnesty International.
“New Zealand Football welcome the confirmation from FIFA that Visit Saudi will not be sponsoring the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023,” read the NZF statement. “We believe it is critical for all commercial partnerships to align with the vision and values of the tournaments they are involved in.”
Football Australia chief executive James Johnson struck a similar chord in a statement published by Reuters.
“We welcome clarification from FIFA regarding Visit Saudi,” said Johnson. “Equality, diversity and inclusion are really deep commitments for Football Australia and we’ll continue to work hard with FIFA to ensure the Women’s World Cup is shaped in this light.”
The NWSL is set to be part of the hugely popular video game for the first time
EA Sports has revealed the 10 highest rated NWSL players in FIFA 23, as the league’s teams are available in the game for the first time ever.
San Diego Wave star Alex Morgan leads the list with a rating of 90, while Debinha — who signed with the Kansas City Current in a huge free agent deal this offseason — is next up, rated 88 overall.
U.S. women’s national team starters Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), and Rose Lavelle (OL Reign) are next on the list, all given an 87 rating.
EA Sports has announced all of the player ratings across the NWSL, which can be found along with their ratings for women’s players in the Women’s Super League, Division 1 Féminine, and prominent national teams like Spain and Germany. The full list of women’s player ratings can be found here.
Following a landmark partnership between the league, the NWSL Players’ Association, and EA Sports, FIFA 23 will include NWSL players starting on March 15 in the following modes:
Kick Off
Tournament Mode
Head to Head season
Co-op Seasons
Online Friendlies
FIFA 23 will also include four NWSL stadiums, authentic kit renderings, and celebrations.
Here are the top 10 — or really 11, due to a three-way tie for ninth place — NWSL players in FIFA 23.
Swanson and the counter-press? Great! Facing a high press? Not so much
At the moment, the U.S. women’s national team is a cliché glass of water.
If you see a team that has now won six straight games and just beat three strong sides in Canada, Japan, and Brazil en route to yet another SheBelieves Cup title, you’re looking at a half-full glass. They have a key player in extraordinary form, injured regulars are approaching full fitness, and they gave up just one goal in what is effectively a preseason tournament while facing sides whose players are in many cases closer to 100%.
If you’re thinking that Canada was a shadow of itself due to off-field issues with its federation, or that Japan worried the USWNT throughout their match, or are picturing Brazil’s near-misses from Kerolin or Adriana, you’re Team Half-Empty. You saw the USWNT struggle with two very different pressing set-ups, and are expecting things to go awry in the first game where the U.S. doesn’t bury their first great look at goal.
Well friends, guess what? You’re both making great points. Let’s get into the positives and negatives of the USWNT’s showing at the SheBelieves Cup.
Swanson’s show
Mallory Swanson is unstoppable at the moment, scoring in all three SheBelieves Cup matches for the USWNT and in seven straight games overall. The list of attacking players anywhere sharing this sort of stratospheric form consists of maybe Sam Kerr, and that’s it.
Under Vlatko Andonovski, there was a Christen Press phase before the pandemic like this, and Catarina Macario and Sophia Smith have spent time as the seemingly inevitable source of goals and assists on this team. Swanson is indisputably having her time under the spotlight right now.
One remarkable thing about this run is that it’s not happening with a particularly stable attacking group around her. The following is a list of what other attacking players were on the field when Swanson scored on this run:
Morgan, Smith, Lavelle
Morgan, Rodman, Lavelle
Hatch, Rodman, Sanchez
Morgan, Williams, Sanchez
Morgan, Rodman, Sanchez
Morgan, Williams, Lavelle
With Smith absent for both camps this year due to a foot injury, and Rose Lavelle missing two SheBelieves Cup games for precautionary reasons, Vlatko Andonovski has toggled between plenty of groups on offense, and Swanson seems to work just as well alongside any of them. We also saw Swanson look very comfortable playing off of Macario in 2021 and the early part of 2022, leaving little worry if the USWNT ends up going back to more of a false No. 9 look come the World Cup.
What’s been very impressive from Swanson is that she’s using her off-ball movement to create the kinds of chances she thrives in: running a channel, receiving the ball just as she breaks in behind the defense. Teams know the USWNT is looking for it. Right-sided defensive players know that’s where she’s going to end up, and still — whether in counter-pressing moments, long balls from the back, passes from midfield, or combination play — they can’t stop her from getting there anyway.
In the months ahead, any team that’s serious about winning the World Cup or that finds itself in Group E is going to be intently studying how to either prevent Swanson from finding these openings, or to cut off her supply from the rest of the group.
It’s vital for the USWNT that they keep opponents guessing, because at the moment, this doesn’t seem like a team that is going to imperiously march through seven games to a trophy. Much like these last two games in particular, the USWNT is on course for some very tight knockout round games in which one player being decisive is the difference.
The good news? The roster is deep with that kind of player, and Swanson in particular is arguably the decisive player in women’s soccer right now. If the team can maintain that — and especially if they add to it — their chances of a third straight World Cup victory are stronger than people seem to think right now.
Pressing problems
That said, there is a reason your social media timeline of choice seems full of doubt. It boils down to some clear issues the USWNT has had facing a high press. To be fair, any organized high press attempted by fast players is by its nature difficult to play through. To their credit, the USWNT has used friendlies to actually work on this rather than simply playing it safe in hopes of an exhibition victory.
However, it’s fair to say this is very much a work in progress, and come the World Cup, we may see them have to adopt some safety-first tactics to get through the opening stages of games. Generally speaking, that’s how high-pressing teams operate: you press for 15-20 minutes trying to get a lead or at least throw your opponent into disarray, then spend some time defending out of a more defined block so you don’t have a team full of exhausted players.
The USWNT, after simply overwhelming a Canada side that had been through so much coming into game one, found themselves on the other side of the coin against both Japan and Brazil. These games weren’t equal — Japan’s press was more organized and dangerous, whereas a tired-looking U.S. gave Brazil an assist by offering up some uncharacteristically sloppy play — but the outcome was close enough to the same that it should be a concern.
(AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)
We’ve seen some other top teams unsettle the USWNT like this over the past few years. Sweden did it at the Olympics, and both Germany and Spain showed that they were paying attention to the trend late in 2022.
As was already covered here, to some extent any press that is executed at a reasonable level is going to make the team in possession look uncomfortable. There seems to be an expectation among fans that can’t be reconciled: many teams are improving worldwide and deserve more respect, but also, the USWNT should be able to beat anyone anywhere with ease, so that discomfort must be an indicator that the team is falling off a cliff.
The sky is not falling for the USWNT, who as a reminder just beat three higher-end teams despite fielding a squad that is (Lindsey Horan aside) in preseason. But it is time for the fanbase to come to grips with a reality that, as high-pressing tactics have become more and more a regular thing in the women’s game, USWNT games might look a little rough around the edges.
It also must be said that the USWNT showed its preseason status in these two games. Some fundamental elements — first touch, body shape when receiving the ball, how often they checked their shoulders, and how early they made their move to be an option for the next pass — were lacking. By contrast, Japan and Brazil both seemed to be closer to top gear. That shouldn’t be the case at the World Cup.
However, here’s where the worried USWNT fan might want to start looking when they consider issues with the team: in this tournament, both Japan and Brazil pressed the way you’d expect them to. Japan’s 3-4-2-1 is not an unknown quantity, and Pia Sundhage’s 4-4-2 with Brazil is something everyone should be very familiar with by now.
Why, then, did these pressing structures seem to come as such a surprise? It’s one thing to enter a game knowing that it’ll be a bit scruffy because both teams are pressing. It’s another to see the USWNT seemingly not prepared to find the angles needed to play around those differing shapes. Every press gives up openings to gain certain things, but the U.S. had to find those spaces rather than knowing where they would be from the jump.
Japan and Brazil both seemed to catch the USWNT off guard, and while the players and coaching staff both did solid work sorting things out on the fly, it’s a bit alarming that they were having to find their way mid-game, and that’s not a completely new issue. Last year’s three-game losing streak saw a similar dynamic play out.
The pressure right now on the coaching staff should be on making sure more games resemble the Canada match rather than a worrisome scramble to get through the first 20 minutes without conceding. Higher-end teams are no longer going to hold off on taking the big tactical risk pressing is against the USWNT, and as we saw last year, there are teams out there good enough to turn a worrying phase for the USWNT into actual goals.
Pressing solutions
The flip side to the USWNT’s issues when facing a press is that they remain an absolute nightmare of a counter-pressing team. That’s down to both the work of the coaching staff — Andonovski’s teams, going back to FC Kansas City and the former Seattle Reign, have largely been counter-pressing experts — and the individual players.
Swanson’s goal came from counter-pressure that ended with Lynn Williams forcing a turnover and getting the ball to Lavelle in space. The USWNT counter-pressed Brazil into a giveaway on Alex Morgan’s goal that wasn’t (a shame, since Andi Sullivan’s first-time through ball was the best pass either team played on Wednesday), and seized on another chaotic situation when Morgan scored a goal that actually counted a few moments later.
Williams is comfortably the best counter-pressing forward on the planet, and last month we were talking about how strong her claim is for a World Cup roster spot despite losing 2022 to injury. This is ultimately why the talk about her not being the most clinical finisher has always missed the point: the USWNT will score more goals with her in games, because they’ll get more chances, because no team and no individual is better at counter-pressing.
It’s not just Williams, though. Anyone who has watched Trinity Rodman in NWSL has seen her — even in mid-block systems, which the Washington Spirit have largely played during her first two seasons — force turnovers by combining a clear understanding of when to jump on an opposing player with her obvious athletic gifts. Rodman’s ability on that front already seems top-tier, and we’ve only really seen the tip of the iceberg. In Mark Parsons’ system this year — expect more high pressure and more counter-pressing — she’s going to improve rapidly.
Swanson and Smith may not force as many turnovers, but they’re both vital cogs in this machine due to how quickly they choose and make the correct run after the turnover comes. Going back to Swanson always managing to get stereotypical Swanson chances even though every opponent wants to prevent them, this is often where they come from. She (and Smith) see the turnover coming, and make the most dangerous run early. The USWNT player picking up the loose ball doesn’t have to cycle through options or take an extra touch to wait for the opening. The ball pops loose, and the pass in behind to a world-class attacker is already on.
Probably not a game that will be known for its attacking brilliance, but w/ USA only getting off 5 shots to Japan's 15, the chances that USA had *on average* were far better than the opponent.
The Japan game was a perfect example. Japan’s expected goals were higher, as even a casual viewer would have guessed. However, since they also out-shot the USWNT by nine, their xG per shot was quite low. The USWNT didn’t create a lot, but the chances they carved out were good ones, and with their forwards, the higher xG chances tend to become actual goals.
All of this is to say that counter-pressing, and the avenue towards higher-leverage openings, is how the USWNT has been winning games that seem more even on a surface level. They put teams into terrible positions just when they believe they’ve dealt with the threat and start to open up their shape, and they have a range of forwards and midfielders (it must be mentioned that Lavelle is more or less an ideal No. 10 to receive the ball in a counter-pressing situation) built to thrive in exactly these moments.
More than any other thing, this is the path towards a USWNT World Cup win this summer.
Morgan now has 14 goals since giving birth to her daughter Charlie in 2020
Alex Morgan set a new U.S. women’s national team record on Wednesday night, as her tremendous goal against Brazil saw her become the team’s all-time top scoring mom.
Morgan fired home an unstoppable effort from the top of the box in the first half, as the USWNT clinched the SheBelieves Cup with a 2-1 win over Brazil.
It was Morgan’s 14th national team goal since she gave birth to her daughter Charlie in 2020, passing Joy Fawcett atop the USWNT mom scoring charts.
In the post-game press conference, Morgan’s strike partner Mallory Swanson paid tribute to her teammate.
“It’s very inspiring,” Swanson said. “Obviously I knew Alex and looked up to her before she had Charlie. But seeing her as a mother and what motherhood brings, she’s just a completely different person. It’s just super inspiring that not only off the field she’s a great mom, but on the field, she’s still able to do what she has always done and score goals, and basically be Alex Morgan.”
“Coaching Alex now for three years, all I can say is she’s a true winner,” U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said. “She’s a great leader, and she always comes through when you need her as a player but also as a mom. It’s very inspiring for a lot of females that want to have kids and want to come back and play. Obviously she’s not the first one, but for her to model that and continue doing that is great.”
Morgan is one of three moms currently with the USWNT, along with Crystal Dunn and AD Franch. All three brought their children along with them for the SheBelieves Cup, adding plenty of excitement to the national team environment.
“And last thing, we enjoy having Charlie and all the other [kids] in the [USWNT] environment. It certainly gets busy at times, but it’s fun.”
The USWNT may need to improve against a press, but their counter-press is looking sharp
Much has been made of the U.S. women’s national team’s issues against high-pressing foes of late, but they showed they can dish it out better than anyone at the SheBelieves Cup.
The USWNT defeated Brazil 2-1 Wednesday night, with counter-pressure leading to goals from Alex Morgan and Mallory Swanson and helping generate much of the U.S. attack during an even contest. Brazil pulled a very late goal back thanks to Ludmila, but ultimately came up just short as the USWNT lifted the trophy in this tournament for the fourth straight time.
Still, it has to be said that Brazil gave them a real test. As was the case in their win over Japan, the USWNT struggled with a foe implementing a high press in the early minutes. It would be unfair to say they were in as much trouble on Wednesday as they were against the Japanese — Crystal Dunn hit the post in the fourth minute, and many USWNT turnovers were totally self-inflicted — but the team still has a clear issue to work on with the World Cup looming this summer.
Even when the USWNT had started to find better angles and more precision to break that press, the Brazilian counter-attack remained a major threat. Kerolin rolled a shot just wide after an incisive break forward after Brazil broke out just as the U.S. had pushed seven players into the attack.
The USWNT finally gave Brazil a taste of their own medicine in the final seconds of the half, with a counter-press ending with Lindsey Horan jarring the ball loose. Andi Sullivan immediately seized the chance, playing a 35-yard pass to send Alex Morgan in alone.
Morgan finished with clinical ease, but an offside flag interrupted her celebrations.
Alex Morgan put the ball in the back of the net but she was called offside.
Morgan may have been disappointed, but she didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoresheet. In the final seconds of the half, Brazil hesitated, expecting a foul call after Rose Lavelle was tripped up. Referee Marie-Soleil Beaudoin let the USWNT carry on with their attack, and Horan immediately played a similar ball to Sullivan’s through for Swanson.
Swanson has been in such good form that it was fair to expect her to finish against four Brazil defenders, but with her shot being blocked, Morgan was on hand to pick up the pieces. The San Diego Wave striker took a touch before bending a sublime 24-yard shot around the traffic in the box and into the far corner.
Brazil didn’t let the goal get them down, with winger Adriana lining up a shot moments into the second half that beat Alyssa Naeher but clanked off the crossbar.
Still, the USWNT had their chances as well: Morgan nearly scored one of the least orthodox goals of her career, while seconds later both Becky Sauerbrunn and Sullivan both had point-blank shots blocked in a scrum following a corner kick.
Brazil was starting to look a little unsure about how to progress the ball against the USWNT, and the counter-press factored in yet again as they padded their lead through — who else? — Swanson.
Lynn Williams, mere seconds after entering the fray, won a tackle at midfield, gifting Lavelle possession between the lines. The OL Reign star surged forward against a retreating defense, but once Rafaelle decided at last to step to the ball, Lavelle immediately fed Swanson for a pinpoint low finish.
We should pause to consider Swanson’s form, which remains unreal: seven goals in 2023, and eight in her last six USWNT appearances.
Brazil weren’t offering much in terms of a comeback, but almost out of nowhere, snagged a goal that won’t go over very well when the USWNT reviews this match. NJ/NY Gotham FC fullback Bruninha lofted a cross to the back post, and despite the presence of Naeher, Emily Fox, and Naomi Girma, Ludmila somehow managed to win the header and tuck the ball away by guiding it back across goal.
The same duo nearly combined again as Brazil suddenly showed some life, with Girma having to get her header exactly right under pressure from Ludmila, but from that moment on, the USWNT settled down and saw themselves through to yet another SheBelieves Cup victory.
It’s been over 29 years since the USWNT lost three straight
The U.S. women’s national team got an improved performance, but the results remain the same.
The USWNT, after losing 2-1 to Germany in Ft. Lauderdale Thursday night, is now on a three-game losing streak for the first time since April 1993. It’s the first loss at home for the team since July 27, 2017, and though the USWNT dominated a large chunk of the game, some flat second-half play and individual mistakes extended a worrisome run of form.
Germany’s relentless high pressure left the USWNT with some tricky work in the early stages, but after about 20 minutes they began to solve it. Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh both spurned excellent chances to set up runners inside the box, while a dubious offside call spoiled another U.S. attack.
Lindsey Horan went closer, firing a shot over Merle Frohms that hit the bar and bounced down onto the goal line — but crucially, not over it — after good work from Rose Lavelle. Shortly thereafter, Alex Morgan’s pass from deep sent Pugh in alone behind the defense. This time, Pugh was decisive, but Frohms produced a huge save to tip her effort wide in the 36th minute.
The one-way traffic continued until halftime, with Horan having a strong penalty shout turned down by referee Odette Hamilton. It may have been frustrating for the USWNT, but the overall performance had far more composure and clarity than either loss to Spain in the last window.
Horan’s almost impossibly bad luck continued, with a spectacular overhead kick early in the second half slapping off the foot of the German post.
If that was cruel, things were about to get so much worse. Germany countered immediately, and while Naomi Girma initially slowed a four-on-two break, Klara Bühl worked the ball over to the right for substitute Paulina Krumbiegel. Krumbiegel’s shot was well-saved by Casey Murphy, but Bühl found the rebound and launched a curler towards goal.
Like Horan, she was denied by the post, but the USWNT couldn’t catch a break. The rebound hit Murphy’s back before bobbling over the line, giving Germany a shock 52nd minute lead.
If the USWNT’s performance up until that point had been very good, the response to the goal was alarmingly flat. Germany substitute Chantal Hagel arrived late on two occasions only to fire excellent chances over the bar, while a triple sub for the U.S. saw a loss of fluency in the midfield.
However, just as it seemed like the USWNT didn’t have an answer, a familiar face arrived to equalize. Megan Rapinoe smashed home an equalizer after the USWNT finally got their counter-press back online, with Morgan blocking Sara Doorsoun’s clearance and teeing up the veteran for a typically clinical finish.
It felt like a typical, old-school U.S. goal: overpowering, opportunistic, and authoritative. Unfortunately, it was followed by some of the hesitancy that has crept into the team lately, with Germany re-taking the lead on the counter just four minutes later.
Lena Oberdorf alertly took a free kick at midfield quickly, lofting the ball out to another substitute, Jule Brand. In isolation against Alana Cook, Brand simply dropped her shoulder and charged past Cook, shrugging off the OL Reign defender’s challenge before squaring for Krumbiegel, who did well to squeeze a shot over Murphy and into the roof of the net from close range.
The late goal left the USWNT with little time to reply, and full time brought some unwanted history, increasing the pressure on head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who has more losses in this unwanted streak than he had in the 49 games that preceeded it.
The USWNT will aim to end a rare losing streak in a pair of matches to close out 2022
U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a 24-player roster for two home friendlies against Germany in November.
Fresh off becoming the youngest USWNT player to debut since 2016, Alyssa Thompson returns for the games against the Euro 2022 runner-up. Thompson will turn 18 on November 7.
Thompson will be joined in the forward group by Alex Morgan and Mallory Pugh, who missed last month’s defeats against England and Spain with an injury and a family commitment, respectively.
Also making her return is goalkeeper AD Franch, fresh off a stellar campaign in which she helped the Kansas City Current reach the NWSL championship. Franch, who served as the third-stringer at the 2019 World Cup, has been handed her first call-up since October 2021.
The USWNT will face Germany on November 10 at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (7 p.m. ET on FS1) and on November 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (5 p.m. ET on ESPN).
“These are the kinds of games that help our World Cup preparation in many ways and these 180 minutes to end our schedule this year are going to be extremely valuable for the players and coaches,” Andonovski said.
“It will be good to get some players back on the roster and we’re all expecting these games to be very competitive and entertaining for fans.”
USWNT roster for Germany friendlies
GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Kansas City Current), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS (7): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Total Futbol Academy)
