For the first time, the U.S. women’s national team is heading to New Zealand.
U.S. Soccer has announced a pair of January friendlies for the USWNT against New Zealand, the co-host of the 2023 World Cup along with Australia.
After training in New Zealand for six days, the USWNT will face the Football Ferns on January 18 at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The match will kick off at 4 p.m. local time, which will be 10 p.m. ET on January 17 in the United States.
The second match will take place at Eden Park in Auckland on January 21 at 4 p.m. local time, which will be 10 p.m. ET on January 20 in the U.S.
Next year will see U.S. Soccer’s new media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports come into effect, with broadcast details for the two matches to be announced at a later date.
Sky Stadium and Eden Park will play host to all three of the USWNT’s group-stage matches at the World Cup, with Vlatko Andonovski’s team drawn into Group E alongside Vietnam, the Netherlands and the winner of a playoff between Cameroon, Thailand, and Portugal.
“Everything about this trip is a positive for our team ahead of the World Cup,” said Andonovski. “We will get some quality training time together and have two tough matches against a great opponent that is hosting the World Cup. We also get to experience the long travel and familiarize ourselves with the host cities, the stadiums, the training grounds and the culture, and hopefully we’ll play in front of some big crowds supporting the home team. It will be a great way to start the year.”
The USWNT and New Zealand have met 19 times previously, with the U.S. winning 17, drawing one and losing one.
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