CHICAGO (June 21, 2023) – With one month until the USA’s opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named the 23 players who will represent the United States in Australia and New Zealand this summer. The roster will not become official until it is submitted to FIFA on July 9 (July 10 in Australia and New Zealand), which is the deadline for all teams to submit their final squads.
The Roster Reveal Presented by Allstate features six forwards, seven midfielders, seven defenders and three goalkeepers. Andonovski selected nine players who were part of the USA’s 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship squad.
Forwards Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe and defender Kelley O’Hara were named to their fourth Women’s World Cup roster, becoming the 10th, 11th and 12th U.S. Women’s National Team players to be selected for four or more tournaments. Two players were named to their third consecutive World Cup roster in goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and midfielder Julie Ertz. Andonovski also named four players – defenders Crystal Dunn and Emily Sonnett and midfielders Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle – to their second World Cup roster and there are 14 players for whom this will be their first Women’s World Cup.
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club; Caps/Goals) – 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury* (Washington Spirit; 1), Casey Murphy* (North Carolina Courage; 14), Alyssa Naeher*** (Chicago Red Stars; 90)
DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook* (OL Reign; 24/1), Crystal Dunn** (Portland Thorns FC; 131/24), Emily Fox* (North Carolina Courage; 28/1), Naomi Girma* (San Diego Wave FC; 15/0), Sofia Huerta* (OL Reign; 29/0), Kelley O’Hara**** (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 157/3), Emily Sonnett** (OL Reign; 74/1)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Savannah DeMelo* (Racing Louisville FC; 0/0), Julie Ertz*** (Angel City FC; 118/20), Lindsey Horan** (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 128/27), Rose Lavelle** (OL Reign; 88/24), Kristie Mewis* (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 51/7), Ashley Sanchez* (Washington Spirit; 24/3), Andi Sullivan* (Washington Spirit; 44/3)
FORWARDS (6): Alex Morgan**** (San Diego Wave FC; 206/121), Megan Rapinoe**** (OL Reign; 199/63), Trinity Rodman* (Washington Spirit; 17/2), Sophia Smith* (Portland Thorns FC; 29/12), Alyssa Thompson* (Angel City FC; 3/0), Lynn Williams* (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 52/15)
* First Women’s World Cup
** Second Women’s World Cup
*** Third Women’s World Cup
**** Fourth Women’s World Cup
“The task of selecting a World Cup Team is never easy, but I’m proud of the players for their work ethic and focus during the process and of our coaching staff for doing the work to put together the best team possible,” said Andonovski. “It’s the players that make the biggest impact on our environment, they push each other to be better and I know as a group they are extremely motivated to make our country proud at the World Cup. Every player has a different journey to get to this point so our roster has some amazing stories and we have a really good mix of veterans and younger players.”
The Women’s World Cup roster will make up the squad for the USA’s final match before departing for New Zealand. The USA’s Women’s World Cup Send-Off Match presented by Visa will take place on July 9 at PayPal Park in San Jose, Calif. (4 p.m. ET on TNT, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock) and the World Cup Team will depart for New Zealand from the Bay Area.
This summer (which will be winter in New Zealand and Australia) the USA will face World Cup debutantes Vietnam and Portugal in the group stage, along with 2019 Women’s World Cup runners-up Netherlands. The USA will play the entirety of the group stage in New Zealand. The U.S. will open Group E play against Vietnam on July 22 at Eden Park in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau (1 p.m. local / 9 p.m. ET on July 21 on FOX, Telemundo and Peacock), which will also serve as the host venue for the Opening Ceremony of the 2023 World Cup on July 20 when New Zealand plays Norway. The USA then faces Netherlands on July 27 at Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara (1 p.m. local / 9 p.m. ET on July 26 on FOX, Telemundo and Peacock), followed by Portugal on Aug. 1 at Eden Park in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau (7 p.m. local / 3 a.m. ET on FOX, Telemundo and Peacock).
“We are expecting the level of play at this World Cup to be the best it’s ever been, and all the teams must keep up with that growth,” said Andonovski “For years, we’ve been able to see first-hand where the game is going and that’s exciting. We are proud to have been one of the teams leading the way for women’s international soccer and I know the tournament will once again show the world how great these players are across all 32 teams. Our players understand the challenges and the competitive environment we are heading into, and they love it. We have a roster with depth and versatility and that will help us take on all the challenges that will be coming our way.”
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup runs from July 20-Aug. 20 in 10 stadiums and nine host cities, five in Australia and four in New Zealand. This will be the first Women’s World Cup featuring 32 nations, up from 24 in the previous two tournaments, and all 64 games will be broadcast across the U.S. live in English on FOX (29 matches) and FOX Sports 1 (35 matches) and on tablets and mobile devices through the FOX Sports App. All games will also be broadcast in Spanish on Telemundo (33 matches) and the Universo cable network (31 matches). All matches will also be streamed in Spanish on Peacock.
Additional Notes:
- The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be the ninth time FIFA has staged the event and the first to include 32 nations. Twenty-four teams participated in the last two World Cups. Sixteen teams participated in the four World Cups held from 1999-2011. The 1991 and 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments featured 12 teams.
- The World Cup format calls for seven matches to win the tournament, including four in the knockout rounds, up from six matches it took to win the Women’s World Cups for all the tournaments from 1991-2011.
- The USA is making its ninth appearance in a FIFA Women’s World Cup and is one of seven countries to appear in all nine editions of the tournament. The others are Brazil, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden.
- Of the 23 players named to the roster, Alex Morgan has the most experience in the Women’s World Cup, having played 18 matches while scoring nine goals, six of which came at the 2019 tournament. Megan Rapinoe has played in 17 World Cup matches and has also scored nine goals.
- Four players own double-figure World Cup cap numbers in Morgan, Rapinoe, Julie Ertz (13) and Kelley O’Hara (10).
- The players making their first Women’s World Cup roster are: GK Casey Murphy, GK Aubrey Kingsbury, D Alana Cook, D Emily Fox, D Naomi Girma, D Sofia Huerta, M Savannah DeMelo, M Kristie Mewis, M Ashley Sanchez, M Andi Sullivan, F Trinity Rodman, F Sophia Smith, F Alyssa Thompson and F Lynn Williams.
- There were 11 first-time World Cup participants on the 2019 team.
- The naming of Kristie Mewis to the roster marks the first time that sisters will represent the USA on World Cup Teams, Samantha in 2019 and Kristie this year.
- The average age of the U.S. roster is 28.5 years old. The USA’s 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cup rosters also averaged around 28 years old.
- Thompson is the youngest player on the roster at age 18. She is the fourth teenager and second youngest player ever to be named to a U.S. World Cup roster behind current USWNT assistant coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak.
- Roberts was 18 years, 1 month and 1 day old when she started against China PR in the opening game of the 1995 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Thompson will be 18 years, 7 months and 15 days old when the USA opens the World Cup on July 21 vs. Vietnam.
- Trinity Rodman, who turned 21 on May 20, is the second-youngest player on this roster and just the 17th player in USWNT history to be named to a World Cup roster at age 21 or younger.
- With Thompson and Rodman both on the roster, this marks the second consecutive World Cup in which the USA has had multiple players aged 21 or younger on a World Cup roster. Tierna Davidson was 20 at the start of the 2019 World Cup while Mallory Swanson was 21.
- Four players on this roster – Thompson, Rodman, Naomi Girma and Sophia Smith – were born after the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Smith became the first player born after the ‘99 World Cup to earn a USWNT cap when she debuted for the U.S. in November of 2020 against the Netherlands.
- Girma, Rodman, Smith and Thompson are also the first players born in the 2000s to be named to a Women’s World Cup roster for the USA.
- Rapinoe is the oldest player on the roster at 37. She will turn 38 on July 5.
- Ten players on this roster are in their 30s while 12 are in their 20s and Thompson is the only teenager.
- Four players make their first World Cup roster at age 30 or older in Mewis, Kingsbury, Huerta and Williams.
- Eighteen players on the roster have represented the USA in a FIFA Women’s World Cup at the U-17 level, U-20 level or both. The only players who did not play in a youth World Cup are Sofia Huerta, Lynn Williams, Alana Cook, Emily Sonnett and Aubrey Kingsbury.
- Dunn and Ertz were part of the U.S. team that won the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan.
- Alyssa Naeher and Morgan were part of the U.S. team that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile.
- There are three mothers on the team in Alex Morgan, Julie Ertz and Crystal Dunn.
- Midfielder Savannah DeMelo, who is enjoying a stellar season for Racing Louisville FC, is the third player ever to make a U.S. World Cup roster without previously earning a cap. Debbie Keller was the first to do so in 1995 and Shannon Boxx was the second in 2003. DeMelo has been in training camps with the senior side, most recently being called up in the fall of 2022, and will have a chance for her debut cap in the USA’s WWC Send-Off Match on July 9 vs. Wales in San Jose, Calif.
- That match could also be the 200th cap for Rapinoe, who is sitting on 199 appearances for the USA. Rapinoe would become the 14th player in USWNT history to reach the 200-cap milestone.
- Twenty-two of the 23 players on the roster play domestically in the National Women’s Soccer League. Lindsey Horan, who plays for French champion Olympique Lyon, is the only exception. Nine of the 12 NWSL clubs are represented on the roster with the OL Reign leading the way with five players. The Washington Spirit have four, NY/NJ Gotham FC has three and Angel City FC, San Diego Wave FC, the North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns have two each. Racing Louisville and the Chicago Red Stars have one each.
- The roster features six players with 100 or more caps, led by Morgan with 206. Five players have between 50-99 caps and 12 have fewer than 50 caps.
- Eighteen players on this roster were on the USA’s 23-player roster for the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, at which the United States qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as well as the 2024 Summer Olympics.
- The roster averages 66 international caps per player and has a combined total of 84 Women’s World Cup appearances. The 2019 Women’s World Cup Team had 94 World Cup appearances combined heading into that tournament.
- Eight players on this roster earned their first cap under Andonovski – Cook, Girma, Kingsbury, Murphy, Rodman, Sanchez, Smith and Thompson. DeMelo would become the ninth should she see game action.
- Six players on the roster have previously scored in a Women’s World Cup tournament, totaling 25 goals. The 2019 Women’s World Cup roster had 16 World Cup goals heading into the tournament.
- The roster features players from 11 different states. Eight players on the roster are from California, with two each from Georgia, New Jersey, Colorado, Virginia and Ohio (both from Cincinnati).
- Huerta, who hails from Boise, is the first player from Idaho ever to make a U.S. Women’s World Cup roster.
- Huerta is also just the second player to make a U.S. Women’s World Cup Team after changing national associations (Mexico to the USA). Sydney Leroux in 2015 (Canada to the USA) was the other.
- Four players on the World Cup roster have twin sisters: Rapinoe, Sonnett, Kingsbury and Naeher.
- There are eight NWSL No. 1 draft picks on the World Cup roster, including the last four: Crytal Dunn (2014), Emily Sonnett (2016), Rose Lavelle (2017), Andi Sullivan (2018), Smith (2020), Fox (2021), Girma (2022) and Thompson (2023).
- There are four players on the World Cup roster who have been named the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year: Smith (2022), Lindsey Horan (2021), Ertz (2017 & 2019) and Morgan (2012 & 2018).
- There are seven players on the World Cup roster who have been named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, including two of the three most recent recipients: Rodman (2021), Girma (2020), Smith (2017), Sanchez (2016), Horan (2013), Ertz (2012) and Mewis (2008).
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