USWNT vs. Japan – 2024 SheBelieves Cup presented by Visa - Semifinals
Date: April 6, 2024
Venue: Mercedes-Benz Stadium; Atlanta, Ga.
Broadcast: TNT, truTV, Telemundo, Universo, Max, Peacock
Official Kickoff Time: 12:37 p.m. ET
Starting XI vs. Japan: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 3-Jenna Nighswonger, 4-Naomi Girma, 8-Jaedyn Shaw, 9-Mallory Swanson, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 12-Tierna Davidson, 13-Alex Morgan, 17-Sam Coffey, 22-Trinity Rodman, 23-Emily Fox
Available Subs: 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 5-Olivia Moultrie, 6-Eva Gaetino, 7-Catarina Macario, 11-Sophia Smith, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Korbin Albert, 16-Lily Yohannes, 18-Casey Murphy, 19-Crystal Dunn, 20-Casey Krueger, 21-Jane Campbell
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW | MATCH HUB
- USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Morgan (222), Horan (145), Naeher (103), Swanson (89), Davidson (56), Fox (46), Rodman (35), Girma (31), Coffey (14), Shaw (11), Nighswonger (7)
- This is the sixth different starting lineup used by the USWNT through seven games so far in 2024.
- Today’s lineup to face Japan averages 26.5 years of age and 68 caps per player.
- Six players in this Starting XI played in the most recent matchup between the USA and Japan at the 2023 SheBelieves Cup – Girma, Fox, Horan, Rodman, Morgan and Swanson.
- Lindsey Horan, who scored the game-winning goal in W Gold Cup final against Brazil, will captain the USA for the 24th time in her career as she earns her 145th cap. Horan is tied for the team lead with four total goal involvements in 2024 (three goals, one assist) and has five assists in 18 career games at the SheBelieves Cup, the most assists by any player in SheBelieves Cup history.
- Winner of the Golden Glove at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, Alyssa Naeher will earn her 103rd cap as she makes her sixth start of 2024. Naeher enters the tournament with three shutouts on the year and 62 overall in her international career. A six-time SheBelieves Cup champion, Naeher has nine career shutouts at the SheBelieves Cup, the most by any player in the history of the competition.
- Jenna Nighswonger will earn her seventh career cap as she makes her fifth career start and fourth of 2024. Nighswonger, who makes her SheBelieves Cup debut, appeared in four matches at the Concacaf W Gold Cup and netted two goals.
- Naomi Girma is set to earn her 31st cap as she makes her fifth start of 2024. Girma, who appeared in all three matches of the 2023 SheBelieves Cup, played every minute for the U.S. during the knockout rounds of the Concacaf W Gold Cup, helping the USA to shutouts against Colombia in the quarterfinal and Brazil in the final.
- Coming off a breakout performance at the Concacaf W Gold Cup in which she led the USA in scoring and was awarded the Golden Ball as the top player of the tournament, Jaedyn Shaw will make her fourth start of 2024 and the fifth of her international career as she earns her 11th cap for the USWNT. The 19-year-old Shaw leads the U.S. in scoring with four goals in 2024 and enters the SheBelieves Cup having scored in every match she has started in her international career.
- Three hundred and sixty-four days after rupturing her patella tendon, Mallory Swanson returns to the field for the USWNT for the 89th appearance of her international career. Despite playing in only six matches in 2023, Swanson led the USWNT in scoring with seven goals last year, four of which came at the SheBelieves Cup as she was named the Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP and became the first player in tournament history to score in every game at a single SheBelieves Cup.
- With her four goals in the 2023 tournament, Swanson passed Megan Rapinoe to become the all-time leading scorer in SheBelieves Cup history with eight goals in 19 games.
- Tierna Davidson will make her fifth start of 2024 as she earns her 56th cap for the USWNT. Davidson missed the 2023 SheBelieves Cup while returning to form and fitness after tearing her ACL in March of 2022, and will be playing in her sixth SheBelieves Cup. She helped the USA to titles in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
- Alex Morgan will make her fourth consecutive start for the USWNT as she makes her seventh appearance of 2024 and the 222nd overall of her international career. She has played the second-most minutes (1,241) of any player in SheBelieves Cup history and has five career goals at the SBC, tied for third in the history of the competition. Morgan has 12 goals and three assists in 15 career appearances against Japan, the most goals she has scored against any single opponent in her international career.
- Sam Coffey will make her SheBelieves Cup debut as she makes her sixth start of 2024 and the eighth overall of her international career. Coffey, who finished fifth with 416 minutes played during the Concacaf W Gold Cup, is set to earn her 14th cap overall for the USWNT.
- Trinity Rodman, who made her international debut as a 19-year-old at the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, is set to earn her 35th cap and make her sixth start of 2024. Rodman played every match for the USWNT in 2023 and will be making her 25th consecutive appearance for the USWNT, the longest streak by any USWNT player since 2020.
- Emily Fox will earn her 46th cap for the USWNT as she makes her fifth start of 2024. Fox played every minute for the USWNT during the knockout rounds of the Concacaf W Gold Cup and assisted the game-winning goal by Lindsey Horan in the final against Brazil. She was also the only U.S. player to play every minute of every match during the USA’s run to the 2023 SheBelieves Cup title.
