U.S. WNT continues SheBelieves Cup on Saturday vs. England

2019 U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM SCHEDULE

2019 FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP KICKS OFF JUNE 7: The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup will open on June 7 as host France takes on South Korea in Paris. More than 500,000 tickets have already been sold, 23% to ticket buyers in the USA. The U.S. WNT will actually play the final match of the first round of group games, taking on Thailand on June 11. The field for this tournament includes host France along with Spain, Italy, England, Scotland, Norway, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands from Europe; China PR, Thailand, Australia, South Korea and Japan from Asia; Brazil, Chile and Argentina from South America; the United States, Canada and Jamaica from Concacaf; Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon from Africa; and New Zealand from Oceania.

U.S. SOCCER FEDERATION AND VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCE MULTI-YEAR PRESENTING PARTNERSHIP: U.S. Soccer and Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced a landmark, integrated partnership making Volkswagen the presenting automotive partner to the Federation through 2022. As part of Volkswagen’s long-term commitment, the automobile maker will help U.S. Soccer with its mission to become the preeminent sport in the United States by increasing participation, developing world class players, coaches and referees, and increasing fan engagement around the sport. As part of the historic partnership, Volkswagen will have branding on training tops for all U.S. Soccer National Teams, including the Men’s and Women’s National Teams, all Youth National Teams and the Para 7-a-side, Beach and Futsal National Teams, and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

JILL ELLIS FACT FILE : Jill Ellis is the third U.S. coach – and first female American coach – to win a Women’s World Cup (2015) at the senior level, following Anson Dorrance (1991) and the late Tony DiCicco (1999). Ellis was named the 2015 FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Soccer on Jan. 11, 2016. She was also named the Concacaf Female Coach of the Year. Ellis, who previously served two stints as interim head coach of the U.S. WNT, is the eighth official head coach in U.S. history. She coached seven games as interim coach in 2012 (5-0-2) and two games (1-0-1) as interim in 2014 before she officially came on board, which gave her a 6-0-3 record before she ever was formally named the head coach in May of 2014. She has gone 83-7-14 since then for an overall record of 89-7-17. She earned her 75th career win on April 8 vs. Mexico and with the victory against Scotland on Nov. 13, 2018, moved past April Heinrichs into third on the all-time wins list behind only Pia Sundhage (91) and Tony DiCicco (105). The match against Australia on July 29 marked her 100th game on the bench for the USA, making her the fourth coach in U.S. history to coach in 100 or more games. She has moved past Pia Sundhage into third all-time in games coached with 113 and is well within reach of the two coaches ahead of her: April Heinrichs (124 games coached) and DiCicco (121). Since taking over as head coach, Ellis has won seven tournaments: the 2015 Algarve Cup, the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, the 2016 SheBelieves Cup, the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, the 2018 Tournament of Nations and the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship.

U.S. ROSTER NOTES

TEAM

• Before traveling north to Philadelphia, the USA spent a week training in Tampa, Fla. U.S. head coach Jill Ellis called in 28 players for the camp, which was made up of the 23-player SheBelieves Cup roster along with four players that trained with the team in GK Jane Campbell, defenders Merritt Mathias and Emily Fox, and midfielder Allie Long. Midfielder Lindsey Horan, who was ruled out of the SheBelieves Cup due to a leg injury was also in camp for rehab.
• Midfielder Danielle Colaprico arrived into camp from Australia, where she won the W-League with Sydney FC, with a groin injury that she reaggravated, and she was replaced on the final SheBelieves Cup roster by Fox.
• All 23 players on the SBC roster will suit up for all tournament matches.
• The U.S. Women’s National Team reached an impressive milestone on Nov. 8, 2018 with its 1-0 victory against Portugal that was the 500th win in program history. Since its inception in 1985, the U.S. WNT has compiled a record of 502 wins, 66 losses and 75 ties. Over the history of the program, the USA has gone 282-28-21 (88% winning percentage) at home, 52-14-17 away (73%) and 168-33-28 (79%) on neutral ground. Of the USA’s 66 losses, 12 (18%) came at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.
• The loss to France on Jan. 19 snapped the USA’s unbeaten streak at 28. The last time the USA had lost before that was at the 2017 Tournament of Nations, a 1-0 setback to Australia. The USA has still scored in 31 consecutive matches and has averaged more than three goals per game in that time.
• Since the start of 2017, eight players have been directly involved (goals or assists) in more than 10 goals: Morgan (31), Rapinoe (28), Horan (16), Pugh (16), Heath (14), Press (14), Lloyd (12) and Ertz (10).
• The average age of the U.S. roster for this SheBelieves Cup is 27.9 years.
• All 23 players on the U.S. roster were with the WNT for its first two games of the year that were played in Europe.

FORWARDS

• Alex Morgan scored 18 goals in 2018 on the way to being named U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and after scoring her first of 2019 against Japan on Feb. 27, now has 99 career goals in 156 caps. At age 29, she sits in sole possession of seventh place on the USA’s all-time goal list. Tiffeny Milbrett is sixth with 100 career goals.
• Morgan has scored in each of her last four games vs. Japan, totaling seven goals, including a hat-trick in 2018.
• If Morgan scores vs. England, her 100th goal will come in her 157th cap. Just one more than it took Mia Hamm (156 caps). Wambach scored her 100 th goal in her 129 th cap, Akers in 130, Hamm in 156, Milbrett in 201, Lloyd in 252 and Lilly in 287.
• Morgan has scored 26 goals over her last 29 WNT matches, a span that runs from the end of 2017. During that 26-goal streak, she has scored on about a quarter of her shots, scoring eight goals with her right foot, 14 with her left, three with her head and one with her chest. The 26 goals have included six braces and one hat trick.
• Morgan’s brace vs. Jamaica on Oct. 14 marked the 22nd two-goal game of her career . She is third all-time in two-goal games (22), behind only Wambach (37) and Hamm (28). With her hat trick against Japan on July 26, 2018, the fourth of her career, Morgan is now tied with Michelle Akers for third all-time in multi-goal games (26) behind only Abby Wambach (45) and Mia Hamm (38).
• Morgan’s second goal vs. Jamaica on Oct. 14 was just the second of her international career to come via a penalty kick. Abby Wambach scored 14 of her 184 goals on penalty kicks.
• For players with more than 50 goals/assists combined, Morgan has averaged a goal or an assist for every 71.3 minutes on the field in her international career. The only player who has done better is Hamm (68.5). Wambach averaged a goal or assist for every 71.5 minutes. Akers finished her career at 74.0 minutes per goal or assist.
• After tallying the first goal vs. Japan on Feb. 27, Megan Rapinoe has 42 international goals which is good for 15th on the all-time goals list. She is three goals behind Julie Foudy to move into 14th. Rapinoe has now scored in three straight games vs. Japan.
• Rapinoe had a team-leading 12 assists in 2018 and has 56 assists for her career, moving her to sole possession of sixth place on the U.S. all-time list. Rapinoe’s 56 assists in 147 caps is the best ratio of anyone ahead of her on the all-time list except for Hamm, who had a remarkable 147 assists in her 276 caps. Seven of Rapinoe’s 12 assists last year were on Alex Morgan goals and Rapinoe created a team-leading 61 chances for teammates.
• Carli Lloyd is a two-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year (2015 & 2016) and the USA’s all-time active caps leader with 267. She is in sole possession of fifth place on the all-time U.S. caps list.
• She scored her historic 100th goal on April 8, 2018 vs. Mexico to become the sixth player to score 100 or more for the USA, and first since 2009 when Abby Wambach scored her 100th.
• On Oct. 7, 2018 vs. Panama, Lloyd scored her eighth career hat trick and upped her career total to 105 goals. She is now two away from tying Michelle Akers for fourth all-time in the U.S. goals list. With her hat trick, Lloyd tied Mia Hamm for most three-goals games all-time in WNT history. Hamm also had two four-goal games in her career. Lloyd is tied with Kristine Lilly and Cindy Parlow for fifth-all time in multi-goal games with 17.
• Against Panama, Lloyd (36 years, 83 days) became the oldest player to score a hat trick for the U.S. WNT. She broke Wambach’s record of 34 years, 186 days. Kristine Lilly is the oldest player to score a goal for the USA at 38 years, 264 days.
• Lloyd is the highest active goal scorer in U.S. history with the players ahead of or tied with her – Hamm, Wambach, Lilly, Akers and Tiffeny Milbrett – all retired.
• Lloyd scored 36 international goals between the time she debuted six days before her 23rd birthday, and her 30th birthday. Since turning 30, she has scored 69 goals in 132 games in a little over six and a half years. The 132 games after the age of 30 tie her with Shannon Boxx for third place all-time in U.S. history in that category and. Christie Rampone is far and away the leader with 175.
• After earning the assist on Mallory Pugh’s goal against France on Jan. 19, Lloyd has 51 career assists and is in 9th place all-time, two behind eighth-place Shannon MacMillan.
• Tobin Heath scored her second career brace on Oct. 14, vs. Jamaica, in World Cup qualifying, to up her career total to 25. She has 144 caps and is in 22nd place on the USA’s all-time caps list.
• In 2018, Heath didn’t return to the U.S. lineup until June 12 after completing her long recovery from injury, but she was on fire for the rest of the year, scoring seven goals with six assists in just 10 games and 657 minutes. She averaged a goal or an assist for every 50 minutes on the field in the latter part of the year. She picked up her first assist of the year, and 36th of her career, on Rapinoe’s goal against Japan on Feb. 27.
• Mallory Pugh doubled her career goals in 2018, finding the next six times, and scored the USA’s first goal of 2019 against France on Jan. 19 to up her career total to 13.
• Pugh scored in her senior team debut (the 19th U.S. WNT player to score in her first cap) on Jan. 23, 2016, vs. Ireland at 17 years, 8 months and 25 days old, becoming the youngest player to debut for the U.S. in the previous 11 years. Since then, she has earned 45 caps and has been one of the USA’s most dangerous players, mostly attacking from the wings.
• Pugh is currently sixth all-time in caps (45) before the age of 21, third in starts (33), third in goals (13), and tied for first in assists (14) with Kristine Lilly.
• After coming off the bench against Japan on Feb. 27 and almost immediately creating a goal for Alex Morgan, Christen Press has 109 caps, 47 career goals and 24 career assists. She is tied for 11th place on the all-time WNT goals list. She averages 0.43 goals per game and 0.76 goals per every 90 minutes she’s on the field.
• Forward Jessica McDonald got her first call-up since the 2017 SheBelieves Cup when she was named to the roster for the USA’s November 2018 trip to Europe. She was also called into the USA’s January camp and games in Europe in November 2018, and then once again for the SheBelieves Cup. McDonald’s first career cap came against Romania on Nov. 10, 2016, in San Jose, Calif. She earned her second career cap and start vs. Portugal on Nov. 8 and scored the game-winning goal – her first international score. She also played off the bench against Scotland on Nov. 13 and against France on Jan. 19, earning her third cap.

MIDFIELDERS

• Julie Ertz was named the MVP of the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship while playing the entire tournament at defensive midfielder. It was a completely different experience for Ertz than four years earlier when she was not initially named to the roster for the World Cup qualifying tournament but was added due to an injury to Crystal Dunn, and then did not see action over the five games.
• Ertz scored against Jamaica in the CWC semifinal on Oct. 14, and in group play against Mexico on Oct. 4, to up her career goal total to a remarkable 18 international goals in 75 caps and has become one of the USA’s most important players.
• Rose Lavelle scored twice, her first career brace, against T&T on Oct. 10 during group play at the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship. She also scored the game-winning goal in the title game, a 2-0 victory against Canada, and with three goals in the qualifying tournament, doubled her career total coming into the competition. She now has 21 caps – with 17 starts – and six career goals.
• Against Japan on Feb. 27, Lavelle played the full 90 minutes for just the third time in her 22 caps, but she has come off the field after the 80th minute three other times, including an 88-minute appearance against Canada in the title game of the Concacaf Women’s Championship.
• Against Japan, Rose Lavelle was a part of a game-high 21 duels. She won 57.1% of those duels, the best rate of any U.S. player with at least eight duels.
• Currently at 43 caps after reserves appearance vs. France and Spain in January, Samantha Mewis has eight career goals and after starting every game in 2017, came back from injury at the end of 2018 to prove herself a valuable part of the midfield corps.
• Andi Sullivan , the top pick in the 2018 NWSL Draft by the Washington Spirit, was in the USA’s January Camp, but did not play in either match. Before that, her most recent call-ups were in April of last year for the two friendlies against Mexico and then again for the USA’s trip to Europe last November where she started against Portugal on Nov. 8, earning her 11th cap.
• The 23-year-old Sullivan led Stanford to the NCAA title as a senior and won the Hermann Trophy as the top player in college soccer. After a year away from the U.S. team while rehabbing a knee injury, Sullivan returned to the roster for the Oct. 19, 2017, against Korea Republic, a year to the date after her first cap.
• McCall Zerboni, long one of the top midfielders in the NWSL, returned to the U.S. roster in January for the European trip after recovering from surgery after suffering a severely broken elbow in September vs. Chile just five minutes into her first WNT start.
• Herfirst call up came as an injury replacement for the USA’s match against Korea Republic in Cary, N.C. in October of 2017 and she earned her first cap when she entered the match at halftime. Zerboni, who was just a few months shy of her 31st birthday when she debuted, became the oldest player to earn a first cap for the WNT.
• She earned her second cap and first start on June 7 vs. China PR, going the entire 90 minutes in center midfield and earning Player of the Game honors. She suffered her arm injury in her seventh cap and returned to the field for the first time since the injury in a quality second-half substitute performance against Spain on Jan. 22 to earn her eighth cap.

DEFENDERS

• With her start against France on Jan. 19, Becky Sauerbrunn became the 20th player, and just the third player who has played exclusively defender, to play 150 times for the U.S. WNT. She currently has 151 caps and since 2014 has started 98 of her 102 caps. She sat out the match against Japan on Feb. 27 with some mild knee irritation.
• Abby Dahlkemper played in 17 games last year, starting 16, and played the full 90 in 12 of them. She has played full 90s in all three games this year and has started in 29 of her 33 caps.
• Crystal Dunn solidified her spot as an outside back for the USA in 2018, a position where she played the final 16 of her 18 caps last year. She started in the midfield against France on Jan. 19 but returned to left back on Jan. 22 vs. Spain and against Japan on Feb. 27, playing the full 90 in each. Dunn, who has consistently shown her excellent attacking abilities from outside back, has 24 career international goals.
• Tierna Davidson helped lead Stanford to the NCAA Championship in 2017 as a sophomore and was a consistent U.S. WNT call-up in 2018 as the youngest player on the roster. She started and played the entire 90 minutes to earn her first cap in the 5-1 victory against Denmark on Jan. 21 in a game where she picked up the game-winning assist on Julie Ertz’ goal. She went the full 90 minutes in all three 2018 SheBelieves Cup matches in what were serious tests for the 19-year-old that she passed with honors.
• Davidson got her seventh consecutive start on June 7 against China PR at center back, then moved to the outside left and eventually moved back into the middle, showing her versatility. She started and played 90 minutes on June 12 against China and July 26 vs. Japan. The Australia game on July 29 was the first of her WNT career where she did not start or play. She had previously started every one of her nine caps so far. She returned to the field on Aug. 2 against Brazil, and scored an unfortunate own goal that gave Brazil a brief lead, but rallied to play an excellent match to earn her 10th cap. She evened up her ledger against Chile on Aug. 31, scoring her first WNT goal via a header off a Tobin Heath corner kick.
• Davidson was injured early in her junior season in 2018 with Stanford and did not play again. This past December, she decided to leave college a year early, declaring for the 2019 NWSL Draft, and was taken #1 overall by the Chicago Red Stars, making her the sixth consecutive U.S. WNT player drafted #1.
• She returned to the field for the USA for the first time since September of last year when she came off the bench on Jan. 19 vs. France in the 53rd minute, replacing Emily Fox. She earned her 15th cap with her first start of the year against Japan on Feb. 27.
• Davidson is the third teenager since 2013 to earn a first cap for the WNT. Mallory Pugh (17 in 2016) and Lindsey Horan (19 in 2013) are the most recent teenagers to debut for the WNT.
• Kelley O’Hara traveled with the USA to Europe in January, but was she was on the tail end of her recovery from ankle surgery and did not play in the matches. She got her first start and first minutes of the year against Japan on Feb. 27, but came off at halftime in a planned sub. It was her first appearance since World Cup qualifying and she now has 113 caps.
• O’Hara played in the second game of the 2018 SheBelieves Cup against France but suffered a serious hamstring injury during NWSL play and didn’t play for the USA again until playing 30 minutes vs. Chile on Sept. 4, 2018. She played in four games in World Cup qualifying, but the ankle surgery put her out for the rest of the year.
• Emily Sonnett has earned 29 caps and had a solid match against France on Jan. 19 at right back, against Spain on Jan. 22 when she played the first half and against Japan on Feb. 27 when she played the second half. The Portland Thorns standout played in three games at World Cup qualifying and has shown her versatility to play outside back with the WNT and center back in the NWSL.
• Casey Short has started 19 of her 27 games for the USA, playing mostly left back, but has also played some outside midfield and centrally. She played in one CWC group game and at the very end of the title game.
• Emily Fox , a veteran of the USA’s last two FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Teams and one of the top outside backs in the college game, was named to the final SheBelieves Cup roster the day before the first game due to an injury to Danielle Colaprico. A rising junior at the University of North Carolina, Fox earned 34 caps and scored four goals at the U-20 level. She started all 22 games she played this past season for UNC, helping the Tar Heels NCAA Championship game.
• Fox earned her first cap for the WNT on Nov. 8 vs. Portugal, playing 63 minutes in the 1-0 win to become the 230th woman to earn a cap for the U.S. WNT. She also started against Scotland on Nov. 13, playing 76 minutes, to earn her second cap, and earned her third cap and start against France on Jan. 19, playing 53 minutes.

GOALKEEPERS

• Alyssa Naeher has 22 career shutouts in her 41 caps. Naeher earned 13 caps in 2017 and 16 in 2018. She is the fifth goalkeeper in U.S. history to earn 40 or more caps.
• Naeher has kept three clean sheets in SheBelieves Cup play, the most in the tournament’s history. Only three other players have multiple clean sheets in the competition.
• Veteran Ashlyn Harris has 19 caps, earning her most recent vs. Scotland on Nov. 13, going 90 minutes to earn the win while make a big game-preserving save need the end of the match. It was her sixth career shutout.
• Adrianna Franch trained with the USA to add support to the goalkeeper corps during the entire Concacaf Women’s Championship. She is uncapped but has seen training time with the WNT on-and-off for the past five years. She injured her meniscus and had to have surgery early in the NWSL season but came back strong to earn her second consecutive NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award.

IN FOCUS: ENGLAND

England Football Association
FIFA World Ranking: 4
UEFA Ranking: 3 
World Cup Appearances: 5 (1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)
Best Women’s World Cup finish: Third Place, 2015
Record vs. USA: 4-10-1
Head Coach: Phil Neville 

England Women’s National Team Roster by Position:
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Karen Bardsley (Manchester City), 21-Mary Earps (Wolfsburg, GER), 13-Carly Telford (Chelsea)

DEFENDERS (8): 14-Gemma Bonner (Manchester City), 2-Lucy Bronze (Olympique Lyon, FRA), 17-Rachel Daly (Houston Dash, USA), 3-Alex Greenwood (Manchester United), 5-Steph Houghton (Manchester City), 6-Abbie McManus (Manchester City), 12-Demi Stokes (Manchester City), 15-Leah Williamson (Arsenal)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 20-Karen Carney (Chelsea), 8-Isobel Christiansen (Lyon), 10-Fran Kirby (Chelsea), 23-Lucy Staniforth (Birmingham City), 19-Georgia Stanway (Manchester City), 4-Keira Walsh (Manchester City)

FORWARDS (5): 11-Toni Duggan (Barcelona, ESP), 22-Beth Mead (Arsenal), 7-Nikita Parris (Manchester City), 9-Jodie Taylor (Reign FC, USA), 18-Ellen White (Birmingham City), 16-Chioma Ubogagu (Orlando Pride)

ENGLAND NOTES:

• England sits in first place in the 2019 SheBelieves Cup after a 2-1 victory against Brazil in the first match of the tournament. England started slow, and fell behind 1-0 on a penalty kick from Andressa after six-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Marta was taken down in the penalty box, but roared back in the second half to get an equalizer from Ellen White, her 27th international goal in 76 caps, and a game-winner from Beth Mead, just her third goal in her eighth cap.
• England set some high expectations when it finished third at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, beating Germany 1-0 AET in the consolation match. England finished second behind France in Group F, but then beat Norway 2-1 in the Round of 16, host Canada 2-1 in the quarterfinal, and then barely lost to Japan, 2-1, in the semifinal after an unfortunate late own goal.
• England returns for its fourth SheBelieves Cup, having been in each of the previous three editions. Its biggest win was the 4-1 defeat of France in 2018
• England’s 1-0 win over USA in the 2017 edition was the Lionesses’ first victory vs. the USA on U.S. soil.
• Ellen White is England’s top scorer in the competition with four goals (1 v USA in 2017, 2 v Germany in 2018 and 1 vs. Brazil in 2019).
• Six players have scored for England at the SheBelieves Cup: Toni Duggan, Jordan Nobbs, Ellen White, Fran Kirby, Jodie Taylor, Jill Scott and Beth Meade.
• England finished second in last year’s SheBelieves Cup after easing to a 4-1 win over France, Phil Neville’s first match as head coach, and drawing 2-2 with Germany before slipping to a 1-0 defeat by the USA.
• Last year against France, Toni Duggan scored in the seventh, Jill Scott tallied in the 29th and Jodie Taylor of the Reign FC scored in the 39th to make it 3-0 at the break. Fran Kirby added a fourth goal about a minute into the second half and France’s lone score from Gaetene Thiney had no impact on the result. The match set a SheBelieves Cup record for most goals in a half and most goals in a game.
• England played Germany to a 2-2 tie in its second match. The Germans outshot England 19-11, but a brace from Ellen White earned England a vital point.
• England came back twice in the match as White answered a German score in the 17th minute with a goal in the 18th minute. After an extremely unfortunate Millie Bright own goal in the 51st minute, White equalized off a breakaway in the 73rd.
• The win against France marked just the second-time England had beaten Les Bleus since 1974, with the first win coming at the 2017 UEFA Women’s Euros that knocked France out of the tournament.
• The 2018 SheBelieves Cup marked the debut of England head coach Phil Neville, the former Manchester United and Everton star and England National Team defender. Since the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, England has gone 7-1-2 with the only loss coming to the USA’s Group F opponent Sweden, a 2-0 setback in November in Rotherham.
• Neville played more than 500 games over 20 years in the Premier League, a little more than half for Manchester United and the rest for Everton. He earned almost 60 caps for England from 1996-07. He previously coached the men’s professional sides at Manchester United and Valencia.
• England brought some newer players, but still has 15 players from last year’s She Believes Cup on its roster. Neville has also included 10 players from England’s third-place team at the 2015 FIFA WWC in Canada.
• England has some extremely experienced players and is one of the most veteran teams in the world. Goalkeeper Karen Bardsley, who grew up in Orange County, Calif., played club for the SoCal Blues and attended Cal State Fullerton, has 74 caps. Usual captain and central defender Steph Houghton has 101 caps with 11 goals while winger Karen Carney is on 136 caps with 31 goals, which is the most international scores on the squad.
• England has a deep and dangerous forward line, with Ellen White (76 caps/27 goals), Toni Duggan (67/22), Jodie Taylor (39/17) and Nikita Paris (29/10).
• The defensive also includes former UNC Tar Heel Lucy Bronze, who has 64 caps and seven goals.
• Besides the two NWSL players (see below), Bronze, Duggan and backup goalkeeper Mary Earps (Wolfsburg) are the only England players currently playing club soccer outside their country. Bronze is in France where she plays at Olympique Lyon and Duggan plies her trade for FC Barcelona.
• England has two NWSL players on the roster in Rachel Daly of the Houston Dash, long an attacking player who has switched to defender for her country, and forward Jodie Taylor of Reign FC. Taylor, who returned to the league in 2018 after playing with the Washington Spirit and the Portland Thorns over 2014-15 (when she scored 14 goals between the clubs), scored the opening goal against Canada in the 2015 Women’s World Cup quarterfinal. Taylor scored nine goals with one assist for the Reign last season. Daly led the Dash with 10 goals.
• England’s 23 player roster features eight players from Manchester City, three from Chelsea, two from Arsenal and Birmingham City and one from Manchester United.
• England had a smooth qualifying campaign for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, winning UEFA Qualifying Group 1 with seven wins and one draw, that coming against Wales at home. England defeated Wales away, 3-0, to qualify for France with one game to spare. England out-scored its opponents 29-1 during the eight matches.
• Nikita Parris (six goals) led England during qualifying, but the scoring was spread around. Toni Duggan had four while Jill Scott had three and Lucy Bronze, Izzy Christiansen, Steph Houghton and Fran Kirby had two each.
• Scott was initially named to the roster but withdrew “to manage her return to fitness ahead of this summer’s World Cup” and was replaced by Chioma Ubogagu, who recently switched associations from the USA to England. Ubogagu, who plays with the Orlando Pride, was a key member of the U.S. team that won the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, scoring in OT in a 2-1 victory against North Korea in the quarterfinal of that tournament.
• England has won six straight games outside of England. They have outscored opponents 19-2 in those games.
• When England return home after the SBC, they will continue their build-up for the 2019 Women’s World Cup with the “Road to France Series” which comprises two games in early April, against Canada at the Academy Stadium (April 5) and Spain at the County Ground (April 9), and then matches against Denmark at Banks’s Stadium (May 25) before the visit of New Zealand (June 1) to the Amex Stadium in Brighton just before the tournament begins.

USA VS. ENGLAND

• The USA is 10-4-1 all-time against England. The last four meetings between the teams have been 1-0 results, three wins for the USA and one for England.
• The most recent meeting came at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup with the lone goal coming when a Megan Rapinoe cross hit off defender Millie Bright and off goalkeeper Karen Bardsley before spinning into the net.
• The USA beat England 1-0 on Feb. 13, 2015, in Milton Keynes, England with the lone goal coming from an Alex Morgan header and at the 2016 SheBelieves Cup in Tampa, Fla, on a brilliant goal from Crystal Dunn. The meeting with England in Milton Keynes, England, sparked a 24-game unbeaten streak which included the run to the World Cup title. England did have a goal controversially waved off due to offside in that match.
• England turned the tables on the USA at the 2017 SheBelieves Cup, scoring in the 89th minute when Ellen White finished from close range after a goal mouth scramble from a set play.
• The USA has nine players on its roster that played in last year’s meeting with England at the SheBelieves Cup, including nine that started, while England has 13, including nine who started.
• Prior to the 2015 meeting, the USA and England hadn’t played since a 2011 friendly in London that saw England defeat the USA 2-1. Prior to that, the teams hadn’t met since the 2007 Women’s World Cup, a 3-0 victory for the USA during the quarterfinal in Tianjin, China.
• The USA lost its first two matches against England, played in 1985 and 1988, both in Italy. The 1985 match was the third ever played by the U.S. Women’s National Team, a 3-1 loss.
• U.S. defender Crystal Dunn, who played her last match with Chelsea on Feb. 24, 2018, in a 2-2 tie with Manchester City, will be reunited with several of her teammates during this tournament.