USWNT forward Mia Fishel tears ACL at training camp – Alex Morgan joins roster in her place
CHICAGO – San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan will replace forward Mia Fishel on the U.S. Women’s National Team roster for the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. Fishel tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee during training on Feb. 19.
“I’m gutted for Mia, and I know the team and the entire staff is as well,” said U.S. interim head coach Twila Kilgore. “She’s been very effective in camp and has worked hard to make an impact. Since she’s been getting call-ups to the National Team, she’s shown a tremendous growth mindset, a desire to absorb information and has been a total team player. I know she’ll come back strong and hopefully be in the mix for the next World Cup. As we start this tournament, we’re fortunate to be able to add a player like Alex to the roster. Her accomplishments speak for themselves, she’s been training extremely hard with the Wave in preseason, and I know she’ll be more than ready to contribute in this tournament.”
Morgan adds 215 caps and 121 career international goals to the roster. Those numbers are good for 10th and fifth all-time in USWNT history, respectively. Morgan’s first action of the Concacaf W Gold Cup will mark the 15th year in which she has earned a cap for the USA. Her most recent cap was Oct. 29, 2023, against Colombia in her adopted hometown of San Diego, Calif.
Morgan will be on the game roster for today’s match against the Dominican Republic at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. that will open the USA’s tournament. The rules regarding replacing players due to injury in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup dictate that the replacement player must wear the same number as the player they are replacing, meaning Morgan will wear the number seven jersey, which would have been worn by Fishel.
The USA’s Concacaf W Gold Cup group will be played entirely at Dignity Health Sports Park. The USWNT opens Group A play today against Preliminary Round winner Dominican Republic, faces Argentina on Friday, February 23 and then finishes the first round against Mexico on Monday, February 26. All of the USA’s games will kick off at 7:15 p.m. PT / 10:15 p.m. ET. Tickets to all matches are available via https://www.concacaf.com/w-gold-cup/tickets.
The top two finishers in each of the three Concacaf W Gold Cup groups along with the two best third-place teams will qualify for the knockout stage, which will commence with the Quarterfinals at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on March 2 and 3, followed by the Semifinals and Final at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium on March 6 and 10, respectively.
The Quarterfinal pairings will be determined based on the Group Stage standings with the team accumulating the most points facing the country accumulating the least points, the team accumulating the second most points facing the team with the seventh most points and so on, so the #1 seed will face the #8 seed, #2 will play #7, #3 will play #6 and #4 will play #5.
U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB) – 2024 CONCACAF W GOLD CUP
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (8): Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NY/NJ Gotham FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
FORWARDS (6): Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
