USWNT roster set for training camp ahead of first friendlies since winning Olympic Gold Medal

CHICAGO – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes has named a 26-player training camp roster for the upcoming FIFA international window, as the USWNT returns to the field for its first three matches since winning the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in France.

The USA’s first match on American soil since the 1-0 victory over Brazil in the gold medal game will be against Iceland on Thursday, Oct. 24 at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas (7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT on TBS, Max, Universo and Peacock).

The USA will face Iceland again on Sunday, Oct. 27 at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tenn. in a match (5:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. CT on TNT, truTV, Max, Universo and Peacock) before traveling to Louisville, Ky. to host Argentina on Wednesday, Oct. 30 in a match at Lynn Family Stadium (7 p.m. ET on TNT, Universo, truTV, Max and Peacock), the home of Racing Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League. Hayes will name 23 players to suit up for each of the three matches.

“There’s no doubt that the summer was brilliant, and we want to make these three games about celebrating some amazing accomplishments and players, but at the same time, we can’t rest on any laurels,” said Hayes, who led the USA to gold in just her 10th match. “Our focus is forward, our focus is on our process, and we want to keep chasing new heights. I love that we get to see most of our Olympic Team again after a few months, but I also love getting to work with some newer players and evaluate how they perform in our environment. Every 90 minutes of an international match is full of learning, for me and the players, and we’re looking forward to three great games for our fans to end our home schedule before we go to Europe in November.”

U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club; Caps/Goals) – October Friendlies 2024

GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 8), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 19), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 112)

DEFENDERS (9): Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 57/1), Eva Gaetino (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 0/0), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 40/0), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit; 56/0), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current; 8/0), Alyssa Malonson (Bay FC; 0/0), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 15/2), Emily Sams (Orland Pride; 0/0), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 99/2)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 18/1), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 24/1), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit; 0/0), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 156/35), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 106/24), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 4/2), Ashley Sanchez (North Carolina Courage; 27/3)

FORWARDS (7): Yazmeen Ryan (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 0/0), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC; 0/0), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC; 16/7), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 56/23), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars; 100/38), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 9/0), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 71/19)

Eighteen members of the U.S. Olympic Team were named, including Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, who along with Trinity Rodman formed the “Triple Espresso” front line which combined for 10 of the USA’s 12 goals at the Olympics and five of the nine assists. Rodman will not attend training camp as she will stay with her club to continue her rehabilitation from a back injury while attackers Alyssa Thompson and Ashley Sanchez, both members of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Team, return to the USWNT fold.

Hayes named six uncapped players, two of whom were at the Olympics with the USA in midfielder Hal Hershfelt and defender Emily Sams. The other uncapped players are Paris Saint-Germain center back Eva Gaetino, who makes her second USWNT roster, and first-time call-ups defender Alyssa Malonson and forwards Yazmeen Ryan and Emma Sears, all of whom have distinguished themselves in the NWSL this season.

The roster does not include any players from the U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team that finished third in late September at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia as those players are being given time to reintegrate with their clubs and colleges.

U.S. Soccer is planning to hold a “Futures Camp” alongside the full USWNT training camp in January in Los Angeles that will feature up-and-coming National Team prospects. That event will likely provide opportunities for some of the U-20 WWC bronze medal winners who famously won all three of their knockout round matches that went into overtime.

Two players will be honored for earning 100 caps on this trip: Swanson, who earned her 100th cap in the Olympic gold medal game on Aug. 10, and midfielder Rose Lavelle, who played in her 100th game for the USA on June 4. Swanson will be honored pre-game in Nashvilleon Oct. 27 while Lavelle will be honored pre-game on Oct. 30 in Louisville. Kelley O’Hara, one of the legendary players in USWNT history, will be honored at halftime on Oct. 27, having announced her retirement from professional soccer earlier this year.

Just four players on this roster have 100 or more caps: Lindsey Horan (156), Alyssa Naeher (112), Rose Lavelle (106) and Mallory Swanson (100), but defender Emily Sonnett is on 99 caps and will become the 45th USWNT player to hit 100 with her next appearance.

The U.S. roster for these three matches features 22 NWSL players and four players from European clubs. Midfielder Korbin Albert, who scored in Olympic group play against Australia and assisted on the game-winning goal in the gold medal game, and Gaetino come into camp from Paris Saint-Germain. U.S. captain and midfielder Lindsey Horan comes over from Olympique Lyon after a fast start with the French champions that has seen her score five goals with two assists in her first three league matches of the new campaign, while defender Emily Fox, who scored her first-ever UEFA Women’s Champions League goal on Oct. 16, comes into camp at the start of her season in England with Arsenal FC.

These will be the final domestic matches of year with the USWNT finishing up the 2024 schedule abroad, facing England at Wembley Stadium in London on Nov. 30 and the Netherlands at ADO Den Haag Stadium in The Hague on Dec. 3.

Additional Notes:

• The four 2024 Olympians absent from the roster are defender Tierna Davidson and midfielder Croix Bethune, who are injured, Trinity Rodman, and defender Crystal Dunn, who was not available for selection due to personal commitments.
• This is the first National Team call-up at any level for forward Emma Sears, who has five goals and one assist so far for Racing Louisville FC in her rookie year.
• Sears was the final pick of the second round (28th overall) of the final NWSL Draft in 2024. She could get the chance to play in her club’s home stadium in Louisville.
• Forward Yazmeen Ryan, who is in her fourth NWSL season, has four goals and four assists so far this year with playoff-bound Gotham FC.
• Ryan earned two U.S. Under-18 WNT caps in 2018, playing in two matches against Switzerland in Switzerland and earned three caps for the U.S. U-23 WNT in 2019, playing against Sweden, France and Italy in La Manga, Spain.
• Defender Alyssa Malonson is in her third NWSL season and has made 20 appearances this year, including 14 starts, for expansion side Bay FC. She was chosen as the #20 overall pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, but opted to return to college at Auburn, and eventually signed with OL Reign where she played in 2022 and 2023 before being selected as the first pick in the 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft by Bay FC.
• Malonson has played with the USA at the Under-15 level and with the U.S. U-23s in 2019 and 2022. In 2019, she played against Sweden, France and Italy in La Manga, Spain.
• Defender Emily Sams and midfielder Hal Hershfelt were both with the USA at the 2024 Olympics, but neither saw action, and both will be looking for their first senior team caps.
• Sams had the rare distinction of winning an Olympic gold medal – by virtue of her appearance on a game day roster (she was on two) at the Olympics – before earning a cap and added even more hardware this fall, helping lead the Orlando Pride to the 2024 NWSL Shield.
• Midfielder Ashley Sanchez returns to the USWNT for the first time in about a year, having last played for the USA on Oct. 29, 2023, against Colombia in San Diego, Calif. She has five goals and four assists for the playoff-bound NC Courage this season.
• Red hot forward Alyssa Thompson, who has scored five goals – with one assist — in her last eight NWSL matches after not scoring all season, last played for the USWNT on Dec. 4, 2023, against China PR in Frisco, Texas, in the final match of that year.
• Defender Hailie Mace has not appeared for the USA since Nov. 13, 2022, which was the final game of that year, when she played the very end of the match against Germany in Harrison, N.J. She played in five matches for the USA in 2022 and was part of the USA’s January Camp in 2023, though did not see game action in the USWNT’s year-opening matches in New Zealand.
• Midfielder Olivia Moultrie, the youngest player on this squad, returns to the roster having last played for the USA at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup in February/March, a tournament in which she played in two matches and scored her first two career goals, those coming in the opening game win over the Dominican Republic. Moultrie was also part of the U.S. roster for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup but did not see the field.
• Forward Jaedyn Shaw, who suffered an unfortunate muscle injury on the eve of the Olympics and did not feature in the tournament, was the youngest player on the Olympic roster and is one of three teenagers on this training camp roster, along with Moultrie and Thompson. All are 19.
• Fourteen players, more than half the roster, have fewer than 20 caps.
• There are only fiveplayers on this roster currently in their 30s: Alyssa Naeher, Casey Krueger, Lynn Williams, Lindsey Horanand Emily Sonnett.
• Fifteen different clubs – three from Europe and 12 from the NWSL – are represented on this roster. NJ/NY Gotham FC leads the way with five players
• Fourteen of the 22 NWSL players on the roster play for clubs that have qualified for the playoffs while seven are on teams still vying for a post-season berth.