Shebelieves cup: an overview of the USWNT
- Isla Smith
- Feb 15
- 3 min read
The SheBelieves Cup is less than a week away, with Japan facing Australia in the opening game of the tournament. USA will be looking to claim their 8th tournament win, but there are some notable differences from previous years.
Squad information:
Last Tuesday, the US Women’s National Team released their squad for the February international break. With this being the first competitive window since the retirement of Alyssa Naeher in December 2024, two alternative goalkeepers were called up in place of her in the names of Jane Campbell and Mandy McGlynn, with Phallon Tullis-Joyce making the roster as a training keeper.
In the defence, Naomi Girma misses out once again through injury whilst Gisele Thompson will be looking to make her senior debut for the USA. Rose Lavelle misses out in the midfield whilst recovering from ankle surgery, with Claire Hutton earning her maiden call up. Lynn Biyendolo returns to the squad after missing out on January’s futures camp through injury and ‘triple Espresso’ (Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Sophia Wilson) all miss out for various reasons.
Head Coach:
After leaving Chelsea FC at the end of the 23/24 season, Emma Hayes will take charge of her first ever SheBelieves Cup. With more than 15 club medals and 15+ individual honours to her name, lifting silverware is no foreign object to the manager so will be looking to add to her collection later this month.
Strengths:
The teams strengths lie in their defence, with the squad conceding just 5 goals in their last 15 matches which includes their Olympics triumph. However, with the absence of Naomi Girma, two times NWSL Defender of the Year, the squad will be looking at playing more inexperienced players in the role.
10 players in the squad have four or fewer caps with four of them being entirely uncapped, whilst just 12 of the 22 players that were called up for the Olympics return. National Team captain Lindsey Heaps will lead the line once again, hoping to add to her 36 goal tally. Catarina Macario returns to the team for the first time since June 2024 after experiencing persistent knee pain that kept her out of the Olympics Squad.
Ones to watch:
Yazmeen Ryan broke through to the senior team last season after hitting a run of great form with NY/NJ Gotham. Now at Houston Dash it will be interesting to see how she shapes up for the team. Although she has yet to play a full 90, her play making abilities shone brightly in her debut match versus Iceland in October 2024.
On the other end of the pitch, Crystal Dunn will be looking to play her first minutes since September 2024. The defender, who signed for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the end of the January transfer window, played under Emma Hayes when she played for Chelsea from 2017 to 2018 so is likely to receive minutes despite the lack of recent playing time.
Fixtures:
The USA’s first match will kick off against Colombia at 1:00am GMT on Friday 21st February. Here we are likely to see fellow Chelsea players, Catarina Macario and Mayra Ramirez face each other as they both aim to add some goals to their tally.
The next match takes place against Australia at 22:00 pm on Sunday 23rd
February. With many Matilda’s playing in the NWSL alongside the USWNT, the game is bound to be one to watch.
The USA’s final match will take place against Japan at 3:30am on Thursday 27th February. Here the tournament will conclude and the winner will lift the trophy but with Japan holding the US until extra time in the knockout stages of the Olympics, it is bound to be an interesting match.
Team
Goalkeepers: Jane Campbell, Mandy McGlynn
Defenders: Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Tara McKeown, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sams, Emily Sonnet, Gisele Thompson.
Midfielders: Korbin Albert, Sam Coffey, Lindsey Heaps, Claire Hutton, Jaedyn Shaw, Lily Yohannes
Forwards: Lynn Biyendolo, Michelle Cooper, Catarina Macario, Yazmeen Ryan, Emma Sears, Ally Sentnor, Alyssa Thompson
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