USWNT overcomes two-goal deficit to earn 2-2 draw against Spain
CHESTER, PA – Three days after its 2-0 loss to Spain in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Women’s National Team once again fell behind by two goals, but this time fought back to earn a 2-2 draw in the rematch. After Spain took a two-goal lead in the first half, the USA finished two opportunities on the other side of halftime to get the result in front of 18,648 fans at Subaru Park.
On Oct. 10, forwards Ashley Sanchez and Mallory Swanson made their first USWNT appearances in nearly two years, and both found the back of the net tonight. Sanchez scored her fourth international goal in the 49thminute, and Swanson scored the late equalizer in the 86th minute to become the 12th mother to score for the USWNT.
U.S. head coach Emma Hayes made four changes to the Starting XI from last match, inserting Phallon Tullis-Joyce in goal, Sanchez on the forward line, Claire Hutton in the midfield and Gisele Thompson on the back line. Tullis-Joyce was called into action early and made both of her two saves in the first 15 minutes, including a one-handed stop from close range.
Spain’s next shot put the world champions ahead in the 27th minute and it came through build-up play on the right side. Midfielder Clara Serrajordi received the ball on the edge of the box and sent a curling pass across the face of the goal. Clara Pinedo, who looked to a touch offside, dummied the cross and left it for midfielder Alexia Putellas, who finished from close range at the left post. A lengthy VAR review found Pinedo to be onside and the goal stood.
Like Saturday’s match, Spain quickly doubled its lead. Under pressure and facing her own goal, defender Emily Fox played the ball back to Tullis-Joyce inside of her box for a quick clearance, which unfortunately flew straight to Putellas, a two-time world player of the year. She gathered the ball in midfield and made a central run before splitting two defenders with a pass to Salma Paralluelo on the right. The forward took a touch inside the box andsmashed her shot off the underside of the crossbar and over the goal line.
The U.S. pushed for its opening goal before halftime. In the 34th minute, Fox switched play out left to Sanchez, who dribbled at goal and cut to her right foot at the top of the box, but her shot went wide. Just before the break, midfielder Rose Lavelle lofted in a cross from a free kick about 30 yards out. Forward Trinity Rodman got on the end, but her header was right at goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez.
The frontline carried the momentum into the second half and finally found the breakthrough in the 49th minute. Forward Sophia Wilson received a pass near midfield, fended off a tackle and raced towards the Spain goal. She passed out wide to Sanchez on the left, who dribbled inside the box, stutter-stepped in front of her defender and played a low shot into the bottom right corner of the goal. It was Sanchez’s first USWNT goal since July 14, 2022, and Wilson’s 12th international assist.
Five substitutes around the hour-mark brought another wave of energy into the match. Sanchez played midfielder Lily Yohannes in the center circle and Yohannes sent a first touch pass behind Spain’s backline to Mallory Swanson. The forward sprinted towards goal and tried a left-footed shot, but Rodriguez extended for the save.
Swanson would not be denied on her second golden chance, tying the game on a brilliant finish with four minutes left in regulation time. Defender Kate Del Fava, who came on in the 80th minute to earn her first cap at age 28, sent a long ball down the right flank to forward Michelle Cooper. Cooper held up the play and found Swanson unmarked running inside the box. Swanson collected the ball, which popped in the air, and she smacked a brilliant volley into the lower left corner for her first goal since her Olympic gold medal-winning goal on Aug. 10, 2024. Cooper earned her third international assist.
In one of the final plays of the match, Yohannes whipped in a shot from outside the box that deflected off a Spanish defender and nearly snuck in the bottom right corner of the goal, but Rodriguez made a world class save to scoop the ball away from the net and out for a corner kick and on what would have been the game-winner.
The next competition for the U.S. Women’s National Team will be the 2026 Concacaf W Championship Quarterfinal in Mansfield, Texas, where the USA will face El Salvador on Nov. 27 with the winner earning a berth to the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
Goal Scoring Rundown
ESP – ALEXIA PUTELLAS (CLARA SERRAJORDI) 27th minute: Midfielder Patricia Guijarro passed the ball to Clara Serrajordi at the right edge of the penalty area. Serrajordi settled the pass and sent in a curling cross on the ground behind the U.S. backline. Forward Clara Pinedo stepped over the pass, leaving it for Alexia Putellas who tapped the ball into the goal with her left foot. USA 0, ESP 1
ESP – SALMA PARALLUELO (ALEXIA PUTELLAS) 32nd minute: Putellas collected a poor clearance from the center of the field and made a run towards goal. She played a pass out right to forward Salma Paralluelo, who took a touch inside the box before smashing a right-footed shot. The ball bounced off the underside of the crossbar and into the goal. USA 0, ESP 2
USA – ASHLEY SANCHEZ (SOPHIA WILSON) 49th minute: Midfielder Lindsey Heaps played Sophia Wilson on the right flank and the forward broke through a tackle before continuing her run downfield. Wilson passed the ball to Sanchez on the left side, and she dribbled to the edge of the six-yard box before shooting a low, right-footed shot into the bottom right corner. USA 1, ESP 2
USA – MALLORY SWANSON (MICHELLE COOPER) 86th minute: Defender Kate Del Fava switched the ball to the right side of the field with a long ball over Spain’s backline. Cooper got on the end of the pass and held up play inside the box before playing a central pass to Swanson. She took a touch before swiveling to hit a right-footed volley that skidded into the bottom left corner from 15 yards out. USA 2, ESP 2
Additional Notes:
- Tonight’s Starting XI averaged 59.1 caps heading into the match, almost identical to the Oct. 10 starting lineup which averaged 59.3 average caps.
- Defender Kate Del Fava and forward Pietra Tordin became the sixth and seventh players to debut for the USWNT this year.
- Del Fava became the 291st player to earn a cap for the USWNT while Tordin was the 292nd. The were the 33rd and 34th players to earn first caps under U.S. head coach Emma Hayes.
- Midfielder Jaelin Howell subbed on in the 61st minute for her first WNT appearance in 316 days and earned her seventh cap.
- Del Fava and Tordin’s debuts in addition to Howell’s appearance mean that Hayes has set a program record for the number of different players to appear in a single calendar year at 46. Previously 2000, 2001 and 2025 were tied for the most players in a single calendar year with 44 players.
- Eight of the U.S. players who saw the pitch tonight have FIFA Women’s World Cup and/or Olympic experience: Lindsey Heaps, Emily Fox, Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson, Trinity Rodman, Sophia Wilson, Mallory Swanson, Alyssa Thompson
- Hayes made four changes to the Starting XI from last match, inserting Phallon Tullis-Joyce in goal, Ashley Sanchez on the forward line, Claire Hutton in the midfield and Gisele Thompson on the back line.
- Sanchez earned her first start since Oct. 30, 2024, vs. Argentina. She earned her first appearance since that match when she subbed on in the 66th minute vs. Spain on Oct. 10.
- Sanchez scored her first USWNT goal in 1,552 days and fourth career USWNT goal. The last time she scored for the U.S. was July 14, 2022.
- With her cap today, Lavelle passed Julie Ertz for 34th most caps in USWNT history with 124.
- This was the first time this combination of players (Fox, Davidson, Wesley, G. Thompson) started a match on the backline together. They were joined by Tullis-Joyce in goal.
- Sophia Wilson earned her first assist since returning to the USWNT after giving birth to her daughter in September of 2025. Her most recent assist before this was on July 31, 2024.
- Mallory Swanson’s goal was her first WNT goal since giving birth to her daughter last fall. With her 86th minute goal, Swanson became the 12th mother to score for the U.S. Before her were Alex Morgan (with 16 goals as a mom), Joy Fawcett (13 goals), Danielle Fotopoulos (5), Amy Rodriguez (4), Jessica McDonald (2), Kate Markgraf (1), Kristine Lilly (1), Tina Ellertson (1), Joan Dunlap-Seivold (1), Crystal Dunn (1) and fellow Triple Espresso member Wilson (1). With a goal against Brazil on Feb. 22, 2023, Morgan moved past Fawcett to become the all-time leader in U.S. goals as a mom with 14 and ended her career with 16 goals as a mom.
- Tonight’s goal was Swanson’s 39th for the USA. Her last goal before this was the game winner in the Olympic gold medal match vs. Brazil where the U.S. won 1-0 on Aug. 10, 2024.
- Michelle Cooper assisted Swanson to earn her third international assist.
– U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT –
Match: United States vs. Spain
Date: Oct. 13, 2026
Competition: International Match
Venue: Subaru Park; Chester, Pa.
Attendance: 18,648
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 71 degrees, clear
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F |
| USA | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| ESP | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| ESP — Alexia Putellas (Clara Serrajordi) | 27th minute |
| ESP — Salma Paralluelo (Alexia Putellas) | 32 |
| USA — Ashley Sanchez (Sophia Wilson) | 49 |
| USA — Mallory Swanson (Michelle Cooper) | 86 |
Lineups:
USA: 24-Phallon Tullis-Joyce; 23-Emily Fox, 25-Kennedy Wesley, 12-Tierna Davidson (4-Kate Del Fava, 80), 22-Gisele Thompson (21-Alyssa Thompson, 61); 15-Claire Hutton (17-Jaelin Howell, 61), 10-Lindsey Heaps (Capt.) (6-Lily Yohannes, 61), 16-Rose Lavelle (9-Mallory Swanson, 61); 2-Trinity Rodman (20-Michelle Cooper, 60), 11-Sophia Wilson (19-Emma Sears, 80), 7-Ashley Sanchez (13-Pietra Tordin, 80)
Substitutes not used: 1-Claudia Dickey, 3-Avery Patterson, 5-Tara Rudd, 26-Evelyn Shores
Not dressing: Trinity Byars, Jordan Silkowitz, Lilly Reale
Head Coach Emma Hayes
ESP: 1-Misa Rodriguez; 3-Oihane Hernandez (2-Ona Batlle, 46), 4-Irene Paredes (15-Laia Codina, 78), 5-Maria Mendez, 6-Andrea Medina (18-Ornella Vignola, 78); 22-Clara Serrajordi (8-Natalia Ramos, 78), 12-Patricia Guijarro, 11-Alexia Putellas (21-Fiamma Benitez, 61); 7-Salma Paralluelo (17-Lucia Corrales, 46), 24-Edna Imade (14-Alba Redondo, 46), 20-Clara Pinedo (16-Lucia Garcia)
Substitutes not used: 23-Ardiana Nanclares, 13-Eunate Astralaga; 19-Eva Navarro, 25-Ainhoa Marin
Head coach: Sonia Bermudez
Stats Summary: USA / ESP
Shots: 14 / 15
Shots on Goal: 6 / 4
Saves: 2 / 4
Corner Kicks: 8 / 5
Fouls: 6 / 11
Offside: 4 / 2
| Misconduct Summary | |
| ESP — Natalia Ramos (Caution) | 81st minute |
| ESP — Ornella Vignola (Caution) | 90+4 |
Officials:
Referee: Myriam Marcotte (CAN)
AR1: Gabrielle Lemieux (CAN)
AR2: Jasset Kerr-Wilson (JAM)
4th Official: Ximena Marquez (MEX)
VAR: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (CAN)
A-VAR: Odette Hamilton (JAM)
