USWNT roster selected for 2024 SheBelieves Cup, featuring 23 players
CHICAGO – U.S. Women’s National Team interim head coach Twila Kilgore has named the 23-player roster for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, taking place on April 6 and 9 in Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio, respectively.
The roster includes 19 players from the squad that won the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, defeating Brazil 1-0 in the championship game on March 10. Forward Mallory Swanson, still just 25 years old, returns to a game roster for the first time since suffering a major knee injury on April 8, 2023. Should she play in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup, it would mark just under a year to the day since Swanson’s last USWNT cap. She has played in two matches so far this season for the Chicago Red Stars and trained with the USA prior to the Concacaf W Gold Cup. Swanson was named the heBelieves Cup MVP at the conclusion of the 2023 tournament after scoring in every match while helping the USA to the tournament title.
Also returning after a long recovery from a major knee injury is forward Catarina Macario. The 24-year-old Macario returned to the field in grand fashion for Chelsea, scoring in her first two games off the bench and getting an assist in the Blues’ 3-0 UEFA Women’s Champions League win over Ajax on March 19 and setting up the final goal in Chelsea’s March 24 win over Aston Villa. Macario has not played for the USA since April 12, 2022, a match in which she scored twice against Uzbekistan. Should she play in the opening game of the SheBelieves Cup, it would mark just under two years to the day since Macario’s last USWNT cap. Macario won Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP honors in 2022.
Rounding out the roster are two players currently plying their trades in Europe in 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain defender Eva Gaetino and 16-year-old Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes, both of whom get their first senior team call-ups. Gaetino scored the opening goal in PSG’s quarterfinal win over BK Hacken on March 20 while Yohannes started and put in a solid performance against Chelsea.
This SheBelieves Cup roster features 17 NWSL players who are at the start of their seasons and six that will come to Atlanta from Europe: Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC), Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Macario, Gaetino and Yohannes. All except for Fox play for clubs who are still alive in the quarterfinal round of the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
“This is an evolving team that is eager to get back together and continue progressing,” said Kilgore, who will coach her final two matches in this role before joining new USWNT head coach Emma Hayes’ staff as an assistant. “The W Gold Cup provided a lot of players with needed experiences and presented us with different adversities we had to overcome together. We will take all these experiences with us into SheBelieves and beyond. Of course, we’re thrilled to welcome back Mal and Cat and continue to incorporate some less experienced players into the mix.”
The roster includes the scorers of 14 of the USA’s 15 goals at the Concacaf W Gold Cup, led by tournament MVP Jaedyn Shaw (4 goals), Lindsey Horan (3), Alex Morgan (2), Olivia Moultrie (2), Jenna Nighswonger (2) and Sophia Smith (1).
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club) – 2024 SheBelieves 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 (NY/NJ Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), Eva Gaetino (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NY/NJ Gotham FC)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Lily Yohannes (AFC Ajax, NED)
FORWARDS (6): Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars)
“The opportunities to play Japan and Brazil or Canada are always exciting and meaningful, and each team brings different strengths and challenges,” added Kilgore. “With these two games, we are now three games into a five-game stretch against teams that have also qualified for the Olympics. So the timing of this event and getting to face these opponents is incredibly valuable while we both continue to assess and prepare for the Olympics. Everyone also wants to put their best foot forward not only for country and self but knowing that Emma will join us soon.”
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
All four teams come into the tournament ranked in the top 10 in the world, all competed in last year’s SheBelieves Cup tournament and all four have qualified for the 2024 Olympics. Due to the change in FIFA competition windows and the staging of the Concacaf W Gold Cup in February and March, the format of the SheBelieves Cup also changes this year. While there will still be four participants, there will be four matches instead of the usual six and the teams will play Semifinals (April 6), a Third-Place Match and the Championship (April 9). The format will return to three doubleheaders in 2025.
In the Semifinals on April 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the USA (#4) will face Japan (#7) at 12:30 p.m. ET (TNT, Universo, Max & Peacock) and Brazil (#10) will take on Canada (#9) at 3:30 p.m. ET (Universo, Max & Peacock).
The four nations will then travel to Columbus, Ohio with Lower.com Field hosting the final two games of the tournament at 4 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET on April 9 as the Semifinal winners play in the Championship and the losers play in the Third-Place Match. The USA will play in the 7 p.m. ET time slot (TBS, Universo, Max & Peacock) whether it is playing in Championship or Third-Place Match, and the other game will be at 4 p.m. ET (TBS, Universo, Max & Peacock).
VISA SHEBELIEVES CUP MVP
For the fifth year in a row, Visa, the presenting sponsor of the SheBelieves Cup, will award the MVP trophy to the most outstanding player of the tournament. The award will be announced following the conclusion of the final match on April 9 and with the input of a selection committee comprised of representatives from all four competing nations.
For the fourth year in a row, fans will also get the opportunity to vote for the Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP award using an online ballot to select among a list of finalists chosen by the committee. The fan vote will be incorporated into the overall determination of the 2024 Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP.
Spain attacker Alexia
Additional Notes:
- The opening day of the 2024 SheBelieves at Mercedes-Benz in Atlanta has sold more than 37,000 tickets, making it the third largest domestic attendance for a non-World Cup, non-Olympic match in U.S. history. The two top attendances on that list both came in the first games back on U.S. soil after winning the World Cup, 49,504 on Aug. 29, 2019, vs. Portugal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.) and 44,028 on Aug. 16, 2015, vs. Costa Rica at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pa.
- There are approximately 4,000 tickets left to sell for the second match day at Lower.com Field in Columbus.
- Sophia Smith netted a hat-trick in the USA’s first ever match at Lower.com Field, which came against Uzbekistan on April 9, 2022.
- Eva Gaetino, a former Notre Dame star, decided to forgo the 2024 NWSL Draft and sign with Paris Saint-Germain, where she is teammates with USWNT midfielder Korbin Albert. Gaetino scored her first professional goal on March 20, and it was a big one, helping PSG defeat Swedish club Hacken, 2-1, in the first leg of the UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinal series. Gaetino is the youngest American ever to score in the knockout stages of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She spent time most recently with the U.S. Under-23 Women’s Youth National Team in early 2023, earning call-ups in February and March of that year.
- Lily Yohannes, who signed a professional contract at the age of 15 with Ajax, was born in Springfield, Va., and her family moved to the Netherlands when she was 10 years old. She attended U.S. Youth National Teams camps at the U-15 and U-16 levels and was invited to participate with the U.S. U-17 Women’s Youth National Team prior to Concacaf qualifying during this World Cup cycle, but commitments to Ajax precluded her participation. Yohannes is a regular starter for Ajax, which sits in second place in the Eredivisie Vrouwen, and she has started six UEFA Women’s Champions League matches for the club this season.
- She is the youngest player to be called up for a full National Team camp since 16-year-old Sophia Smith was called up in April of 2017 for the training camp prior to matches against Russia in Texas.
- Yohannes is the youngest-ever player to start a UEFA Women’s Champions league match.
- Just four players on the USA’s W Gold Cup roster have 100 or more caps: Alex Morgan (221), Crystal Dunn (143), Lindsey Horan (144) and Alyssa Naeher (102).
- Seven players on this roster have 10 or fewer caps, including two uncapped players in Gaetino and Yohannes.
- Ten players called up for this camp were on the USA’s roster at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and eight – Dahlkemper, Davidson, Dunn, Horan, Morgan, Naeher, Sonnett and Swanson – were on the roster for the 2019 Women’s World Cup champions.
- Ten players called up for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup were on the USWNT’s roster at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
- Seven players – Albert, Coffey, Gaetino, Moultrie, Nighswonger, Shaw and Yohannes – have been named to their first SheBelieves Cup roster while 10 players on this roster were on the USWNT roster for the 2023 SheBelieves Cup. The remaining six players on this roster have previous SheBelieves Cup experience.
- There are three teenagers on the roster in the 16-year-old Yohannes, 18-year-old Moultrie and 19-year-old Shaw. Moultrie and Shaw played at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica along with now 20-year-old Korbin Albert.
- The roster features a total of 10 players who were born after the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this summer.
- Fourteen players on this roster were born after the 1996 Summer Olympics, which was the first Olympics to feature women’s soccer and marked the first gold medal won by the USWNT.
- Twelve clubs – and just seven different NWSL clubs – are represented on this roster. NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC and San Diego Wave FC lead the way with four players each while Portland Thorns FC have three. Paris Saint-Germain, the Washington Spirit and Chicago Red Stars also have multiple players on this SheBelieves Cup roster.
