USWNT to open 2018 schedule vs Denmark on Jan. 21 in San Diego

CHICAGO (Via U.S. Soccer) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will open its 2018 schedule against 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro runners-up Denmark. The match will take place on Sunday, Jan. 21 at San Diego County Credit Union Stadium (formerly Qualcomm Stadium) and will kick-off at 4:30 p.m. PT on ESPN.

The USA played an ambitious schedule in 2017, facing seven of the other top-nine teams in the world, and will kick off 2018 in similar fashion, taking on a Denmark team that advanced to the title game of the 2017 UEFA Women’s Euro before falling 4-2 to the Netherlands in a highly-entertaining championship match. Along the way, the Danes defeated Belgium, Norway, Germany and Austria (in penalty kicks) before falling to the Dutch (after also losing 1-0 to the eventual champions in group play).

+READ: U.S. U-18 Women’s National Team set for final camp of 2017

The USA has played Denmark 24 times in its history, but this will be the first meeting since March of 2014 at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, a 5-3 loss for the Americans, which set the record for most goals allowed by a U.S. WNT in a single match.

Additional Notes:

• The USA will travel to San Diego for the match at the end of its annual January training camp in Los Angeles.
• Heading into the WNT’s 33rd year of competition, the match will mark the 24th time the U.S. has started the year against a European nation, and the third time that nation has been Denmark. Both previous matches were outside the USA, in Cyprus in 1993 and in Portugal in 2009.
• The USA is 16-5-3 all-time against Denmark, which is currently ranked 13th in the world.
• Eleven of the 24 all-time matches between the teams took place at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.
• The USA played Denmark in the championship game of the Algarve Cup in back-to-back years in 2007 and 2008, winning 2-0 and 2-1, respectively.
• From 2004 through the final match of 2015, the USA put together a 104-match home unbeaten streak. The last home loss before that streak began was to Denmark on Nov. 6, 2004, in Philadelphia.
• The U.S. WNT has scored at least two goals against Denmark in the last six matches between the teams.
• This will be the USA’s fourth overall match at SDCCU Stadium and third consecutive year playing at the venue after playing there in January of 2016 (a match that featured Mallory Pugh’s debut and her first WNT goal) and July of 2017 during the wild 4-3 comeback win against Brazil in the Tournament of Nations. The USA also played at the stadium in 2014, a 3-0 win against China PR.
• The match will mark the eighth time the U.S. WNT has played in San Diego with the first four games taking place at Torero Stadium on the camps of the University of San Diego.