EMMA HAYES NAMES FIRST ROSTER AS HEAD COACH OF THE U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM
23 Players Named to Roster for Matches Against Korea Republic in Commerce City, Colorado and St. Paul, Minnesota, Which Will Be Final Games Before the Selection of the 2024 U.S Olympic Women’s Soccer Team
CHICAGO (May 21, 2024) – Emma Hayes has named the roster for her first matches after officially becoming head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Hayes has called up 23 players for matches against Korea Republic, taking place in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (3 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. ET on TNT, Universo, truTV, Max and Peacock) before moving on to St. Paul, Minnesota for a June 4 match at Allianz Field, which will be presented by Allstate (7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET on truTV, Universo, Max and Peacock).
The roster features a mix of veterans, up-and-coming players and three who have yet to be capped. This is the final roster before the naming of the 2024 Olympic Women’s Soccer Team which will play in the USA’s final two matches before leaving for France, on July 13 vs. Mexico at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (3:30 p.m. ET on TNT, Telemundo, truTV, Universo, Max and Peacock) and against Costa Rica on July 16 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. (7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, Universo, truTV, Max and Peacock).
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club) – June Friendlies vs. Korea Republic
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage)
DEFENDERS (7): Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Sam Staab (Chicago Red Stars)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Lily Yohannes (Ajax, NED)
FORWARDS (7): Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 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)
“I’m really looking forward to getting started,” said Hayes. “The preparations have been well underway and I can’t wait to get into camp. We know it’s a short turnaround and we have a lot of work to do, but I’m fully focused on making sure that the performances are at the levels that are required to compete. I want to build on the work that (former interim head coach and now assistant coach) Twila (Kilgore) has been implementing over the last six months. I expect complete commitment from everyone to absorb very quickly the things that I value as the most important so that we can compete this summer. I know they are a highly coachable group and I’m looking forward to challenging them. It’s time to go to work. I can’t wait to meet the fans and it’s really time to get behind the team as we get closer to putting a roster together for the Olympics.”
The roster includes 19 players who helped the USA win the 2024 SheBelieves Cup in April and features the return of midfielder Rose Lavelle, who is two appearances away from becoming the 43rd player in U.S. Women’s National Team history to reach 100 career caps. The roster also includes National Women’s Soccer League leading scorer and Colorado native Sophia Smith (8 goals), who also leagues the league in shots (33) and shots on goal (21). She is tied for the league lead in assists with six. Jaedyn Shaw, the USA’s leading scorer in 2024, has five goals and one assist in her eight appearances. Mallory Swanson will also return to her home state for the June 1 match. She has three goals and two assists for the Chicago Red Stars so far this season.
U.S. captain Lindsey Horan, also a Colorado native, has scored four goals for the USWNT this year. She will arrive in camp after her French club Olympique Lyon contends for the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League title. Lyon faces Barcelona in Bilbao, Spain on May 25 for the grandest prize in women’s professional club soccer. It would be Lyon’s unprecedented ninth Champions League title and second in the last three years. Lyon won the Division 1 Féminine on May 17, defeating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in the league’s first championship game in 20 years.
Horan leads a contingent of five players who played in Europe this year, a group that features Catarina Macario, who helped Chelsea FC win the Women’s Super League title last weekend, Emily Fox, who helped Arsenal FC qualify for next year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League while winning the League Cup, Korbin Albert, who helped Paris Saint-Germain win the French Cup and finished runner-up to Horan’s Lyon in the league, and 16-year-old Lily Yohannes, who helped Ajax to a runner-up finish in the Women's Eredivisie and a deep run in the UWCL.
The other 18 players come from the NWSL, which is about a third of the way through its season. Seven NWSL clubs contributed players to this roster, led by NJ/NY Gotham FC, which has five players. The Washington Spirit has four and San Diego Wave FC has three.
Strong NWSL play has earned two players their first-ever senior National Team call-ups in 27-year-old Chicago Red Stars defender Sam Staab and 21-year-old Washington Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt. Staab, Hershfelt and Yohannes are the three uncapped players on the roster. This is the second consecutive call-up for Yohannes, who was on the USA roster for the SheBelieves Cup but did not see action in either match.
In addition, Hayes has named three training players who will not be on the game rosters but will train with the team during the camp. Those are midfielder Olivia Moultrie, midfielder Croix Bethune and defender Kate Wiesner. For Bethune and Wiesner, both U.S. Women’s Youth National Team veterans, this will be their first training experience with the senior WNT. Moultrie has four career caps and two goals, both scored this year at the Concacaf W Gold Cup.
Additional Notes:
- The 23-player roster for the friendlies against Korea Republic averages 26.3 years of age and 50 caps per player.
- Nineteen of the 23 players on this roster were a part of the USA’s roster for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, in which the USA defeated Canada on penalty kicks in the championship match. Rose Lavelle, Aubrey Kingsbury, Sam Staab and Hal Hershfelt are the new additions for the matches in Commerce City and St. Paul.
- Staab has U.S. Youth National Team experience with the U-19s and earned three caps with the U.S. U-23s in 2018, scoring against Norway in a 1-0 win in Sarpsborg, Norway.
- Hershfelt, the fifth pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft out of Clemson, earns her first National Team call-up at any age level. She has scored two goals so far this season for the Spirit.
- Just three players on this roster have 100 or more caps: Alex Morgan (223), Lindsey Horan (146) and Crystal Dunn (145).
- Seven players on this roster have fewer than 10 caps including three uncapped players in 16-year-old Lily Yohannes, 21-year-oldHershfelt and 27-year-old Staab.
- There are two teenagers on the roster in Yohannes and 19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw. Shaw played at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica along with the now 20-year-old Korbin Albert.
- There are only four players on this roster currently in their 30s – Alex Morgan, Casey Krueger, Aubrey Kingsbury and Crystal Dunn – though Lindsey Horan will celebrate her 30th birthday on May 26, the day before camp opens in her native Colorado.
- Twelve different clubs – five from Europe and seven from the NWSL – are represented on this roster. NJ/NY Gotham FC leads the way with five players followed by four from the Washington Spirit and three from San Diego Wave FC.
- Eleven players called up for this camp were on the USA’s roster at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and seven – Morgan, Dunn, Horan, Lavelle, Sonnett, Swanson and Davidson – were on the roster for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Champions.
- Nine players called up for this camp were on the USA’s roster at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics where the USA won bronze.
- 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 and she started six UEFA Women’s Champions League matches for the club this season.
- Yohannes 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. She will turn 17 on June 12.
- The roster features a total of nine 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.
- Croix Bethune, the third player taken in the 2024 NWSL Draft out of Georgia, where she transferred to from USC, is enjoying a fine rookie season with the Spirit, having scored four goals with six assists already. Her six assists are tied with Sophia Smith for the most in the NWSL this season. She played in the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Uruguay.
- Kate Wiesner, the seventh overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft out of Penn State, has seen action in seven matches for the Spirit this season. Wiesner played for the USA at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan.
