Upcoming Opponents – Page 2 – Women's Soccer Express

Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying

When the United States Women’s National Team finishes the group stage of this year’s CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament against Costa Rica, they will likely face a line-up quite similar to the one that they faced last November, in the two sides’ most recent match-up. Of the 20 players on Costa Rica’s published roster for that friendly, head coach Amelia Valverde has retained 17 for the qualifying roster, including all 13 players who featured in that match (U.S. Soccer match report). Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying”

Neighbor Watch: Mexico’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying Announced

After failing to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Mexico faces a steep uphill challenge as it tries to qualify for the women’s soccer tournament at this year’s Summer Olympic in Tokyo. With just two slots available at the upcoming CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Championship, Mexico must first finish in the top half of Group B, which also includes two WWC squads, Canada and Jamaica, along with debutante minnow Saint Kitts & Nevis. Should Mexico get out of the group, most likely in the runner-up spot, behind a solid Canada team, Mexico’s opponent in the all-or-nothing semifinal will be the reigning world champions, the United States Women’s National Team (absent a shock result in Group A). Continue reading “Neighbor Watch: Mexico’s Roster for 2020 Olympic Qualifying Announced”

Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule

Today, U.S. Soccer finally confirmed the teams and venues for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which will be hosted by the United States Women’s National Team. The other three teams will be England, Japan, and first-time participant Spain.

The Cup’s matches will be played on Thursday, March 5th; Sunday, March 8th; and Wednesday, March 11th. All USWNT matches will be televised live via ESPN channels (English language) and TUDN (Spanish language). Tickets officially go on sale on Friday, January 17th, although there will be a Visa cardholder “pre-sale” on Thursday, January 16th. Continue reading “Finally! U.S. Soccer Officially Announces 2020 SheBelieves Cup Teams and Schedule”

2020 SheBelieves Cup: England Confirmed, But Germany, France, and Brazil Have Other Plans

Update (13-Jan-2020): U.S. Soccer has finally published the schedule for this year’s SheBelieves Cup. The fourth team will be Spain. Full details, here.

Update (05-Jan-2020): On December 20th, the JFA published preliminary calendars for their national teams, confirming Japan‘s participation in this year’s tournament. The identity of the final team has yet-to-be officially confirmed.

Although the teams for the 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup have yet to be officially announced, we do have a very good idea of which teams will not be competing against the host, the United States Women’s National Team.

That is because the fields for two other friendly tournaments which will be held during the same international window, the Algarve Cup, as well as a new four-team tournament hosted by France, were both officially confirmed last week.

Also, earlier in November, the FA confirmed that England (#5T) will once again be participating in the SheBelieves Cup. That nugget was buried in the FA’s press release about their hiring of former USWNT high performance coach Dawn Scott.

Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: England Confirmed, But Germany, France, and Brazil Have Other Plans”

Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window

A (belated) round-up of rosters for top national teams who will be playing (or have played) during the November international window, whether in friendlies or Women’s Euro qualifiers.

Roster covered in this article:

CONCACAF: Canada
CONMEBOL: Brazil
AFC: Australia, Japan
UEFA: England, Germany, Netherlands, France, Spain, Norway

The rosters for the United States and Sweden are analyzed in separate articles:

For Costa Rica roster analysis, see Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly

Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: November 2019 International Window”

Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly

For Sunday’s friendly against the United States Women’s National Team (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN2), Costa Rica’s head coach, Amelia Valverde has called up 20 players, including 15 who recently won the Bronze Medal at this year’s Pan-American Games in Lima, Peru. Among those medal-winners is US-based player. Raquel “Rocky” Rodriguez of Sky Blue FC. (Correction: As of mid-September 2019 Gloriana Villalobos is no long on Florida State’s squad due to personal reasons. – Tallahassee Democrat article)

Update (10-Nov-2019): Here is U.S. Soccer’s preview for the friendly, which includes notes on Costa Rica’s roster, apparently with updated cap and goal details for some of their veteran players.

Costa Rica has been very active since the international break for the Women’s World Cup, playing in the Pan-American Games in late July and early August, a two-match friendly tournament hosted by Brazil during the August/September international window, and two official matches during the October international window for CONCACAF Olympic Pre-Qualifying. Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Costa Rica’s Roster and Depth Chart for November 2019 Friendly”

2020 Olympic Qualifying: Draw Results, Schedule, and Venue Details

Earlier today, CONCACAF held the group draw for the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Championship, which will be hosted by the United States. As hosts, the United States Women’s National Team were placed in Group A. The USA’s opponents in Group A are Costa Rica, Panama, and Haiti. Group B, headlined by Canada will consist of Mexico, Jamaica, and Saint Kitts & Nevis. Continue reading “2020 Olympic Qualifying: Draw Results, Schedule, and Venue Details”

Opponent Watch: Sweden’s Roster for the November 2019 Friendly

On Thursday, November 7th, the United States Women’s National Team will play their first match under new head coach Vlatko Andonovski when they face Sweden, who finished third at the 2019 Women’s World Cup. This will be the 40th match all-time versus Sweden. Last month, Sweden announced a travel roster of 23 players (SvFF), though that roster has since been reduced to 21 as Linda Sembrant suffered a contusion during a club match (SvFF), while Caroline Seger was withdrawn for unspecified recovery reasons (SvFF).

Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Sweden’s Roster for the November 2019 Friendly”

2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: Draw Speculation

With Caribbean and Central American Olympic qualifying concluded, the field is now set for the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, which is expected to be hosted by the United States and is expected to run from January 28 to February 9, 2020 (per the Washington Post‘s Steven Goff – Twitter).

Joining the USA, Canada, and Mexico are Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, and Saint Kitts & Nevis. Of these eight teams, two will claim a ticket to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

This article takes a quick look at how the teams will most likely be divided into pots for the yet-to-be-announced group draw.

Continue reading “2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship: Draw Speculation”

Roster Round-Up: October 2019 International Window

A round-up of rosters for top national teams who will be playing during the October international window, whether in friendlies or Women’s Euro qualifiers.

Roster links and brief write-ups for the following other teams are provided in this article:

CONCACAF: Canada
CONMEBOL: Brazil
AFC: Japan
UEFA: England, Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, France, Spain, Norway

A write-up on the roster for the USWNT’s opponent this international window, Korea Republic, can be found here. For details on the USWNT’s roster, see USWNT on TV: October 2019 Friendlies vs. Korea Republic.

Continue reading “Roster Round-Up: October 2019 International Window”