With the 2025 SheBelieves Cup kicking off on Thursday, February 20th, here is a round-up of all four teams’ rosters and related articles, plus the tournament’s match schedule.
Continue reading “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Roster Round-Up, Match Schedule, and TV/Streaming Details”
Despite the Colombia Women’s National Team and the United States Women’s National Team playing each other seven times in the last five years, Chelsea forward Mayra Ramírez has not faced the USA. That streak should end on Thursday, February 20th, when the USWNT hosts Colombia on the first night of the 2025 SheBelieves Cup.
Not among the 23 players called up by head coach Ángelo Marsiglia are two core defensive players: Center-back Manuela Vanegas, who suffered an ACL injury in January (Real Sociedad news item) and had surgery earlier this month (Instagram), and goalkeeper Catalina Pérez, who is still recovering from a meniscus tear suffered during training at the 2024 Paris Olympics (Werder Bremen news item).
Another key absence is midfielder Ilana Izquierdo, whose senior season at Mississippi State (player profile) was cut short in October 2024 due to an apparent ankle injury (news article, Instagram). Izquierdo started two of Colombia’s four matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics and started all four of their matches at last year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup.
The only other players not called up from Colombia’s official squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics are 32-year-old midfielder Liana Salazar, who only played 35 minutes over two substitute appearances, and veteran goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda, who was promoted from alternate to substitute following Pérez’s injury.
Among the 14 Olympians from 2024 that were called up are all five of Colombia’s goal-scorers from the tournament, including Washington Spirit midfielder Leicy Santos, who netted twice. The other four goals were scored by Mayra Ramírez, West Ham forward Manuela Pavi, Monterrey midfielder Marcela Restrepo, and Colombia’s most capped player, midfielder/forward Catalina Usme, who has 119 caps.
Real Madrid forward Linda Caicedo, the recipient of many deserved superlatives, did not score at the 2024 Olympics, but she did find the back of the net twice at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where she had goals against Germany and the Korea Republic. Caicedo will turn 20 years-old during the SheBelieves Cup, on February 22nd.
In addition to Santos, the two other NWSL players called up are Racing Louisville center-back Ángela Barón, who was an unused substitute at last year’s Olympics, and Utah Royals outside-back Ana María Guzmán, who is on loan from Bayern Munich, who played in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, but missed the Olympics due to a knee injury.
Continue reading “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Colombia roster announced — Three NWSL players called up, no Manuela Vanegas”
With her first SheBelieves Cup roster, United States Women’s National Team head coach Emma Hayes has provided plenty of fodder for discussion, not only regarding the typical player selection and positional questions, but also some other matters, namely the misguided inclusion of just two goalkeepers.
For the second-straight international window the USWNT will be without its “Triple Espresso” trio of forwards: Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson, and Sophia Wilson (née Smith). While in the November-December window, the reasons for all three players’s absences were injury-related, this time only Rodman’s absence was explained in U.S. Soccer’s press release as due directly to injury:
Also unavailable are some other key players, including center-back Naomi Girma, who is recovering from a minor calf injury, midfielder Rose Lavelle, who had ankle surgery during the off-season, and midfielder Croix Bethune, who is returning to fitness after suffering a torn meniscus.
As this year’s SheBelieves Cup comes at an early stage in the cycle for the next Women’s World Cup, there is the opportunity for experimenting with different players and line-ups. With the unavailability of the above players, that opportunity is both expanded and necessary.
Thus, it is not really a surprise that Hayes has selected a relatively inexperienced squad, especially after her rosters for the last two international windows. The USWNT’s 23-player roster has just six players with 60 or more USWNT caps while the remaining 17 all have 30 or less caps, with 10 of those 17 players having four or less caps.
Continue reading “2025 SheBelieves Cup: USWNT roster announced — Still no “Triple Espresso”, Uncapped players include Michelle Cooper, Claire Hutton, Tara McKeown, and Gisele Thompson”
Updates:
(Note: Except for the roster list and table, the names of Japan’s players will be in the Western format, with given names before family names.)
For his first matches in charge of the Japan Women’s National Team, head coach Nils Nielsen has opted for an experienced and mostly foreign-based squad that features just four players from the WE League. Of the 23 players named to Japan’s squad for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, 19 were members of Nadeshiko Japan’s roster for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Three players, including Washington Spirit midfielder Narumi Miura, have been recalled after extended absences. Miura, who was a member of Japan’s squads for the COVID-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, returns for her first camp since September 2023. The other two players are defender Saori Takarada, who also returns for the first time since September 2023, and Yuka Momiki, whose last call up was the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Both Takarada and Momiki had stints in the NWSL, with the Washington Spirit and OL Reign, respectively.
The only other current NWSL player named to the original roster was forward Mina Tonaka of the Utah Royals. Not making the original cut this time were two North Carolina Courage midfielders, who were both members of Japan’s squad for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup: Manaka Matsukubo and the freshly signed Shinomi Koyama.
Late on February 18th, the Japan Football Association announced that Matsukubo has been called up to replace Kiko Seike.
Both Courage players were called up for Japan’s last camp in October 2024 (jfa.jp), but remain uncapped at the senior level. Nielsen, who has only been in charge since December, has stated that for the next international window, he is planning to bring in more inexperienced players (Japanese news article), so Koyama could be called up then.
Meanwhile, the most questionable player omission from the original roster was recent Angel City signee Miyabi Moriya, especially given that the announced roster has just one player, Hikaru Kitagawa, who is primarily an outside-back. Moriya started at right outside-back in Japan’s last three matches during the 2024 Olympics after Manchester City’s Risi Shimizu suffered an ACL injury in their opening match (Man City news item). On February 18th, Moriya was called up to replace center-back Rion Ishikawa.
In addition to Shimizu, the only other player from the 2024 Summer Olympics not called up is goalkeeper Shu Ohba, who played NCAA soccer for Ole Miss (profile). In her place, the uncapped Akane Okuma, who was Japan’s starting goalkeeper at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, returns for her second straight camp, after first being called up for Japan’s last friendly, which was in October 2024. (No camp was held during the November/December international window.)
Continue reading “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Japan roster announced — Washington Spirit’s Narumi Miura returns, Utah Royals forward Mina Tanaka also called up”Although the Matildas roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup includes plenty of veterans, there are several players worth mentioning that may not be familiar to those outside of Australia.
Leading that list is Daniela Galić, an 18-year-old attacking midfielder, was branded “the future of Australian football” before she even turned pro, and after two pro seasons in Australia, is now playing in the Netherlands for FC Twente, which currently sits two places below Ajax, a team with a teenage attacking midfielder that has been the subject of similar pronouncements (si.com, backheeled.com): Lily Yohannes, who committed to the United States Women’s National Team last November.
One player on the Matildas roster is uncapped: 23-year-old forward Laini Freier, who only made her pro debut in December 2024, but had back-to-back hat-tricks later that month. Laini has a twin sister, Sharn Freier, who will be joining VfL Wolfsburg later this year.
Other notable players with just a handful of caps include forward Holly McNamara, who, at age 22, has already battled three ACL injuries, and 27-year-old center-back Natasha Prior who retired at age 21 due to concussion concerns but earned her first international cap last year after a strong performance in her first full pro season back.
Additionally, 23-year-old outside-back Charlotte “Charli” Grant, who has 29 caps for Australia, has primarily played the role of an understudy so far, but could be looking at a starting role in the next FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Continue reading “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Player Spotlights — Australia”
Update: (17-Feb-2025): Midfielder Clare Wheeler has been withdrawn due to a thigh injury. The uncapped Alana Murphy of the Melbourne Victory has been called in as a replacement. (matildas.com.au) Also, the Australia WNT has published the players’ shirt numbers for this tournament (Instagram).
While the USA’s roster for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup will likely feature a significant number of less experienced players, the Australia Women’s National Team, which is once again under the direction of Tom Sermanni, though only in an interim capacity, will feature 15 players who played in 25 or more senior international matches, including six who each have over 100 caps.
Among the 23 Matildas players named for this friendly tournament are all 11 starters from Australia’s 1:2 loss to the United States Women’s National Team in the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, plus five of their seven substitutes. Just one of those 18 players, Claire Polkinghorne, has retired (press release), while the other absent player, North Carolina Courage forward Courtnee Vine, continues to be on leave for mental health reasons.
Three current NWSL players were named to the roster: Center-back Alanna Kennedy, who signed with Angel City in January, Portland Thorns goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, and San Diego Wave outside-back Kaitlyn Torpey, who is listed as a forward. Seven more Matildas players on this roster have previous NWSL experience, including forwards Caitlin Foord and Hayley Raso, who are both former Portland Thorns players, as well as outside-back Steph Catley, who played for three NWSL clubs from 2014 to 2019, and recent San Diego Wave midfielder Emily van Egmond. Additionally, goalkeeper Teagan Micah played NCAA soccer for the UCLA Bruins from 2016 to 2019 (Micah’s UCLA profile).
The most hyped player selected for this roster is also, unsurprisingly, its youngest. Only a teenager, she is an attacking midfielder who currently plays in the Netherlands for a team that was in the UEFA Women’s Champions League this season. Yes, the Matildas have their own Daniela Galić, who will undoubtedly be the subject of comparative articles involving the USWNT’s Lily Yohannes.
Continue reading “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Australia roster announced — Plenty of familiar names, plus “teenage sensation” Daniela Galić, the uncapped Laini Freier, and a healthy Holly McNamara”February 2025: See “2025 SheBelieves Cup: Roster Round-Up, Match Schedule, and TV/Streaming Details” for the rosters of all four teams, plus updating TV/Streaming details.
In 2025, the SheBelieves Cup, a friendly tournament hosted by the United States Women’s National Team, will return to its traditional group format. Joining the hosts will be Japan, which returns for its fifth appearance, plus two debutantes: Australia and Colombia.
The tournament will be played from Thursday, February 20th to Wednesday, February 26th. All of the USWNT’s matches will be shown live on TBS and Universo, with Max and Peacock as streaming options. The matches not involving the USWNT will be televised by Universo and streamed on both Max and Peacock. The 2025 SheBelieves Cup’s six matches will be played at three venues: Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas; State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona; and Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.
UEFA teams are not available for this window as they will be competing in Nations Leagues matches (UEFA.com).
Continue reading “USWNT: 2025 SheBelieves Cup — Teams, Schedule, and USA TV/Streaming Details Announced”The 2020 edition of the SheBelieves Cup, which is hosted by the United States Women’s National Team, officially gets underway on Thursday, March 5th. Rosters for the four participating teams – the USWNT, England, Japan, and first-timer Spain – have all been announced.
In the United States, all USWNT matches will be shown live on ESPN channels, while the non-USA matches will be available via ESPN’s streaming platforms. Continue reading “2020 SheBelieves Cup: Updated Rosters, USA TV Schedule, and News Updates”
With inaugural SheBelieves Cup participants France and Germany once again not returning and last year’s debutante Brazil preferring the allure of France, the Netherlands, and Canada, the United States Women’s National Team needed to find a new participant for its four-team friendly tournament. Eventually, the USA settled on #13-ranked Spain, who you might remember from that nail-biting Round of 16 match in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup (official highlights).
While Spain’s players may have revenge on their mind, head coach Jorge Vilda is focused on preparing for the back half of qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by fellow SheBelieves Cup team England. Although Spain easily won its first two qualifying matches last autumn, the Iberian team hit a slight road bump in the form of a nil-nil away draw with Poland. Continue reading “Opponent Watch: Spain’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup”
Update (01-Mar-2020): Lucy Bronze is out due to a calf injury and has been replaced by Alessia Russo. (TheFA.com)
First to announce their official roster for this year’s SheBelieves Cup is the United States Women’s National Team’s first opponent: England.
The rematch of 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal opponents will be played on Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 p.m Eastern (TV: ESPN2) . (Full SheBelieves Cup TV/streaming schedule)
Phil Neville’s list has eight players born in 1997 or later, including two uncapped players who recently played collegiately in the United States: Center back Grace Fisk of South Carolina (profile) and goalkeeper Sandy MacIver of Clemson (profile). Both graduated after the fall 2019 season and are now playing professionally in the FA WSL. Continue reading “Opponent Watch: England’s Roster for the 2020 SheBelieves Cup”
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