Update (11-Apr-2025): The USA will only play China PR once, on Saturday, May 31. For the second match of the window, the USWNT will now face Jamaica, instead.
On Monday, U.S. Soccer officially announced that the United States Women’s National Team will play two domestic friendlies this spring against 17th-ranked China PR. The first match will be on Saturday, May 31st at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota, and will be followed by one on Tuesday, June 3rd at Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri.
The name and match time for the United States Women’s National Team’s sixth friendly of 2025 has apparently leaked via the website of the television channel TNT, which is owned by the English-language media rights holder for friendlies involving the USWNT, Warner Bros. Discovery.
According to TNT’s schedule of upcoming U.S. Soccer matches (www.tntdrama.com/ussoccer)1, the USWNT will play the China PR Women’s National Team on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. EDT.
Additionally, TNT’s schedule also lists a second match for the May-June international window. That match is apparently scheduled for Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 9:30 p.m. EDT. Curiously, the opponent for the second match is listed as “TBD” (to be determined), which suggests that the USA will face China only once in that window and will play a different women’s national team on June 3.
Both matches are listed as being hosted by the USA.
On March 30, 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max streaming service (www.max.com), will remove all live sports programming from its least expensive plan, “Basic With Ads”. Among the sporting events affected are international soccer friendlies involving the United States Women’s and Men’s National Teams.
Thus, for those in the USA who wish to stream friendly matches featuring the USWNT and/or USMNT, the options will be to either (1) switch to one of the more expensive Max plans or (2) watch the matches via NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service (www.peacocktv.com). One issue with the second option is that NBCUniversal has the Spanish-language rights, so those who prefer to watch the matches with English-language coverage would be best served by upgrading to Max’s “Standard” or “Premium” plans.
(Note: All monthly and annual fees quoted are subject to change and do not include taxes and added fees that may be applicable.)
Viewers who are paid subscribers to Max’s “Basic with Ads” plan and move up to its middle “Standard” tier would need to pay an additional $7.00 per month to watch USWNT matches. Those who have free subscriptions to Max (e.g., through a DashPass membership or a Cricket Wireless Unlimited plan) would need to pay the full price for the “Standard” tier, which is currently $16.99 per month. For those in the latter situation, a Peacock subscription, which starts at only $7.99 per month, will likely be the more cost-effective option.
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.
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.
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:
For Rodman, the official reason given that she is “still regaining her fitness as she rehabs her back injury”.
Wilson’s absence could be related to her ankle injury, though the reason given by U.S. Soccer was that she is “not physically ready for National Team competition”. Additionally, Wilson got married at the end of January, so part of the rationale could be an excused absence.
Swanson has not yet reported to the Chicago Stars (Bluesky post) due to unspecified “personal reasons”, so her absence was expected. In the roster release, U.S. Soccer used the phrase “personal commitments”.
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.
19-Feb-2024: Kiko Seike has been withdrawn and replaced with Manaka Matsukubo of the North Carolina Courage. (JFA news item)
(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 midfielderNarumi 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.)
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.
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.
Leading the player notables for Wednesday, January 29th, are the news that 2024 NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga has extended through the 2028 NWSL season with the Kansas City Current and that both Thompson sisters, Alyssa and Gisele, have done the same with Angel City.
Meanwhile, tThe Utah Royals have added another Spanish player: Outside-back Nuria Rábano, who was teammates with Ana Tejada at Real Sociedad.
In other player news, Gotham signed another rookie, UCLA’s Sofia Cook, to a multi-year deal, and the Seattle Reign have extended the loan of Welsh international Lily Woodham to Crystal Palace.
Also, Texas standout Lexi Missimo will not be taking her talents to the NWSL or Europe anytime soon after signing with her hometown club, the Dallas Trinity, of the nascent USL Super League.
Leading Tuesday’s notables is a big one: United States Women’s National Team attacker Jaedyn Shaw has been traded from the San Diego Wave to the North Carolina Courage.
In other player news…
With the re-signing of defender Lauren Barnes, the Seattle Reign have retained a second NWSL original for the 2025 season.
Forward Sarah Griffith has signed a half-season contract with the Chicago Stars.
The Orlando Pride have traded backup goalkeeper Sofia Manner to AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League.
Also, the Chicago Stars transitioned to its new name on Tuesday, with updates to its social media branding and its website, which is now at chicagostars.com.
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