United States captain and veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn will not be included in the squad for the Women's World Cup due to a foot injury she suffered in April, the Athletic reported on Friday.
Sauerbrunn is one of several injured American players to miss the tournament, which kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, after attacker Mallory Swanson went down with a knee injury in April.
BREAKING: According to multiple sources with knowledge of the #USWNT roster, defender and team captain Becky Sauerbrunn will miss the World Cup due to injury. Also: Kingsbury, DeMelo, O'Hara in.
— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) June 16, 2023
USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn is set to miss the World Cup with a foot injury picked up in April, per @itsmeglinehan pic.twitter.com/1KvVmbjTDm
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 16, 2023
The @uswnt captain Becky Sauerbrunn is out of the World Cup.
Savannah DeMelo, Aubrey Kingsbury and Kelley O’Hara have all made the #USWNT World Cup roster according to @itsmeglinehan. pic.twitter.com/xvvc28q2Kf— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) June 16, 2023
Midfield stalwarts Sam Mewis and Catarina Macario are also sidelined for the holders.
Sauerbrunn, 38, is one of the team's longest standing players with 216 international appearances. She helped the Americans to two World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. Her last international appearance was a friendly against Ireland in April.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is set to announce his 23-player squad imminently and reports said he informed players on Thursday of whether he planned to include them.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Christian Radnedge)
