With Women’s World Cup qualifying three weeks away, USWNT players are peaking at the right time. Alex Morgan is unstoppable, Sophia Smith and Mal Pugh are lighting up the scoreboards and Rose Lavelle is literally flying.
The USWNT is already approaching the CONCACAF W Championship without rising star Catarina Macario (knee) and the explosive Lynn Williams (hip), but another big name might be added to the list of injury casualties at forward after Christen Press was forced off in the 66th-minute of Angel City's 3-2 win over Racing Louisville in NWSL action Saturday.
The 33-year-old was at her best during her time on the pitch, including an impressive run and finish in the 36th-minute for her second goal of the season.
The 2022 Concacaf W Championship is just 26 days away, so USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski has to be close to knowing the final 23-player squad he'll name for the tournament in Mexico — which serves as qualifying for both the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympic Games.
But he's not showing his hand yet.
On Monday, Concacaf revealed the provisional rosters for the W Championship, so while the final 23 will have to be selected from this list, the provisional roster for the USWNT includes an all-encompassing 59 names.
The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup isn’t over yet, but the 2022 NWSL regular season is upon us. While four teams still compete for the first trophy of the season, expansion club Angel City FC hosts the N.C. Courage at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday night (live on CBSSN) to open what is sure to be an enthralling campaign. That means it’s time for some NWSL predictions.
Tobin Heath's time at Arsenal is over. The USWNT star and the North London club mutually agreed to end her contract early after she suffered a minor hamstring injury ruling her out for the rest of the season, Arsenal announced Thursday. Heath signed with the club in September and the contract was to last until the end of the 2022 season.
In September, the USWNT crushed Paraguay in back-to-back friendlies by a 17-0 aggregate score. This past week, the USWNT crushed Uzbekistan in back-to-back friendlies by an 18-1 aggregate score. While the September matches felt mostly a waste of time, the April matches felt instructive and useful, for both Vlatko Andonovski’s plans moving forward and U.S. fans trying to figure out those plans.
CBS broadcast the Challenge Cup match between expansion clubs San Diego Wave FC and Angel City FC on Saturday, putting the NWSL front and center. The fans followed, with nearly half a million viewers tuning in for the first Challenge Cup match on TV in 2022. The latest NWSL TV ratings, when the games are put on CBS and not hidden on Paramount+, are impressive, far more so than MLS TV ratings in 2022.
If you just look at the opponent, the USWNT’s April friendlies against Uzbekistan are likely to be fairly drab. Matches against the 48th-ranked team in the world in Ohio and Philadelphia, on the face of it, don’t really kindle much enthusiasm. But the April USWNT roster makes it clear: This is the final chance for some young players to earn a spot on the team at World Cup and Olympic qualifying this summer in Mexico.
Angel City and San Diego Wave drew 1-1 Saturday night as both teams made their debut in the NWSL Challenge Cup. The star power was on display for both sides with massive names like Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson all featuring at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.
USWNT stars have demanded answers. On Thursday, they got some, but they probably won’t appease immediate concerns over systemic abuse in women’s soccer.