USWNT 2023 Women’s World Cup roster revealed

The 2023 Women’s World Cup begins in 29 days, and the United States Women’s National Team now have an official roster. Today, U.S. Soccer announced the 23 players that will represent the United States at the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand & Australia as they attempt to once again defend their title.

Three players - Kristie Mewis, Kelley O’Hara, and Lynn Williams - were the first to be introduced as part of the 2023 USWNT World Cup team, as they were interviewed on The Today Show ahead of the release of the full roster.

For the rest of the roster, U.S. Soccer solicited a little help from some friends to announce who made the plane to New Zealand and Australia.

The USWNT player pool has expanded over the past year due to the emergence of some young players along with some key injuries. Many players, like Catarina Macario, Christen Press, Samantha Mewis, and Tobin Heath, were not able to return to play. Becky Sauerbrunn, the captain of the team, announced over the weekend that an injury she picked up recently would keep her out of the World Cup.

Still, it was an incredibly difficult decision for USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski, who knew that he would be leaving some terrific players at home with the announcement of the roster. But, the #1 team on the planet now has 23 players who will seek to win the title for a 3rd consecutive time and 5th overall.

The 2023 United States Women’s World Cup roster:

Goalkeepers (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Kelley O’Hara (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)

Midfielders (7): Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville), Julie Ertz (Angel City FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

Forwards (6): Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

Nine players on the roster were on the 2019 team that won the Women’s World Cup in France for the 2nd straight time. 11 players were on the 2020 Olympics squad that finished with a bronze medal. OL Reign is the team that has the most representation on the final roster with 5 players, while the other teams represented were: the Washington Spirit (4); NJ/NY Gotham FC (3); Angel City FC, Portland Thorns, the North Carolina Courage, and the San Diego Wave (2 each); and Olympique Lyonnais, the Chicago Red Stars, and Racing Louisville (1 each). The Houston Dash, Kansas City Current, and the Orlando Pride are the only NWSL teams that did not see a player named to the USWNT roster.

There were several players who factored into the the national team the past couple of years that did not get named to the roster. Casey Krueger, Ashley Hatch, Taylor Kornieck, Tierna Davidson, Adrianna Franch, Carson Pickett, Midge Purce, Sam Coffey, and Hailie Mace are among the players who could easily have been called in but will remain at home.

“The task of selecting a World Cup Team is never easy, but I’m proud of the players for their work ethic and focus during the process and of our coaching staff for doing the work to put together the best team possible,” said Vlatko Andonovski in a statement. “It’s the players that make the biggest impact on our environment, they push each other to be better and I know as a group they are extremely motivated to make our country proud at the World Cup. Every player has a different journey to get to this point so our roster has some amazing stories and we have a really good mix of veterans and younger players.”

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