USWNT to play friendly vs. Switzerland in Cary, NC

The United States will continue preparations for Women's World Cup qualifying on August 20 when they take on Switzerland in Cary, NC. The friendly will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park and kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET. USSoccer.com will provide a live stream of the match.

Switzerland is ranked 19th in the world and qualified for next summer's World Cup by blowing through an admittedly weak group. Iceland and Denmark were the two next best teams in the group, but Switzerland still impressed by winning eight of their first nine matches, with a draw in the other, and compiling a +47 goal difference.

Jill Ellis doesn't have much time left to get her team up to speed before Women's World Cup qualifying, which begins on October 16. The team has struggled of late and while CONCACAF qualifying doesn't figure to be much of a challenge for the U.S. -- especially with Canada not participating due to getting an automatic World Cup spot as hosts -- they still need to play decently.

The friendly does come at an odd time, with the Thorns and Reign set to play on three days before and then the NWSL playoffs starting three days after. There won't be much time for training and many of the players will have to travel across the country for the match, but the U.S. and Ellis are clearly trying to get matches in whenever they can.