NASHVILLE, Tenn. – U.S. Women's National Team head coach Jill Ellis has named the 23-player roster for the 2019 SheBelieves Cup, which features the top-ranked Americans, No. 4 England, No. 8 Japan and No. 10 Brazil. All four teams will be participating in this summer's 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France. Brazil, Japan and the USA are three of the seven teams that have participated in each of the seven previous Women's World Cup tournaments.
USA will play England on Saturday, March 2 (3:30 p.m. CT on FOX), which will be preceded by Brazil vs. Japan (1 p.m. CT on ussoccer.com).
U.S. WNT 2019 SheBelieves Cup Roster (Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 19/0), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 40/0)
DEFENDERS (7): Abby Dahlkemper (NC Courage; 32/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 14/1), Crystal Dunn (NC Courage; 77/24), Kelley O'Hara (Utah Royals FC; 112/2), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 151/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 27/0), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC; 28/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Danielle Colaprico (Chicago Red Stars; 2/0), Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 74/18), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 21/6), Samantha Mewis (NC Courage; 43/8), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit 11/0), McCall Zerboni (NC Courage; 8/0)
FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 143/25), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 266/105), Jessica McDonald (NC Courage; 5/1), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride; 155/98), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 108/47), Mallory Pugh (Washington Spirit; 45/13), Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC; 146/41)
All 23 players on the U.S. roster were with the WNT for its first two games of the year that were played in France and Spain in January.
"The SheBelieves Cup is a positive event in many ways, but it's extremely valuable to get three challenging games against World Cup-bound teams in a short time span that can simulate navigating through group play," said Ellis. "These are all teams that can go deep in the tournament this summer and provide the kind of tests we need as we continue to work to crystalize our lineup and our final roster for the World Cup."
The U.S. team begins its schedule at the fourth annual edition of the world's most elite four-team women's tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 27 against Japan at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. (7 p.m. ET on FS1). England will kick off the competition against Brazil (4 p.m. ET on ussoccer.com) in the early game that day.
All the teams will then travel to Nashville, Tenn. and Nissan Stadium where the USA will play England on Saturday, March 2 (3:30 p.m. CT on FOX), which will be preceded by Brazil vs. Japan (1 p.m. CT on ussoccer.com). The tournament will finish on Tuesday, March 5, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla. as Japan takes on England (5:15 p.m. ET on ussoccer.com) followed by the tournament finale, featuring the USA against Brazil (8 p.m. ET on FS1).
The 2019 SheBelieves Cup will take the USA halfway through Countdown to the Cup, the team's 10-game pre-World Cup schedule. Following the tournament, the USA will have two friendly matches in April – against Australia and Belgium – and then three "Send-Off Series" games, against South Africa, New Zealand and Mexico, before leaving for France and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.
"We are excited about the upcoming tournament and excited about the selection of players that we will have on the SheBelieves roster," Ellis added. "Aside from injuries, we are building consistency in the group and testing ourselves against other high caliber teams. These remaining eight matches narrow our focus and we will use these games as fantastic opportunities to continue to come together as a team on and off the field."
Fifteen of the players named were on last year's SheBelieves Cup roster and nine players will be participating in their fourth SheBelieves Cup.
TICKETS
Tickets for all three doubleheaders are on sale through ussoccer.com. Groups of 20 or more can submit an online order form at ussoccer.com. SheBelieves Cup VIP packages that include a premium ticket, a tournament t-shirt & scarf, field-level access to watch warmups, and other unique benefits are also available exclusively through ussoccer.com for all three doubleheaders. Coaches Circle and Presidents Circle members supporting the U.S. Soccer Development Fund can receive individual customer support and concierge services for their ticketing needs. Contact circles@ussoccer.org for more information.
Additional Notes:
- There will be a total of 27 players in the USA's pre-tournament training camp that will be held in Tampa, Fla. Training with the USA during that period will be goalkeeper Jane Campbell, defender Merritt Mathias, defender Emily Fox and midfielder Allie Long.
- Midfielder Lindsey Horan was not available for selection due to a quadriceps injury.
- Forward Alex Morgan comes into the match with 98 career goals, just two shy from becoming the seventh player in U.S. history to score 100 or more goals.
- The USA's meetings with Japan and Brazil are the first since last summer's Tournament of Nations when the USA downed Japan, 4-2, and Brazil, 4-1, on the way to claiming the tournament title.
- The USA's last meeting with England came during the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 victory.
- The tournament format will be the same as the first three years. The winner will be based on total points (three for a win, one for a draw), with the first tie-breaker being overall goal difference, followed by goals scored, then head-to-head result. If teams are still tied, the next tie-breaker will be the Fair Play ranking.
- Each Team is allowed six substitutes per game.
- All the U.S. matches of the tournament will be shown in the USA on the FOX family of networks, while the non-U.S. matches will be available to watch on ussoccer.com.
- The average age of the U.S. roster for this SheBelieves Cup is 27.9 years.
- All 23 players on the U.S. roster play in the NWSL, including defender Tierna Davidson, who was the first pick in the 2019 NWSL Draft by the Chicago Red Stars.
- In the previous three editions of this tournament, no individual player has scored more than two goals in a tournament. Four players have scored twice: Alex Morgan in 2016, Camille Abily of France in 2017, and Ellen White of England and Eugénie Le Sommer in 2018.
- Of the first 12 SheBelieves Cup matches over 2016 and 2017, 11 were decided by one or less goal, with just nine goals scored over the six games in both 2016 and 2017.
- In 2018, the teams combined for 16 goals and two matches saw three-goal margins of victory with England beating France 4-1, and France beating Germany 3-0.
- The 2018 SheBelieves Cup marked the debut of England head coach Phil Neville, the former Manchester United and Everton star and England National Team defender. In that SheBelieves Cup, England beat France, tied Germany and lost to the USA. Since then, England has gone 6-1-2 with the only loss coming to the USA's Group F opponent Sweden, a 2-0 setback in November in Rotherham.
