March 5 | Exploria Stadium; Orlando, Fla.
After outscoring its opposition 25-0 at the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament and qualifying for the 2020 Olympics in Japan, the U.S. Women’s National Team now embarks on an ambitious pre-Olympic preparation schedule, beginning with the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, Presented by Visa. The USA has participated in all six Olympic Games in which women’s soccer has been contested, winning four gold medals (1996, 2004, 2008, 2012) and a silver (2000).
GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Portland Thorns FC; 3), Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride; 25), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 61)
DEFENDERS (8): Abby Dahlkemper (North Carolina Courage; 58/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 25/1), Crystal Dunn (North Carolina Courage; 101/24), Ali Krieger (Orlando Pride; 107/1), Kelley O’Hara (Utah Royals FC; 129/2), Becky Sauerbrunn (Utah Royals FC; 174/0), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars; 31/0), Emily Sonnett (Orlando Pride; 44/0)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Julie Ertz (Chicago Red Stars; 99/19), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC; 83/18), Rose Lavelle (Washington Spirit; 42/12), Samantha Mewis (North Carolina Courage; 64/18), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 16/0)
FORWARDS (7): Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC; 165;33), Carli Lloyd (Sky Blue FC; 291/122), Jessica McDonald (North Carolina Courage; 17/4), Christen Press (Utah Royals FC; 135/56), Mallory Pugh (Sky Blue FC; 62/18), Megan Rapinoe (Reign FC; 165/51), Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage; 25/9)
The USA is riding a 28-game unbeaten streak and have scored two or more goals in 25 of those games.
All 20 players that were a part of the Olympic Qualifying were chosen for the training camp roster prior to the SheBelieves Cup and also made the final 23 player roster for the tournament.
Of the three players on this roster who were not on the Olympic qualifying squad, two were on the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship team in forward Mallory Pugh and defender Tierna Davidson.
Three players who were not on the World Cup Team made the 2020 SheBelieves Cup roster in defender Casey Short, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Lynn Williams.
In just his fifth event, Andonovski has already looked at 50 different players.
Since its inception in 1985, the USWNT has compiled a record of 526 wins, 66 losses and 77 ties. Over the history of the program, the USA has gone 299-20-31 (90% winning percentage) at home, 53-18-13 away (71%) and 174-28-33 (81%) on neutral ground. Of the USA’s 66 losses, 12 (18%) came at the Algarve Cup in Portugal.
The USA has scored in 56 consecutive matches and has averaged more than three goals per game in that time. Since the end of the 2015 World Cup, the USA has played 99 matches and has an 84-5-10 record.
Lloyd has 58 WNT goals since the start of 2015. Morgan, who has 57, is the only other player with more than 30 goals over the four years.
The USA’s 1-1 draw with Korea Republic on Oct. 6, 2019, ended a streak of scoring multiple goals in 16 consecutive matches. The USA had not scored multiple goals in 14 straight games since March 19-June 13, 1995. That draw also ended the USA’s winning streak at 17 consecutive matches, the third-longest winning streak in team history and one short of a team record. The U.S. Women had not won 15 games in a row since Feb. 10-July 23, 1996. That 17-game streak was the longest since July 25, 1990 – May 25, 1991, which included 18 wins.
The U.S. Women are unbeaten on home soil over its last 45 matches, 40 wins and five draws. The last loss at home was July 27, 2017 vs. Australia, a 1-0 setback in Seattle.
Eleven of the USA’s 47 goals in its last 12 games have been headers, including two vs. Haiti, one vs. Panama and one vs. Costa Rica in Olympic qualifying. The U.S. scored 21 goals from set pieces in 2019 (27% of the goals scored), including nine at the Women’s World Cup.
Several players will be working to represent the USA at their clubs’ home grounds at Exploria Stadium in Orlando and Red . Three players on the roster play for the Orlando Pride in defender Ali Krieger, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris and defender Emily Sonnett, and three more players play for Sky Blue FC in Carli Lloyd, Mallory Pugh and Margaret Purce.
Nine players scored in Olympic Qualifying, led by Lindsey Horan (6 goals) and Christen Press (5). Samantha Mewis had four goals from two braces and Lynn Williams found the net three times, including the game-winner in the title game against Canada.
All 23 players on the U.S. roster play in the NWSL. The roster features five NWSL No. 1 overall draft picks in Crystal Dunn (2014), Emily Sonnett (2016), Rose Lavelle (2017), Andi Sullivan (2018) and Tierna Davidson (2019).
USWNT is unbeaten in its last 12 matches in all competitions against European nations, winning the last 10 in a row by an aggregate score of 29-5. The last European nation to beat USA was France in January of 2019.
ERTZ100: Should Julie Ertz play in the opening game vs. England, it will be her 100th cap, making her the 40th U.S. female player to hit the century mark. Ertz debuted for the USA on February 9, 2013 against Scotland but earned just five caps with one start before 2015. She was inserted into the lineup at center back in March of 2015 at the Algarve Cup and would famously go on to earn a starting spot, playing every minute of all seven games at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Since then, she has become one of the world’s most impactful players and captained the USA for the first time in her 99th cap, the 3-0 win vs. Canada in the 2020 Olympic Qualifying championship game. She is the 2019 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and was named to the 2019 FIFA World XI.
USWNT HAS A LONG HISTORY IN ORL: The USWNT has played many games in the Orlando area (including two at the 1996 Olympics), but this will be just the second match at Exploria Stadium, home of the Orlando Pride of NWSL and Orlando City SC of MLS. The USA also played at Exploria Stadium during the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 win against England, which is also the USA’s opponent in Orlando for this year’s tournament. Orlando has played a major part in the USA’s history as the team held residential training camps here – in Lake Mary, Fla. to be more precise -- before the 1995 Women’s World Cup, the 1996 Olympics and 1999 Women’s World Cup.
England Football Association
FIFA World Ranking: 6
UEFA Ranking: 5
Olympic Appearances: 1 (2012 as Great Britain)
Best Olympic finish: Quarterfinal
Record vs. USA: 4-11-2
Head Coach: Phil Neville
GOALKEEPERS (3): Sandy MacIver (Everton; 0/0), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City; 4/0), Carly Telford (Chelsea; 24/0)
DEFENDERS (7): Millie Bright (Chelsea; 34/0), Rachel Daly (Houston Dash, USA; 33/3), Grace Fisk (West Ham United; 0/0), Alex Greenwood (Lyon, FRA; 44/3), Steph Houghton (Manchester City; 117/13), Abbie McManus (Manchester United; 17/0), Demi Stokes (Manchester City; 57/11), Leah Williamson (Arsenal; 14/1)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Jordan Nobbs (Arsenal; 60/7), Jill Scott (Manchester City; 146/24), Lucy Staniforth (Birmingham City; 15/2), Georgia Stanway (Manchester City; 16/2), Keira Walsh (Manchester City; 26/0)
FORWARDS (7): Toni Duggan (Atletico Madrid, ESP; 76/22), Bethany England (Chelsea; 5/2), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City; 3/0), Chloe Kelly (Everton; 1/0), Nikita Parris (Lyon; 47/14), Alessia Russo North Carolina, USA; 0/0), Ellen White (Manchester City; 89/35)
The USA is 11-4-2 all-time against England. Out of the last six meetings between the teams, four have been 1-0 results – three wins for the USA and one for England – one was a 2-2 draw and most recently, the USA beat England, 2-1, in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup semifinal.
The meeting in the World Cup was a match for the ages, with Christen Press – who started the match in place of the mildly-injured Megan Rapinoe – scoring a header in the 10th minute off a cross from Kelley O’Hara. England’s star forward Ellen White equalized in the 19th minute before Alex Morgan – on her 30th birthday -- scored what would prove to the game-winner, knocking home a header in the 31st minute off a perfect service into the box from Lindsey Horan.
There was quite a bit of drama to come, though, with a White goal being correctly waved off for offside. England earned a penalty kick on a VAR decision (Becky Sauerbrunn was ruled to have clipped White from behind in a play that was not whistled during the run of play) only to have Alyssa Naeher save team captain Steph Houghton’s spot kick, creating one of the most indelible and emotional moments of the World Cup, and in USWNT history.
The teams also met at the 2019 SheBelieves Cup, a 2-2 draw that saw goals from Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath for the USA, and Nikita Parris and Steph Houghton for England.
The meeting at the 2018 SheBelieves Cup saw the U.S. win 1-0 with the lone goal coming when a Megan Rapinoe cross hit off defender Millie Bright and off goalkeeper Karen Bardsley before spinning into the net.
The USA beat England 1-0 on Feb. 13, 2015, in Milton Keynes, England with the goal coming from an Alex Morgan header (a similar score to her goal in the 2019 World Cup in fact) and by the same score at the 2016 SheBelieves Cup in Tampa, Fla. on a brilliant goal from Crystal Dunn. The meeting with England in Milton Keynes, England, sparked a 24-game unbeaten streak which included the run to the World Cup title in 2015.
England turned the tables on the USA at the 2017 SheBelieves Cup, scoring in the 89th minute when Ellen White finished from close range after a goal mouth scramble from a set play.
Prior to the 2015 meeting, the USA and England hadn’t played since a 2011 friendly in London that saw England defeat the USA 2-1. Prior to that, the teams hadn’t met since the 2007 Women’s World Cup, a 3-0 victory for the USA during the quarterfinal in Tianjin, China.
The USA lost its first two matches against England, played in 1985 and 1988, both in Italy. The 1985 match was the third ever played by the U.S. Women’s National Team, a 3-1 loss.
Two players on the U.S. roster for this tournament have played club soccer in England. Crystal Dunn played a season with Chelsea over 2017-218 and Carli Lloyd had a stint with Manchester City in 2017.