Five Things To Know: SheBelieves Cup

The USA will host the seventh annual SheBelieves Cup, presented by Visa, from Feb. 17-23 as Czech Republic, New Zealand and Iceland join the USA for the four-team tournament. Played as a series of three doubleheaders over a seven-day span, the first two match days will take place at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. before the tournament moves to Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas for the third and final match day.

Here are Five Things to Know about this year’s SheBelieves Cup.

SHEBELIEVES CUP FORMAT AND SCHEDULE

The tournament format for the 2022 SheBelieves Cup will be the same as the previous six years. The winner will be determined by total points (three for a win, one for a draw), with the first tiebreaker being overall goal difference, followed by goals scored, then head-to-head result. If teams are still tied, the next tiebreaker will be the Fair Play ranking based on yellow and red cards.

The tournament will be broadcast in its entirety on the ESPN family of networks, with Spanish language broadcast also available through TUDN (Feb. 17) and PrendeTV (Feb. 20 & 23).

NEW FACES IN TOURNAMENT FIELD

This will be the first SheBelieves Cup for all three of the USA’s opponents and brings the number of different teams that have competed in the SheBelieves Cup to 12, including the USA. Czech Republic (ranked No. 24 in the latest FIFA World Rankings) and Iceland (No. 16) become the fifth and sixth European teams to participate in the tournament, joining previous SheBelieves Cup participants England, France, Germany and Spain. New Zealand (No. 22) will be the first team from Oceania to take part in the SheBelieves Cup.

The Feb. 17 matchup between the USA and Czech Republic will be just the second meeting ever between the teams. The USA and Czech Republic played once previously, that coming during a friendly tournament in Australia on January 7, 2000. The USA won 8-1 in Melbourne.

The Feb. 20 matchup against the Football Ferns will be the 19th meeting all time between the teams and the third in the last four years. The teams squared off in a pre-World Cup friendly in 2019 in St. Louis where the USA won 5-1 behind a brace from now-retired Carli Lloyd and scores by Tobin Heath, Rose Lavelle and Samantha Mewis. The most recent matchup between the nations came at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where the USA downed New Zealand, 6-1, in the group stage. Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Alex Morgan and Christen Press all scored in the victory, which also saw New Zealand score two own goals.

The tournament finale against Iceland on Feb. 23 will be the 15th time the USA has faced Iceland and the first since 2015.

SHEBELIEVES CUP HISTORY

The United States has won the SheBelieves Cup four times and is looking to win its third consecutive tournament title. In 2021, the USWNT became the first team to lift the trophy in back-to-back years. England and France have won the tournament once each. Here’s how teams have finished since the inaugural tournament in 2016:

 

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.

In 2019, the teams combined for 19 goals over the six matches with two ties, two one-goal wins, a two-goal win for Japan over Brazil (3-1) and a three-goal win for England over Japan (3-0).

After the 19-goal bonanza in 2019, the 2020 SheBelieves Cup produced 13 total scores. The 2021 edition saw 17 goals scored, nine courtesy of the USA – including a 6-0 victory over Argentina, the largest win in SheBelieves Cup history. 

The USA’s Megan Rapinoe is the all-time leading scorer in SheBelieves Cup history with seven goals and in 2021 became the first player to score three goals in a single tournament. England’s Ellen White is the second-leading scorer in tournament history with five goals while the USA’s Alex Morgan and Christen Press are tied for third with three SheBelieves Cup goals each. 

VISA SHEBELIEVES CUP MVP

For the third year in a row, Visa, the presenting sponsor of the SheBelieves Cup, will award the MVP trophy to the most outstanding player of the tournament. The award will be announced following the conclusion of the final match. Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the inaugural award in 2020 as voted on by a selection committee of former Women’s National Team players from each participating country while Rose Lavelle claimed MVP honors in 2021.

A new selection committee comprised of representatives from all competing nations will be announced for the 2022 SheBelieves Cup and fans will once again have the opportunity to vote for the Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP award recipient, using an online ballot to select among a list of finalists chosen by the committee. The fan-vote will be incorporated into the overall determination of the 2022 Visa SheBelieves Cup MVP.

 

SHEBELIEVES MOVEMENT CONTINUES TO GROW

Inspired by the U.S. WNT players, SheBelieves is an initiative led by U.S. Soccer to inspire and encourage women and girls. The campaign launched in the run-up to the 2015 Women’s World Cup and has since grown into a powerful message of empowerment and believing in oneself. The SheBelieves Cup represents a showcase event for the campaign, which also features efforts such as the SheBelieves Summit Presented by Deloitte, SheBelieves Hero™, a nationwide search for a young community leader who embodies the SheBelieves ethos, SheBelieves Ambassador, a program where female focused nonprofit organizations partner with U.S. Soccer to bring the SheBelieves movement to their community, SheBelieves Rocks, a music competition for female bands, and SheBelieves FanArt, a celebration of the artwork created by fans.


As part of U.S. Soccer’s ongoing commitment to the initiative to grow women’s soccer in the United States and across the globe, this year’s SheBelieves Summit, presented by Deloitte, will take play in a hybrid fashion on March 18 and 19 Los Angeles. With U.S. Soccer and Deloitte’s shared vision of inspiring the next generation, the 2021 SheBelieves Summit provides college students and young professionals the opportunity to gain valuable insights through panels and workshops centered around the SheBelieves core pillars of Confidence, Career, and Community, providing a forum to bring together young female professionals and leaders in sport and business.