USWNT Set to Face China PR in South Florida

The U.S. Women’s National Team is set to close out the 2023 with a two-game set of friendlies against China PR, the first of which kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 2 at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Kickoff is 3 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT, Telemundo and Universo with streaming options available on Max in English and on Peacock in Spanish. Coverage will also be available on FDP Radio.

Despite a disappointing end to the World Cup, the USA has still not lost a game in regulation in 2023 and heads into the matches against China PR with a 12W-4D-0L record and is coming off an entertaing 3-0 win over Colombia in its most recent match on October 29.

As all eyes are looking forward to the fast-approaching Paris Olympics in 2024 and with the recent announcement of Emma Hayes as the 10^th head coach in U.S. Women’s National Team history, the USA looks to close out 2023 in strong fashion with a roster that includes many fresh faces and players eager to prove themselves in the National Team environment.

Following the match in Ft. Lauderdale, the teams will head to Frisco, Texas, where the USA will play its final match of 2023 on Dec. 5 at Toyota Stadium (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on TruTV, Universo, Max and Peacock).

Fans will also be able to follow the action from Sunday’s game in San Diego via X (formerly Twitter - @USWNT), Instagram (@USWNT), Facebook and the official U.S. Soccer App.

U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 7), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 1), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 16)

DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 29/1), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC; 79/0), Tierna Davidson (Chicago Red Stars; 50/1), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage; 37/1), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 24/0), Casey Krueger (Chicago Red Stars; 41/0), M.A. Vignola (Angel City FC; 1/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 0/0), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 5/0), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC; 6/0), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 137/30), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 91/24), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 0/0), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign; 81/2)

FORWARDS (8): Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG; 2/1), Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 21/5), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 24/4), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 26/6), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC; 2/1), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 36/14), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 8/0), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 58/17)

HAYES ANNOUNCED AS USWNT HEAD COACH

After a worldwide search process led U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker, Hayes was officially announced as the 10^th head coach in U.S. Women’s National Team history on November 14. The long-time head coach for English powerhouse Chelsea FC, Hayes started her coaching career in the United States in the early 2000s and more than two decades later will take the helm of the USWNT. Due to her contact with Chelsea, Hayes will finish the 2023-24 Women’s Super League season in England and then join the U.S. team officially two months prior to the start of the 2024 Olympics. U.S. Soccer has put a comprehensive plan and process in place to maximize the productivity in all aspects of moving the USWNT forward leading into the Olympics, a key part of which is interim head coach Twila Kilgore continuing in her role and then joining Hayes’ staff full-time as an assistant coach in late May.

TWENTY-SIX CALLED UP TO CLOSE OUT 2023

Kilgore, who will guide the USWNT for the next five months, named a roster for these final matches of 2023 that includes just thirteen players from 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and five – Abby Dahlkemper, Tierna Davidson, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett – who were on the 2019 Women’s World Cup championship team.

The roster includes two midfielders – 2023 NWSL Rookie of the Year Jenna Nighswonger and Paris Saint-Germain’s Korbin Albert – selected for their first full national team training camp. The roster also marks the return of several veterans in Lavelle, who makes her first roster since the 2023 World Cup after overcoming injury, Davidson, who suffered a facial injury that kept her out of the USWNT’s October Camp and Dahlkemper, who returns to her first U.S. roster since April of 2022 after recovering from major back surgery to help the San Diego Wave win the 2023 NWSL regular season title.

Kilgore and her staff will select 23 players to suit up for Saturday’s match in Ft. Lauderdale.

DOMINANT DEFENSE

Coming off two more clean sheets in the October matches against Colombia, the USWNT enters Saturday’s match at DRV PNK Stadium having allowed just two goals this year, which came against Brazil in the 2023 SheBelieves Cup finale on Feb. 22 and against the Netherlands in the World Cup group stage on July 27. With just the two goals allowed through 16 matches for a rate of 0.13 goals allowed per match, the U.S. is on pace to break the current single-year program record (min. 10 games) of 0.40 goals allowed per match which was set in 2016 when the USA allowed 10 goals in 25 matches. With now just two games remaining on the schedule for 2023, the USA will set a new single-year record if it allows fewer than six goals over the final two matches of the year.

The USA has kept 14 shutouts this year, nine credited to Alyssa Naeher and five to Casey Murphy. Along with stellar goalkeeping, the USA defense has been dominant, allowing just two shots on goal during the entire 2023 World Cup. The USA held South Africa to just one shot on goal combined in the two September friendlies and limited Colombia to two shots on target in each of the matchups last month. Center back Naomi Girma, who won NWSL Rookie and Defender of the Year honors in 2022 and repeated as Defender of the Year in 2023 has started 14 games this year for the USWNT while outside back Emily Fox has started 13 and is second on the team with 1,236 total minutes played in 2023.

Overall, the USA has allowed just 21 total shots on goal in 16 matches so far this year, the fewest in any complete year (min. 10 games) since at least 2017 and the fewest overall since 2020 when the USA allowed 15 shots on goal in nine matches as the international calendar was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

INSIDE THE SERIES: USA vs. CHINA PR

The second most common opponent in U.S. Women’s National Team history, the USA and China PR have played 58 times previously. The only nation the U.S. has faced more frequently is Canada, with 64 meetings all-time between the North American foes.

This will, however, be the first meeting between the teams since June 12, 2018, when the USA defeated China PR 2-1 at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio behind goals from Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath. The over five-year span without matches is the longest in the history of the rivalry, which dates back to 1986. 

The USA leads the all-time series between the sides with a record of 36W-13D-9L, outscoring the Chinese 99-37. Over the first 29 meetings of the series, the USA had 12 wins to China PR’s eight with nine draws between the teams. In the past 29 meetings, the USA has a record of 24W-4D-1L, with the lone defeat coming on December 16, 2015, a 1-0 loss in New Orleans in the Farewell Match for legendary striker Abby Wambach.

The USA and China have met seven times total in world championship events – four at the World Cup  - including the 1999 World Cup final - and three times at the Olympics – including in the 1996 gold medal match.

Overall, the USA is unbeaten in its last 23 matches against opponents from the Asian Football Confederation, with 17 wins and six draws during that span.

GOLD CUP AWAITS

Following these two games against China PR, the next matches for the USWNT will take place at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, the region's new flagship competition for Women's National Teams. The tournament will run from February 17 to March 10 and will be contested across four venues -  BMO Stadium and Dignity Health Sports Park in Greater Los Angeles, Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas, and Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.

The 12-team competition will be comprised of eight teams from Concacaf and four from South America. Six teams -  Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Paraguay, and the USA- have already qualified for the group stage while El Salvador has secured its place in the prelims.

After preliminary matches on Feb. 17 to determine the last participant in each group, round-robin group stage play which will take place from Feb. 20-28, with the USA leading Group A at Dignity Health Sports Park. Brazil headlining Group B at Snapdragon Stadium and Canada the top seed in Group C at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium. The remaining teams in each group, as well as the order of play, will be determined on December 11 during the official Draw.

Following the group stage, group winners, runners-up, and the two best third-place finishers will advance to the tournament's Quarterfinals. The Knockout Stage will commence with the Quarterfinals at BMO Stadium on March 2 and 3, followed by the Semifinals and Final at Snapdragon Stadium on March 6 and 10, respectively. The Quarterfinal pairings will be determined based on the Group Stage standings, with the team accumulating the most points facing the national team accumulating the least points (1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6, and 4 vs 5).

PATHWAY TO PARIS

With less than eight months until the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the USWNT is in the midst of its preparations for that tournament and its pursuit of a fifth Olympic gold medal. The Olympic Football Tournament features 12 teams and will be contested in seven different venues across France from July 24 to August 10: Parc des Princes in Paris, Stade de Lyon, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, Stade de Marseille, Stade de Nice, Stade de Bordeaux and Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. The USA is one of just five teams to have already qualified for Paris, joining hosts France, South American qualifiers Brazil and Colombia and Canada, which secured Concacaf’s second berth to the Olympics berth by beating Jamaica in a two-game playoff during the September international window.

The USA qualified for Paris by virtue of winning the 2022 Concacaf W Championship in Monterrey, Mexico, which served as the region’s qualification for the Olympics as well as the 2023 World Cup. Eighteen players on this September camp roster were a part of the USA’s squad for that tournament, which saw the USA run through the group stage, defeat Costa Rica 3-0 in the semifinal and then top Canada 1-0 in the championship game to secure an automatic berth to the 2024 Summer Games.

The remaining seven teams in the Olympic Field (two from Europe, two from Asia, two from Africa and one from Oceania) will be determined in early 2024 with the Official Draw to follow.

2023 USWNT MEDIA GUIDE

The 2023 U.S. Women’s National Team Media Guide is available for download. The Media Guide features all the history and statistic for the USWNT, as well as full bios on technical staff and the current top players, information on the USA’s Youth Women’s National Teams and general important information on U.S. Soccer.

USA ROSTER NOTES

• Lindsey Horan (137 caps) is the only player on this roster with 100+ international appearances and is one of only six players on this roster with 50 or more caps. The others are Rose Lavelle (91 caps), Emily Sonnett (81), Abby Dahlkemper (79), Lynn Williams (58) and Tierna Davidson (50).
• Eleven players called up for this camp have fewer than 10 caps, including three uncapped players in 18-year-old midfielder Olivia Moultrie, 20-year-old midfielder Korbin Albert and 23-year-old midfielder Jenna Nighswonger.
• Only four players on this roster are in their 30s, led by 33-year-old defender Casey Krueger who is also the only mother on this roster. The roster also includes three teenagers in 18-year-old Moultrie and 19-year-olds Alyssa Thompson and Jaedyn Shaw while the remaining 19 players are in their 20s.
• Through the 18 games in 2022 and 16 so far in 2023 – a total of 34 games – the USWNT has had 47 goals scored by players aged 24 or under. Over the course of 2019, 2020 and 2021 – a total of 57 games – the USWNT had a combined total of 10 goals scored by players under the age of 24.
• Overall, 20 of the USA’s 31 total goals in 2023 (65%) have been scored or assisted by a player under the age of 25.
• Nine players on this roster – Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith, Nighswonger, Mia Fishel, Trinity Rodman, Albert, Thompson, Shaw and Moultrie  – were born after the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will celebrate its 25^th anniversary next year.
• Horan is the top scorer on this roster with 30 career international goals, followed by Lavelle with 24, Williams with 17 and Smith with 14. 
• Fourteen different players have scored for the USA so far in 2023, led by seven goals from Mallory Swanson, four each from Rodman, and Horan, three from Williams, two goals each from Lavelle, Smith and Alex Morgan and one goal each from Shaw, Sonnett, Emily Fox, Alana Cook, Ashley Hatch, Mia Fishel and Taylor Kornieck.
• Nine different players have tallied an assist for the USA this year, led by five from Morgan, four from Lavelle, three from Rodman, two from Smith and one apiece from Horan, Williams, Fox, Sonnett, Thompson, Ashley Sanchez, Andi Sullivan and Sofia Huerta.
• Overall, 18 players have been directly involved in a goal this year for the USWNT, led by seven goal involvements each from Morgan (two goals and five assists), Swanson (seven goals) and Rodman (four goals, three assists). Lavelle is next with six total goal involvements (two goals, four assists) followed by Horan with five (four goals, one assist).
• Thirteen total clubs are represented on this roster – Olympique Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain from France, Chelsea FC from England and ten different NWSL clubs, led by three players each from NJ/NY Gotham FC, OL Reign, Washington Spirit, San Diego Wave FC and Portland Thorns FC.
• Twelve players on this roster were named to the NWSL Best XI First or Second Teams for their performances for club this season, highlighted by the three Americans who won NWSL End-of-Year awards in Defender of the Year Girma, Goalkeeper of the Year Jane Campbell and Rookie of the Year Nighswonger.

IN FOCUS: CHINA PR | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

FIFA World Ranking: 15
AFC Ranking: 3
Olympic Appearances: 6 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2020)
Best Olympic Finish: Silver Medal (1996)
Record vs. USA: 9W-13D-36L (GF: 37, GA: 99)
Last Meeting vs. USA: June 12, 2018 (2-1 USA win in Cleveland, Ohio)
Head Coach: Wang Jun (CHN)

CHINA PR WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

Goalkeepers (3): 12-Xu Huan (Jiangsu F.C.), 22-Pan Hongyan (Beijing W.F.C), 32-Gao Jingyao (Changchun W.F.C)        

Defenders (6): 2-Li Mengwen (Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., England), 3-Dou Jiaxing (Jiangsu F.C.), 5-Liu Yanqiu (Wuhan Jianghan University F.C.), 8-Yao Wei (Wuhan Jianghan University F.C.), 25-Wang Siqian (Shanghai W.F.C), 26-Li Tingyingge (Shanghai W.F.C)

Midfielders (3): 9-Shen Mengyu (Celtic FC, Scotland), 23-Tang Jiali (Levante Las Planas, Spain), 28-Wang Aifang (Liaoning F.C.)

Forwards (8): 7-Wang Yanwen (Beijing W.F.C), 11-Wang Shanshan (Wuhan Jianghan University F.C.), 17-Yan Jinjin (Shanghai W.F.C), 18-Shen Menglu (Celtic FC, Scotland), 19-Zhang Linyan (Tottenham Hotspur F.C., England), 20-Wu Rigumula (Central Coast Mariners FC, Australia), 24-Jin Kun (Jiangsu F.C.), 27-Huo Yuexin (Jiangsu F.C.)

CHINA PR ROSTER NOTES

• China had a hard time scoring goals at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, falling to Denmark, 1-0, beating Haiti, 1-0, and then losing to England, 6-1, to finish third in the Group D and fail to advance. Wang Shuang of Racing Louisville FC scored both of China’s goals in Australia.
• China will miss out on the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing third in Group B during the Second Round of the AFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Despite hosting the group in Xiamen, China lost to North Korea, 2-1, beat Thailand 3-0, and then drew South Korea 1-1, in a game it needed to win.
• The Steel Roses, who were one of the world’s best teams in the 1990s and lost in two world finals to the USA (at the 1996 Olympics and 1999 Women’s World Cup), went through a tough patch a few years back, missing both the 2011 Women’s World Cup and the 2012 Olympics, but has since had a resurgence despite having five head coaches from 2015 until now.
• After failing to qualify for the Olympics, China parted ways with Shui Qingxia, who had been in charge since November of 2021. The former WNT player who played on China’s silver medal-winning team at the 1996 Olympics was the first Chinese female to be head coach of the National Team. She led the team to victory at the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup, the country's first Women's Asian Cup title in sixteen years. She was the 17^th coach in team history. France’s Elisabeth Loisel and Sweden’s Marika Domanski-Lyfors previously coached the China WNT. Current interim head coach Wang Jun is China’s U-20 WNT head coach.
• On this China roster, six players are playing their club soccer outside the country, five in Europe and one in Australia. Two – midfielder Shen Menguy play and forward Shen Menglu - play in Scotland for Celtic FC while defender Li Mengwen plays in the England Women’s Super League with Brighton Hove & Albion and forward Zhang Linyan plays for English side Tottenham Hotspur.