Kilgore Names 23-Player Roster 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup
USA Opens Play on Feb. 20 vs. Guyana or Dominican Republic; Mallory Swanson Returns to USWNT as Training Player Prior to Tournament
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CHICAGO (February 7, 2024) – U.S. Women’s National Team interim head coach Twila Kilgore has named a 23-player roster for the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup taking place from Feb. 17-March 10.
The USA’s group will be played entirely at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. The USWNT opens Group A play on Tuesday, February 20 against the winner of the Guyana vs. Dominican Republic Preliminary Round match (which will take place on Feb. 17), faces Argentina on Friday, February 23 and then finishes the first round against Mexico on Monday, February 26. All of the USA’s games will kick-off at 7:15 p.m. PT / 10:15 p.m. ET. Tickets to all matches are available via https://www.concacaf.com/w-gold-cup/tickets.
These will be the first matches of the 2024 Olympic year for the USWNT. The roster features three Southern California products in Mia Fishel (San Diego), Jenna Nighswonger (Huntington Beach) and Trinity Rodman (Laguna Niguel) and two former UCLA stars in Fishel and defender Abby Dahlkemper.
Twenty-one players on the Concacaf W Gold Cup roster were with the USA for its December event that featured two wins over China PR. Veteran goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher returns to the roster as does defender Crystal Dunn, who had a minor injury at the end of last year, to round out the 23.
Three non-rostered players will train with the USA before the tournament begins including forward Mallory Swanson, who makes her return to U.S. training camp for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury last April that caused her to miss the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Swanson led the USA in scoring in 2023 with seven goals despite playing in only six matches.
The roster includes 19 players that will arrive from their NWSL preseasons and four that will come in from Europe: Lindsey Horan, Emily Fox, Fishel and Korbin Albert. Horan (Olympique Lyon), Fishel (Chelsea FC) and Albert (Paris Saint-Germain) all play for clubs who have qualified for the quarterfinal round in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Fox comes into camp fresh off a sterling debut run with Arsenal FC in London.
“Not only is there a trophy on the line, but this is a great opportunity to capitalize on meaningful match opportunities and experience the short turnarounds between games, which is a rhythm that closely mirrors the Olympic format,” said Kilgore. “We are going to take our next steps together as we continue to evolve our style of play and provide opportunities for players to grow into possible future roles and partnerships. There is something special about tournament play and what it can bring out of players. We are hopefully going to be together for a month and we are looking forward to both finding and enjoying that working rhythm required to be in tournament for long stretches while upholding and driving our standards forward. We can’t wait for the opportunity.”
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster by Position (Club) – 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (8): Alana Cook (Seattle Reign FC), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NY/NJ Gotham FC)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
FORWARDS (6): Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The top two finishers in each of the three groups along with the two best third-place teams will qualify for the knockout stage, which will commence with the Quarterfinals at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on March 2 and 3, followed by the Semifinals and Final at San Diego’s 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 country accumulating the least points, the team accumulating the second most points facing the team with the seventh most points and so on, so the #1 seed will face the #8 seed, #2 will play #7, #3 will play #6 and #4 will play #5.
Additional Notes:
- Aside from Swanson, the other two training players are midfielder Savannah DeMelo, who started two games at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and defender Gisele Thompson, a U.S. Under-20 international and recent Angel City FC signing who is the younger sister of 2023 World Cup team member Alyssa Thompson. This is the first full USWNT call-up for the younger Thompson who played in the 2022 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
- Sixteen players on this roster have previously represented the USWNT in Concacaf tournaments, including 12 players who were on the roster for the 2022 Concacaf W Gold Cup, helping the USA qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, 2024 Summer Olympics and this inaugural W Gold Cup.
- Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is just three caps away from hitting 100 and becoming the 42nd USWNT player and just the third goalkeeper in team history to reach that mark. Naeher ranks third all-time in USWNT history with 59 shutouts and had nine shutouts in 11 appearances for the USWNT in 2023, matching her calendar year best for clean sheets in a calendar year.
- Just two players on the USA’s W Gold Cup roster have 100 or more caps: Crystal Dunn (140) and Lindsey Horan (139).
- Seven players on this roster have fewer than seven caps.
- The roster includes two players who earned first caps and scored first WNT goals last fall in 19-year-old forward Jaedyn Shaw and 22-year-old forward Mia Fishel, who dramatically scored in her hometown of San Diego on Oct. 29, 2023, in a 3-0 win over Colombia, the same game in which Shaw tallied her first. Shaw scored on Dec. 5 against China PR in her hometown of Frisco, Texas, which was also the game-winner.
- Veteran defender Abby Dahlkemper gets her second consecutive USWNT call-up. She returned to the field last season after she recovered from major back surgery to help the San Diego Wave win the 2023 NWSL regular season title.
- The roster is stocked with 2023 NWSL award winners, led by NWSL Defender of the Year – and 2023 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year - Naomi Girma, who won it for a second year in a row, as well as Rookie of the Year Nighswonger and Goalkeeper of the Year Jane Campbell.
- Six NWSL Best XI First Team selections are on this roster in Campbell, Girma, Shaw, midfielder Sam Coffey and forwards Lynn Williams and Sophia Smith. Smith also won the Golden Boot as the top scorer in the league, tallying 11 goals in 17 regular season appearances.
- Defenders Jenna Nighswonger and Emily Fox and forward Trinity Rodman made the NWSL Best XI Second Team.
- Campbell, who recorded a career-high eight shutouts for the Houston Dash in 2023, gets her second consecutive selection after returning to the roster in December for the first time since November of 2021.
- Twelve players called up for this camp were on the USA’s roster at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and seven – Dahlkemper, Davidson, Dunn, Horan, Lavelle, Naeher and Sonnett – were on the roster for the 2019 Women’s World Cup champions.
- Ten players called up for the W Gold Cup were on the USWNT’s roster at the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
- There are two teenagers on the roster in 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie and 19-year-old Shaw. Both played at 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica along with now 20-year-old Korbin Albert.
- Albert is the most recent player to earn a first cap for the USWNT, earning her first senior national team call-up during November/December FIFA International Window late last year and coming on in the second half of the USWNT’s year-end victory over China PR.
- Moultrie and Shaw were also on the team that won the 2018 Concacaf Girls’ U-15 Championship in Bradenton, Florida.
- The roster features a total of eight players who were born after the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary this summer.
- Twelve players on this roster were born after the 1996 Summer Olympics, which was the first Olympics to feature women’s soccer and marked the first gold medal won by the USWNT.
- Ten different NWSL clubs are represented on this roster. NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC lead the way with seven players while Portland Thorns FC and San Diego Wave FC have three players each.