After a highly successful FIFA window this summer in which a young U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Ireland twice, both by 4-0 scorelines, and then dominated Canada, 3-0, in Washington, D.C., the USWNT returns to the field after a long break – 113 days – between matches. This time, the U.S. team will be a mixture of veterans and younger players with five European-based players who were given the summer window off by Emma Hayes returning to the fold.
In the last FIFA window, the USA impressively got goals from eight different players – their first WNT goal for four of them – with Alyssa Thomspon, Yazmeen Ryan and Sam Coffey scoring in multiple games. Avery Patterson, Izzy Rodriguez, Yazmeen Ryan and Claire Hutton each opened their international accounts. For this roster, there is just one player in her first senior USWNT camp – YNT veteran defender Kennedy Wesley – as Hayes begins the process of pairing down the pool to a core group which will attempt to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup at the 2026 CONCACAF W Championship.
U.S. Head Coach Emma Hayes gave five players their first caps in the last FIFA window as well – goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, defenders Jordyn Bugg, Lilly Reale and Izzy Rodriguez and midfielder Sam Meza. All but Rodriguez and Meza are back on this roster, which features just one first-time call-up, Kennedy Wesley. Rodriguez and Meza, who started on June 29 vs. Ireland, became the 23rd and 24th players to debut under Hayes in her 25 games at the helm, a remarkable ratio for the Olympic champion head coach. Hayes has given 28 players their first call-ups, but she also gave a first cap to a player who did not get a first call-up under her, as Lily Yohannes earned her first call-up under former interim head coach Twila Kilgore but did not see action until Hayes. The 24 players who have earned their first USWNT caps under Emma Hayes are: Sam Staab, Lily Yohannes, Croix Bethune, Yazmeen Ryan, Hal Hershfelt, Emily Sams, Emma Sears, Mandy McGlynn, Alyssa Malonson, Eva Gaetino, Ally Sentnor, Tara McKeown, Michelle Cooper, Gisele Thompson, Claire Hutton, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Avery Patterson, Lo'eau LaBonta, Kerry Abello, Claudia Dickey, Lilly Reale, Jordyn Bugg, Sam Meza and Izzy Rodriguez. So far, 13 of these players have made their USWNT debuts in 2025. Eleven players debuted for the USWNT in 2024, which was the most in a calendar year since 2001, when 15 players – including eventual World Cup champions Abby Wambach and Lori Chalupny – earned their first caps. With Kennedy Wesley looking for her debut, and two more matches against Italy around Thanksgiving, that record for debuts in a year could fall.
After being named on Oct. 16 to a USWNT roster for the first time since last April, Trinity Rodman was injured playing for the Washington Spirit in the Concacaf W Champions Cup just hours later. While the USA will have to wait for Rodman’s return, Catarina Macario, who has been in fine form for Chelsea FC in England, headlines the group of mostly young or inexperienced forwards. Macario has 24 caps and 11 goals. Midfielder Sam Meza, who was originally named to the roster, had to pull out due to a minor hamstring strain and she was replaced by KC Current’s Lo’eau LaBonta, who earns her second WNT call-up.
This FIFA window features three matches in seven days. The USA will face Portugal on Thursday, Oct. 23 at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa., presented by AT&T (7 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max in English on Peacock in Spanish and on the radio on Westwood One Sports and Fútbol de primera in Spanish) and on Sunday, Oct. 26 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. (4 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max in English, Universo and Peacock in Spanish and on the radio on Westwood One Sports). The latter match will be presented by Volkswagen. The USA will then finish the three-game set with a match against New Zealand in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the team’s first-ever match at CPKC Stadium (8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT, on TNT, truTV and HBO Max in English on Universo and Peacock in Spanish and on the radio on Westwood One Sports and FDP Spanish radio).
GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudia Dickey(Seattle Reign FC; 2), Mandy McGlynn(Utah Royals; 4), Phallon Tullis-Joyce(Manchester United, ENG; 3)
DEFENDERS (8): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC; 2/0), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 67/1), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC; 2/0), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit; 8/0), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash; 6/1), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 5/0), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC; 110/2), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave; 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 38/4), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 167/38), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 6/1), Lo’eau LaBonta (Kansas City Current; 2/0), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC; 113/25), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 9/2), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC; 26/8), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 8/1)
FORWARDS (6): Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current; 8/1), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG; 24/11), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash; 12/2), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville; 8/1), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; 12/4), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC, ENG; 22/3)
Five European-based players whom Hayes chose to not call up for the late June/early July FIFA window to give them adequate rest after a long European season, return to the fold this week: midfielder Lindsey Heaps, defender Emily Fox, forward Catarina Macario, midfielder Lily Yohannes and goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce. All five are currently playing in the UEFA Champions League for their respective clubs. This is the first call-up for winger Alyssa Thompson since her high-profile transfer to Chelsea FC in the English Women’s Super League. She has played seven matches for the Blues so far and earned her first UEFA Women’s Champions League goal and assist in a 4-0 win over Paris FC on Oct. 15. It was her first goal for the club.
The roster features 19 NWSL Players, including first-time call-up Kennedy Wesley, while Gotham FC leads the NWSL clubs in call-ups with four. The KC Current and Seattle Reign placed three players each on the roster.
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has compiled a record of 21W-2L-2D through her first 25 matches at the helm of the USWNT and guided the USA to five consecutive shutouts before seeing that streak end against Germany in the group stage of the Olympics. It was the second-longest shutout streak to open the tenure of any full-time USWNT head coach, trailing only the nine consecutive shutouts that opened the Greg Ryan era. Ater the 3-0 opening game win over Zambia at the Olympics, Hayes became the first USWNT head coach to win their first major tournament match by a margin of three or more goals and joined Anson Dorrance as the only head coaches in USWNT history to win their first six matches at a major tournament. Dorrance won all six games with the USWNT at the 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Hayes joins three other USWNT head coaches of the last eight in USWNT history who won their first major competition (Anson Dorrance – 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Pia Sundhage – 2008 Olympics, Jill Ellis – 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup). The gold medal victory in Paris came in Hayes’ 10th match at the helm of the USWNT, the fewest matches before winning a World Cup or Olympics by any head coach in women’s soccer history. Hayes picked up her first world honor as head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team when she won the Ballon d’Or as the 2024 Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year. France Football, the top soccer magazine in France and one of the most reputable in Europe, has been awarding the Ballon d’Or to men’s players since 1956 and to women’s players since 2018, but 2024 was the first year it has given out awards to coaches of men’s and women’s soccer.Hayes then followed that up by winning The Best FIFA Women’s Coach award. Hayes won that award in 2021 and finished second to England head coach Sarina Wiegman in 2023.
Thursday’s matchup will be the 12th meeting all-time between the two teams. The United States holds a 10W-0L-1D record against Portugal. Seven of the 11 all-time meetings have been won by three or more goals, though two of the last five have been 1-0 victories, including the last encounter before the World Cup, which was a friendly in Houston in 2021.
This will be the first meeting since the final match of group play at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a match that featured a gritty performance from Portugal in the 0-0 draw, the first draw ever between the teams. In that World Cup match, the USA outshot Portugal, 17-6, and 6-0 in shots on goal, but could not find the net.
The World Cup clash was the first meeting in major tournament between the USWNT and Portugal. The U.S. had won all 10 previous meetings, outscoring them, 39-0. The 11 meetings with Portugal without ever conceding are the most the USWNT has played against a single opponent that it has never conceded a goal against.
Four of the previous 11 meetings between the USA and Portugal took place at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, a tournament in which the U.S. no longer competes.
Since the start of 2020, the USWNT has played 69 matches in the United States and 32 outside the country. The USA is 60W-4L-6D in domestic matches and has outscored the opposition 215-22 (+193) at home. Outside the United States, the USWNT is 20W-4L-8D with a 62-20 goal margin (+42).
Since the end of the 2015 World Cup, the USA has played 196 matches and has a record of 160W-13L-23D.
Thirty-four of the USA’s 50 goals in 2024 (68%) were scored or assisted by a player under the age of 25. The USA is off to a good start in that category in 2025. Of the team’s combined 26 goals and 20 assists this year, 45% involved an under-25 player.
Goal scorers under 25 include 21-year-old Ally Sentnor (4), 20-year-old Alyssa Thompson (2), 22-year-olds Michelle Cooper and Trinity Rodman, and 19-year-old Claire Hutton. Players under 25 that have assists in 2025 include Tompson and Sentnor with two apiece, Hutton and Cooper each with one, 19-year-olds Emma Sears (1) and Olivia Moultrie (1), 20-year-old Jaedyn Shaw, 21-year-old Lilly Reale, and 23-year-old Avery Patterson. Lindsey Heaps and Rose Lavelle are the leading scorers on this roster with 38 and 25 career goals, respectively. Catarina Macario (11) and Jadeyn Shaw (8) have the next most international goals. No one else has more than four, which is the career total for Sam Coffey and Ally Sentnor.
Lindsey Heaps and Rose Lavelle are the leading scorers on this roster with 38 and 25 career goals, respectively. Catarina Macario (11) and Jadeyn Shaw (8) have the next most international goals. No one else has more than four, which is the career total for Sam Coffey and Ally Sentnor.
There are eight players on the roster who have senior world championship experience, led by Heaps, Lavelle and Sonnett, but three of those eight, Jaedyn Shaw, Alyssa Thompson and Cat Macario barely played or did not play on their respective Olympic Teams. Sam Coffey and Emily Fox are the others, both of whom played major roles in the 2024 Olympic gold medal run.
There are three teenagers in training camp in Jordyn Bugg and Claire Hutton who are both 19, and Lily Yohannes who at 18 years and three months old is the youngest player on the roster. Yohannes is the first player born in 2007 to be called up to the USWNT. Olivia Moultrie turned 20 on Sept. 17. The oldest player is Emily Sonnett, who turns 32 in late November.
FIFA World Ranking: 23
UEFA Ranking: 14
World Cup Appearances: 2023
Best World Cup Finish: Group Play
Record vs. USA: 0W-1D-10L (GF: 0; GA: 39)
Head Coach: Francisco Neto (POR)
Goalkeepers (3): 1-Inês Pereira* (Deportivo De La Coruna, ESP), 12-Patrícia Morais, (S.C. Braga), 22-Sierra Cota-Yarde (AFC Toronto, CAN)
Defenders (9): 2-Catarina Amado* (S.L. Benfica), 3-Lúcia Alves* (S.L. Benfica), 4-Alice Marques (Sevilla FC, ESP), 5-Bárbara Lopes, (S.C.U Torreense), 15-Carole Costa* (S.L. Benfica), 18-Carolina Correia (S.C.U Torreense), 19-Diana Gomes* (S.L. Benfica), 20-Beatriz Fonseca (Sporting CP), 24-Cancelinha Érica (Sporting CP)
Midfielders (7): 6-Andreia Jacinto* (Real Sociedad (ESP), 7-Francisca Nazareth* (FC Barcelona (ESP), 8-Maria Alagoa (S.C. Braga), 11-Tatiana Pinto* (Juventus FC, ITA), 13-Fátima Pinto* (Racing Club Strasbourg (FRA), 14-Dolores Silva* (Levante UD, ESP), 16-Andreia Faria (Al Nassr FC (SAU)
Forwards (5): 9-Stephanie Ribeiro (UNAM (MEX), 10-Jéssica Silva* (Al-Hilal, SAU), 17-Diana Silva* (S.L. Benfica), 21-Maísa Correia (Sporting CP), 23-Carolina Santiago (Sporting CP)
*Member of 2023 FIFA WWC Team.
