Match Preview: USWNT Faces Portugal to Complete Two-Game Set
Watch USA-POR on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 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
After a highly successful FIFA window this summer, the USWNT returned to the field on Oct. 23 after a long break – 113 days between matches – and a bit of rust showed. After the U.S. scored early with a beautiful strike from Rose Lavelle, a plucky Portugal side buried two of their own off corner kicks – one from a Diana Gomes header in the 41st minute and the second from Fátima Pinto in the 72nd after the USA failed to clear again, resulting in the United States’ first loss to the European side. It was also the first-ever goals scored by Portugal against the USA. The USWNT now holds an 8W-3L-0D record on the year and a 10W-1L-1D record against Portugal. The USA will look to turn it up a notch – or two – for Sunday’s match and flip the result as U.S. head coach Emma Hayes continues the process of identifying the core group which will attempt to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup at the 2026 CONCACAF W Championship.
UNCLE’S RETIREMENT PARTY: Alyssa Naeher will say her official farewell to the USWNT on Oct. 26 in her home state as the U.S. hosts Portugal in East Hartford, Conn. The USWNT will celebrate the influential goalkeeper, and Stratford, Conn. native, pre-match for her invaluable contributions to the USA’s success in her decade of senior team play. Naeher made the 2015 Women’s World Cup Championship-winning roster, and her contributions only grew from there. She earned 69 clean sheets in her 115 appearances (60%) and helped lead the United States to shut out wins in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final and the 2024 Olympic gold medal match. In the 2019 FIFA WWC Semifinal, Naeher made a legendary penalty save to stop England from equalizing. In a sign of her “all-business attitude,” Naeher shooed away her still-celebrating teammates as she didn’t want to get called for holding the ball for too many seconds. The USWNT would go on to shut out the Netherlands, 2-0 in the final. Unsatisfied by the 2023 FIFA WWC, Naeher decided to play one more year and set the tone in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup Semifinals against Canada. While regular time finished 2-2, Naeher stepped up in the shootout. She saved the first attempt, buried one herself for the U.S., stopped Canada’s second attempt and made a third save to seal it. At the Olympics, it was back-to-back late-game saves from Naeher in the semifinal and final that earned shutout wins, 1-0, over both Germany and Brazil.
ON DECK: This FIFA window features two more matches during this seven-day stretch of games. The USA will face Portugal again on Sunday, Oct. 26 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn. presented by Volkswagen (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 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).
October Matches vs. Portugal & New Zealand
GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC; 2) Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 4), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, ENG; 4)
DEFENDERS (8): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC; 2/0), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 68/1), Eva Gaetino (Paris St-Germain, FRA; 1) Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit; 9/0), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash; 7/1), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC; 2/0), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 5/0), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC; 111/2), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave; 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 39/4), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 168/38), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 7/1), Lo’eauLaBonta (Kansas City Current; 2/0), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC; 114/26), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 9/2), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC; 27/8), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 9/1)
FORWARDS (6): Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current; 9/1), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG; 25/11), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash; 13/2), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville; 9/1), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; 12/4), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC, ENG; 23/3)
ONE MORE FOR THE ROSTER: Defender Eva Gaetino, who was participating in the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team Training Camp this week outside of Philadelphia, has been called up to the U.S. Women’s National Team roster and will join the U.S. camp ahead of the final two matches of the FIFA window. After Trinity Rodman’s withdrawal from the October camp roster due to injury, the USWNT entered camp with 25 players on the roster. Confident in her players at both the senior and U-23 rosters, and once again emphasizing the importance of the U-23 program, Hayes looked to the oldest of the USA’s Youth National Teams to fill the 26th spot. With the U-23s training at the same facility as the USWNT, a call-up could easily be made. With all this in mind, Hayes attended U-23 trainings to assess the players, and, with all of her U-23 teammates looking on informed Gaetino after one of those trainings that she would be joining the senior team for the rest of camp. The 22-year-old Michigan native was with the senior team for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, but did not see action, and then earned her first and only cap in a 90-minute performance against Argentina on Oct. 30, 2024 — helping the U.S. to a 3-0 win that night. The 5-foot-11 central defender is in her second full season –third overall – with Paris Saint-Germain in France’s Première Ligue after a banner college career at Notre Dame.
24 DEBUTS IN 26 GAMES: In the last FIFA window, Emma Hayes gave five players their first caps — 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 in Kennedy Wesley. Rodriguez and Meza, who started on June 29 vs. Ireland, became the 23rd and 24th players to debut under Hayes in her 26 games at the helm, a remarkable ratio for the Olympic champion head coach. Hayes has given 28 total players their first USWNT 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 under Kilgore. 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.
THE EMMA FILE: USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has compiled a record of 21W-3L-2D through her first 26 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.
SERIES HISTORY -- USA vs. PORTUGAL: Thursday’s matchup will be the 13th meeting all-time between the two teams. After the loss on Oct. 23, the United States holds a 10W-1L-1D record against Portugal. Seven of the 12 all-time meetings have been won by three or more goals, though three of the last six have been one-goal games, including the last encounter before the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which was a friendly in Houston in 2021.
This will be the second 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. Before this camp, 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 never conceded a goal against.
Four of the previous 12 meetings between the USA and Portugal took place at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, a tournament in which the U.S. no longer competes.
FIFA World Ranking: 23
UEFA Ranking: 14
World Cup Appearances: 2023
Best World Cup Finish: Group Play
Record vs. USA: 1W-1D-10L (GF: 2; GA: 40)
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.