For the players who want to represent the U.S. women’s national team at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the window to make their mark is closing rapidly.
USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski must submit his final 23-woman roster to FIFA by July 10, and the tournament starts July 20, when the U.S. faces Vietnam in Auckland, New Zealand. However, Andonovski is expected to announce his squad by June 26, which is when USWNT players will head to a pre-World Cup camp. That leaves players with two months to earn a spot, which will consist entirely of club play now that there are no more international windows left before the World Cup.
We have done three editions of the USWNT Big Board for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in which we’ve assessed who will make the roster, and for this fourth edition so close to the tournament, we might’ve expected few (if any) questions. But whew, that could not be further from what’s happened — as Andonovski said himself recently, there are 10 to 12 players still fighting for six to seven spots.
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This might be the most surprising Big Board yet, with some unexpected players becoming sudden locks, and would-be stars falling off the roster entirely, which leaves open spaces throughout the roster. In fact, we can’t remember the last time a USWNT roster had this many question marks so close to a major tournament.
So, with less than 100 days until the Women’s World Cup, settle in because here we go — it’s time for our USWNT Big Board: The Pre-World Cup Homestretch Edition™.
How we’re doing this
If you’ve seen our previous Big Boards, you know how this works. We are not making a prediction about what will happen over the next two to three months — our final roster prediction will come later. Rather, we are evaluating where the USWNT squad stands right now. We’re breaking down the roster by position, as if Andonovski is picking his squad today.
Meanwhile, Andonovski seems to like Alana Cook despite a lack of consistency compared to the other two players ahead of her, and she even scored a goal in the USWNT’s last game. Right now, there’s no reason to doubt she’ll be at the World Cup.
Tierna Davidson, who was listed as “wait-and-see” on our previous Big Board, moves to the bubble. The former lock tore her ACL one year ago and made her return for the USWNT in their last game after not playing for the national team since February 2022. But there’s no one Davidson is directly fighting with for a spot right now unless you count Sonnett, who could be seen as either a reserve full-back or center back. Ultimately, Davidson could be fighting against how Andonovski chooses to configure his roster.
On the plane right now: Sauerbrunn, Cook, Girma
Midfielders
Roster locks: Julie Ertz, Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Andi Sullivan, Ashley Sanchez
The bubble: Kristie Mewis, Taylor Kornieck,
Outside looking in: Samantha Coffey, Savannah DeMelo, Jaelin Howell, Samantha Mewis
Wait and see: None
