USWNT SheBelieves Cup roster: Catarina Macario returns; Naomi Girma, others recover
Emma Hayes has named 23 players to the U.S. women's national team's SheBelieves Cup roster, only 12 of which were on the gold-medal winning Olympic team last summer.
Before digging in, know that there are some big stars sitting out. Trinity Rodman (still regaining her fitness as she rehabs from a back injury), Mallory Swanson (personal commitments) and Sophia Smith (not physically ready for USWNT competition) will once again miss camp. So will Rose Lavelle (recovering from ankle surgery) and Naomi Girma (recovering from a calf injury), who recently became the first women's soccer player ever involved in a $1 million transfer, going from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea.
However, there is good news: Catarina Macario is back. The Chelsea star has not played for the USWNT since June 1, 2024 due to knee irritation that held her out of the Paris Olympics — a roster she initially made but was forced to withdraw from because of that injury. She's played 13 games for her club this season, started five, and has scored five goals with two assists. Ironically, Macario made her valiant return to the national team at last year's SheBelieves Cup after a much longer injury layoff.
The 10th annual SheBelieves Cup takes place in Houston (Feb. 20 vs. Colombia), Glendale, Ariz. (Feb. 23 vs. Australia) and San Diego (Feb. 26 vs. Japan).
"This team is still growing, and I continue to be impressed with the dedication of our player pool to get better, individually and as a group," Hayes said in a statement. "With many players at the beginning of their club preseasons, we'll be patient with them, but at the same time, we're going to maximize the time we have together.
"We are facing three excellent teams with three very different styles and the tournament will be a great test to see who can perform against world-class players, but to see that, we need to give them opportunities. We have put in a lot of thought on how best to accomplish that while continuing to evolve and putting out a team that can win, so every game should be a lot of fun for the staff, the players and the fans."
Since the U.S. won gold at the Olympics, Hayes has spent the last several months broadening the player pool. She's given opportunities to younger players, held a Futures Camp alongside the senior team's January training camp, and said she hoped to have a "core group" by the time this tournament rolled around.
While there are significant names unavailable during this window, it's notable which young players have clearly made impressions on the coach. For example: 19-year-olds Claire Hutton and Gisele Thompson, as well as 22-year-old Michelle Cooper, earned their first senior call-ups after attending the Futures Camp in January. Thompson's inclusion, along with her older sister Alyssa, marks only the third time in program history that a pair of sisters have been on the same roster. Tara McKeown, 25, made her first senior team roster at the January camp, and is the fourth uncapped player in this group.
"I want to see what they look like within the [senior team] set up to determine, do they have the necessary qualities right now to be in the WNT, or do they go back to the [U-23's] come April [during the next camp]?" Hayes explained. "So I need to establish that."
Hayes said that someone like Hutton, who has entrenched herself as a "consistent player in the NWSL" with the Kansas City Current and within the U-20 pool, is someone "who I think could have a big future with the national team." What she wants to see from the young midfielder over the course of the next few weeks is where she is in relation to a player like Sam Coffey, for example. The same goes for other players like Cooper, who Hayes said "shone in the Futures Camp." Hayes wants to see where the Kansas City Current forward is in relation to a player like Yazmeen Ryan or Trinity Rodman (even though Rodman is not on this roster).
"It gives me the chance to see the likes of these players against the players who have been a little bit more established," Hayes said. "And I want to do it in a competition setting [unlike the January camp where there were no international games]. And I want us to be bold in that decision, that selection, because now is the time for us to take the risks and build the larger playing pool with bigger and better experiences.
"That's what this year is about. Building and developing relationships and their understanding of what we're looking to do and to see what they're like under pressure."
Hayes also named three training players who will not be on the game-day rosters, but will practice with the squad for the duration of the tournament. All three – Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Angel City defender Savy King and Bay FC midfielder Hannah Bebar – are uncapped.
Hayes went on to explain that the team is in "block three" of their "build toward qualifying for the World Cup" which will be hosted by Brazil in 2027. While some of her selections may be judged by who is and is not on the roster, Hayes implored that between now and the end of June, there will be "a fair bit of experimenting with the available players" that she can select.
"Whenever I can get the opportunity to play what we would consider our best team together, we will definitely look at that," Hayes said. "But we're not. We do not have a World Cup today, and my job is to prepare a team to compete come that period. So I have to provide these players the opportunity to do it. And if I solely play just to prepare a group for a World Cup today, I wouldn't take the risks that I'm taking right now and that's something that I want to do through the entirety of this block three."
One of the larger storylines looming over the USWNT is who will be its next starting goalkeeper. Alyssa Naeher retired at the end of 2024, and her full-time replacement is currently undecided. Hayes only called in two goalkeepers to this camp in Jane Campbell and Mandy McGlynn, with Tullis-Joyce named to the training squad. Notably, Casey Murphy, who backed up Naeher at the Olympics and has the most caps (20) of any other goalkeeper, was not called up.
Hayes said not to fret, that this roster is not necessarily indicative of who will take over the job permanently or be starting in the next World Cup. She felt strongly about calling in Campbell because she had been injured and unavailable for recent camps. But players like Murphy, Claudia Dickey and Angelina Anderson – all of whom were part of the January roster – are "still very much a part of the plans," Hayes said.
"I would say for the goalkeepers that are not in here, they all know what they have to work on and what is a key focus area, but I think that is still very open. And to be honest, I think that will be open all the way through this block too. Knowing we have a camp now, a camp in April, camp in May, camp in June, we have opportunities, and I'm not going to be pinned down to making a decision around those things.
"And at the end of that block, I'd like to think we are a lot clearer about what they can and cannot do with the things that we're asking for, and then progress from there."
USWNT SheBelieves Cup Roster by Position
GOALKEEPERS (2): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash; 8), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 1)
DEFENDERS (8): Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 65/3), Crystal Dunn (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 155/25), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 62/1), Tara McKeown (Washington Spirit; 0/0), Jenna Nighswonger (Arsenal FC, ENG; 18/2), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 2/0), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 103/2), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; 0/0)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA; 22/1), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC; 28/1), Lindsey Heaps (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 161/36), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 0/0), Jaedyn Shaw (North Carolina Courage; 21/8), Lily Yohannes (Ajax, NED; 2/1)
FORWARDS (7): Lynn Biyendolo (Seattle Reign FC; 75/21), Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current; 0/0), Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC, ENG; 19/8), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash; 4/0), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC; 3/1), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals; 2/0), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC; 13/1)
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
