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By Laken Litman
FOX Sports Soccer Writer
The hunt for a three-peat is on.
Not that the U.S. Women's National Team were worried about qualifying for the 2023 World Cup, but now it's official. On Thursday, the United States crushed Jamaica 5-0 in their second match of the CONCACAF W Championship, the tournament that doubles as qualifying for next year's World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.
But it wasn't until Haiti beat host nation Mexico 3-0 in the nightcap that the USWNT were able to celebrate clinching yet another World Cup berth.
In the eight-team W Championship field, the top two finishers in each group of four automatically qualify for the World Cup next summer. The winner of the tournament will also earn a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics, while the second- and third-place teams will have the chance to play for the region's other spot at a later date.
But first thing's first: The U.S. will set their sights on making more history as the first nation to win three consecutive World Cups and a record five titles.
Now the question for next summer will be: Who leads the charge down under?
The 23-player roster that coach Vlatko Andonovski called into this qualifying window might not — and, in fact, likely will not — be the same group he takes to Australia and New Zealand. For starters, the team is missing key players: Crystal Dunn just had a baby, and Julie Ertz is pregnant; Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams are injured, while Abby Dahlkemper is recovering from broken ribs; Catarina Macario, Christen Press and Tierna Davidson all tore their ACLs, and Tobin Heath just returned to the NWSL with OL Reign after she was released from Arsenal.
This isn't to say that any of those aforementioned players are automatic additions for Andonovski if and when they are healthy and back in form. But the coach will certainly have some tough decisions and cuts to make over the next year.
How many veterans will end up making the team? We've already heard how valuable Andonovski finds a player such as Megan Rapinoe, whom he often leans on for ideas and advice. Rapinoe missed the Jamaica match after spending Thursday at the White House to be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but she promptly returned to Mexico to be with her team.
Alex Morgan is arguably in the best form of her life. She leads the NWSL with 11 goals for the San Diego Wave and scored two goals in a 3-0 victory over Haiti on Monday.
Becky Sauerbrunn is the team captain and stalwart in the middle of the defense, and Kelley O'Hara has been a fixture in this starting lineup — plus, she scored a goal in a friendly against Colombia last week.
But Andonovski has a mostly young team with plenty of emerging talent. The two most exciting players on the roster right now are 24-year-old Mallory Pugh and 21-year-old Sophia Smith, wingers Andonovski has said would be very difficult to unseat as regular starters. While Pugh hasn't scored a goal yet this tournament, she has had plenty of chances and has been incredibly dangerous in the final third. Smith scored two goals in the first eight minutes against Jamaica on Thursday, including a ridiculous, right-footed trivela.
Then there's Macario, the 22-year-old forward who recently won a Champions League title with Lyon. She tore her ACL right before the June camp, and the only person who was just as bummed that she wouldn't be playing this month was Andonovski. Had Macario not been injured, the USWNT front line probably would have had a different look for qualifying.
Elsewhere, Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle continue to control the midfield, while Sofia Huerta is making her case to be starting right back. Huerta forced an own goal in a recent friendly vs. Colombia and consistently produces perfectly dangerous crosses. Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman, who scored her second USWNT goal against Jamaica, can play the No. 9 when Morgan is off the field, and Alana Cook and Emily Fox have proven themselves along the back line.
Putting together a final roster for next year is not a task Andonovski takes lightly. While he respects veteran players and knows he needs their experience and leadership, he loves infusing fresh talent into the team. Plus, after the disaster that was losing to Canada and winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, the U.S. is going to want to come out with its strongest group and remind the world of its place at the top.
The U.S. is the 12th team to qualify for the first 32-team World Cup, joining co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Sweden, Spain, France and Denmark. Haiti could qualify for the first time with a draw against Jamaica on Monday, and Mexico has eliminated itself from qualifying automatically. They could still make the tournament but would need to beat the USWNT on Monday to finish in third, which would send them to an inter-confederation playoff.
Should the U.S. advance to the final of the CONCACAF W Championship, it could (likely) face Canada for the first time since the Olympics, with an automatic spot in the next Olympic Games on the line.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously covered college football, college basketball, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team and the Olympics at Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. Her first book, written in partnership with Rizzoli and Sports Illustrated and titled "Strong Like a Woman," was published in spring 2022 marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
