U.S Women’s World Cup Roster Announced

The United States roster has been announced for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The USSF roster will not be considered official officially until the 24th of May when it must be submitted to FIFA. The same roster will play the final USWNT’ friendly matches before heading to France to play Mexico, New Zealand and South Africa.

The USSF and coach Jill Ellis selected 23 players to represent the U.S at the World Cup. It is expected that many on the roster will remain in place once the final roster has been submitted and included within it is Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, while Christen Press and Tobin Heath have been named as subs. The captain’s position has been awarded to Becky Sauerbrunn and also appearing, and ones to watch on the list is midfielder Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn, both considered top five players.

U.S Women’s Cup Roster:

GOALKEEPERS (3): (Chicago Red Stars) Alyssa Naeher, (Orlando Pride) Ashlyn Harris, (Portland Thorns FC) Adrianna Franch

DEFENDERS (7): (Portland Thorns FC) Emily Sonnett, (NC Courage), (Utah Royals FC), Becky Sauerbrunn, Abby Dahlkemper, (NC Courage) Crystal Dunn, (Chicago Red Stars) Tierna Davidson, (Orlando Pride) Ali Krieger, (Utah Royals FC) Kelley O’Hara

MIDFIELDERS (6): (Chicago Red Stars) Julie Ertz, (Chicago Red Stars) Morgan Brian, (Portland Thorns FC) Lindsey Horan, (Washington Spirit) Rose Lavelle, (NC Courage) Samantha Mewis, (Reign FC) Allie Long

FORWARDS (7): (Sky Blue FC) Carli Lloyd, (Portland Thorns FC) Tobin Heath, (NC Courage) Jessica McDonald, (Utah Royals FC) Christen Press, (Orlando Pride) Alex Morgan, (Reign FC) Megan Rapinoe (Washington Spirit) Mallory Pugh

Many selected for this year’s roster were expected. However, both Morgan Brian and Ali Krieger were surprise add-ons. At an international level, Krieger’s career seemed all but over but she was called back to participate in the friendly matches by Jill Ellis in April, and her add-on to the roster brings much needed experience to the team and is expected to fill the sub role for Kelley O’Hara. Casey Short is out of the running due to injury and prolonged rehab, a disappointment that will be felt.

Morgan Brian was another surprise and for multiple reasons. The most evident is her not being chosen to play any of the recent games for the USWNT. Brian has had health related issues for back-to-back years and is not yet played a full 90 minutes as a player with the Chicago Red Stars. However, the lack of being called up is speculative of Ellis doing so intentionally so as to give Brian the added time to rest and be ready for the World Cup.

The 2019 Women’s World Cup will kick off on June 7th in Paris. However, Team U.S.A will not take to the field until the 11th when they face Thailand. They then will follow that match with one against Chile on the 16th and Sweden on the 20th.