United States women’s soccer coach Emma Hayes announced Tuesday her 26-player roster for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup tournament, marking the first time since she took over two years ago that no newcomers made the squad.
Hayes is using the March tournament as preparation for the team’s World Cup qualifying matches scheduled for this fall. The competition will allow teams to use expanded rosters for the first time.
“The SheBelieves Cup is a fantastic tournament which gives us the opportunity to replicate the group stage of a FIFA tournament,” Hayes said in a statement.
“Three quality games in quick succession also allow us to replicate conditions that will prepare us for the World Cup qualifying campaign this fall.”
The roster includes eight players who won Olympic gold medals at the 2024 Paris Games and brings back 13 athletes from last year’s tournament, which Japan captured to break the Americans’ five-year championship run.
Missing from the squad is Catarina Macario, who leads the team in scoring this year. Hayes explained that the Chelsea striker is recovering from a heel injury and hasn’t been cleared to play for her club team.
“She’s getting closer and closer with every day, but she’s not available for selection yet at Chelsea,” Hayes told reporters. “I don’t know when that is going to come – I don’t know if that’s a week, two or three weeks away.”
Portland Thorns striker Sophia Wilson also won’t participate after taking maternity leave for the 2025 season following her daughter’s birth in September.
“Soph and I spoke and she’s just not ready. The return to play protocol just isn’t giving her enough time, I think, for her to be in the place that she wanted to be in,” Hayes added.
The team features sisters Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, who will compete together in their second SheBelieves Cup.
Just three athletes on the roster have earned more than 100 international caps: Lindsey Heaps with 170, Rose Lavelle with 116, and Gisele Thompson with 113, highlighting the squad’s younger composition.
The tournament’s 11th edition kicks off March 1 in Nashville, where Team USA will open against Argentina before meeting Canada and Colombia.
Complete U.S. women’s roster:
Goalkeepers: Claudia Dickey, Mandy McGlynn, Phallon Tullis-Joyce
Defenders: Jordyn Bugg, Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Lilly Reale, Tara Rudd, Emily Sonnett, Gisele Thompson, Kennedy Wesley, Kate Wiesner
Midfielders: Sam Coffey, Lindsey Heaps, Claire Hutton, Riley Jackson, Rose Lavelle, Olivia Moultrie, Jaedyn Shaw, Lily Yohannes
Forwards: Maddie Dahlien, Jameese Joseph, Trinity Rodman, Emma Sears, Ally Sentnor, Alyssa Thompson
