2021 WNT Summer Series: USA vs. Nigeria - Lineup, Schedule & TV Channels

2021 WNT Summer Series, Presented by AT&T 5G
Date: June 16, 2021
Venue: Q2 Stadium; Austin, Texas
Broadcast: ESPN2
Broadcast Time: 9 p.m. ET
Official Kickoff Time: 9:08 p.m. ET

Starting XI vs. Nigeria: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 5-Kelley O’Hara, 7-Abby Dahlkemper, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn, 19-Crystal Dunn; 9-Lindsey Horan, 3-Samantha Mewis, 22-Kristie Mewis; 23-Christen Press, 10-Carli Lloyd (Capt.), 15-Megan Rapinoe

 

Available Subs: 2-Sophia Smith, 6-Lynn Williams, 11-Catarina Macario, 12-Tierna Davidson, 13- Alex Morgan, 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle, 18-Jane Campbell, 20-Margaret Purce, 21-Adrianna Franch, 25-Andi Sullivan, 26-Alana Cook

GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW – NIGERIA

• U.S. WNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Lloyd (304), Sauerbrunn (186), Rapinoe (177), Press (147), O’Hara (138), Dunn (114), Horan (96), S. Mewis (75), Naeher (71), Dahlkemper (69), K. Mewis (24)

• The starting lineup against Nigeria features six changes from the Starting XI that took on Jamaica on June 13 in Houston. The changes are: Naeher for Franch in goal, O’Hara for Sonnett at right back and Sauerbrunn for Davidson at center back, Kristie Mewis and Samantha Mewis in the midfield in place of Rose Lavelle and Catarina Macario, and Megan Rapinoe for Margaret Purce in the attack.

• The Starting XI against Nigeria is nearly identical to the XI that kicked off the Summer Series against Portugal on June 10, with the only changes being Lloyd for Morgan up top and Kristie Mewis for Lavelle in the midfield.

• Carli Lloyd will be honored prior to the match against Nigeria for her historic 300^th cap earned on April 10 against Sweden, when she became just the third player in international soccer history to reach the 300 cap milestone.

• On June 13, Lloyd became the oldest goal scorer in USWNT history, scoring at the age of 38, 332 days old against Jamaica. Kristine Lilly – the most-capped player in world soccer history and Lloyd’s former USWNT teammate – previously held the record at 38 years, 264 days.

• Lloyd’s record came with another bit of history as she scored just 23 seconds into the match against the Reggae Girlz, which was the second-fastest goal in USWNT history. It also marked the second time Lloyd had scored in the opening minute of a match. Lloyd is one of three players to appear for every game for the USWNT in 2021, joined by Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle.

• Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is set to earn her 71^st cap and make her seventh start of 2021. Naeher is already the third-most capped goalkeeper in USWNT history, trailing just Hope Solo (202) and Briana Scurry (175). Naeher also ranks third with 41 career shutouts and has posted a clean sheet in 12 of her last 13 appearances for the USWNT.

• Kelley O’Hara will make her sixth start of 2021 and is set to earn her 138^th cap overall. This will be the fourth start in the last five games for O’Hara, who has worked her way back into form following a minor injury that limited her minutes at the start of the 2021 SheBelieves Cup.

• Center back Becky Sauerbrunn will be making her 186^th appearance for the USA in the match against Nigeria, good for 14^th in USWNT history. Sauerbrunn was the only USWNT player to play all 270 minutes of the 2021 SheBelieves Cup and leads the team with 630 minutes played in 2021, despite getting a well-deserved night off on June 13 against Jamaica.

• Abby Dahlkemper will make her 69th appearance for the USWNT, which will also be her 62^nd start in 69 caps. Dahlkemper led the USA in total minutes played in both 2019 and 2020 and has played in all but one match for which she has been available during her USWNT career. Dahlkemper has helped the USA to a clean sheet in each of her last seven caps, all of which she has gone the full 90 minutes. Dahlkemper’s husband, Aaron Schoenfeld, plays for Austin FC.

• Crystal Dunn will make her ninth appearance and eighth start of 2021 with tonight’s match against Nigeria, pushing her overall cap total to 114. Dunn will have now played in 39 of the USA’s 43 games since the start of 2019, making 37 starts over that span. She is fourth on the team in total minutes played in 2021 with 573.

• Lindsey Horan will make her 96^th international appearance with tonight’s match against Nigeria, continuing to close in on the 100-cap milestone. Horan has appeared in every game for the USA so far in 2021 and is tied for the team lead with four assists this year. She has tallied at least one goal or assist in 11 of her last 17 appearances for the USA, with nine goals and seven assists during that span and scored from the penalty spot in the USA’s most recent outing against Jamaica.

• Samantha Mewis will make her second start of the Summer Series in what will be her 75^th cap overall for the USWNT. Sam is second on the team in scoring with four goals in 2021, including the lone goal in the USA’s 1-0 victory over Portugal to open the Summer Series.  She also has two assists on the year, setting up Alex Morgan’s header late in the second half against Jamaica the last time out.

• Kristie Mewis is set to make her second start of the year in what will be her 24th career cap overall. Kristie started in the USA’s 6-0 win over Argentina in the final game of the 2021 SheBelieves Cup, scoring a goal and dishing out an assist in the victory. Kristie has appeared in eight of the USA’s 10 games since the resumption of play in November 2020 and has three goals and one assist in her return to the National Team.

• With both Kristie and Sam in the starting lineup, this will be the second time the Mewis sisters have started together for the USWNT. They last started together on March 10, 2014, in a 5-3 loss to Denmark in the Algarve Cup. The match against Nigeria will mark their sixth game together on the field for the USWNT, extending a record for most games played together with sisters on the U.S. team. With this game, the Mewis sisters now have 99 combined caps.

• Christen Press will earn her 147^th cap tonight and will make her seventh consecutive start, matching the longest such streak in her USWNT career, which came previously in 2015. Press has now started nine of the last 10 matches for which she has been available and is in the middle of one of the finest stretches of her career as she has been directly involved in 32 goals in her last 34 games.

• After getting a well-deserved rest on Sunday against Jamaica, Megan Rapinoe returns to the USA lineup for what will be her ninth match of 2021 and 177^th career cap. Rapinoe leads the USA in scoring with seven goals in 2021 and now has 59 career goals with the USWNT, moving past the great Carin Gabarra and into 11^th all-time. She is one score from tying Shannon MacMillan and Christen Press -- both of whom have 60 goals -- for 9^th all-time.