On the Pitch

USWNT To Face Football Ferns At Famed Eden Park

Watch New Zealand-USA on Friday, Jan. 20 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO Max

Coming off a 4-0 victory to open the year in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara, the U.S. Women’s National Team returns to action in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau, facing off against the Football Ferns for the second time in four days. The teams will square off at famed Eden Park, New Zealand’s National Stadium which will also serve as the host site for the USA’s first and third group stage games at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Kickoff is 4 p.m. local NZT on Saturday, Jan. 21, which is 10 p.m. ET on Jan. 20 in the United States. The match will be broadcast in English on HBO Max and in Spanish on Universo and Peacock, with additional viewing also available in the Telemundo App. Pre-game coverage will begin at 9:30 p.m. ET on HBO Max with post-game coverage to follow.

The USWNT kicked off the 2023 campaign on Jan. 18  with a 4-0 win over the Football Ferns. Mallory Swanson scored twice, Alex Morgan scored her 120th career goal and Lynn Williams scored in her return from injury in her first USWNT match in about 10 months.

Following these January games in New Zealand, the USA will return stateside for the February FIFA International Window, where it will host the eighth annual SheBelieves Cup, presented by Visa®. This year’s tournament will run from Feb. 16-22 as Brazil, Canada and Japan join the USA for the four-team international tournament with games hosted in Orlando, Nashville and Frisco.

Fans will also be able to follow the action via Twitter (@USWNT), Instagram (@USWNT), Facebook and the official U.S. Soccer App.

USWNT DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adrianna Franch (Kansas City Current), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

DEFENDERS (8): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)

 

MIDFIELDERS (6): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

 

FORWARDS (6): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

 

Twenty-three players will be available for selection for the second meeting between the USA and New Zealand this trip as midfielder Lindsey Horan has returned to France to play for her club Olympique Lyon against Montpellier on Sunday, Jan. 22 per an agreement made before this trip between U.S. Soccer and Lyon.

 

The USA used all six of its allotted substitutes against New Zealand in Wellington, with Alyssa Naeher, Becky Sauerbrunn, Emily Fox, Horan and Morgan the only players to go the full 90 minutes. Sofia Huerta, Alana Cook, Andi Sullivan and Trinity Rodman came on at the half, while Williams and Ashley Sanchez also came on as second-half subs.

NEW NAME, SAME MAL

After marrying Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson in December, forward Mallory Swanson – formerly Pugh – played her first game for the USWNT under her married name on Jan. 18. Despite the change on the back of her jersey, Swanson displayed the same impressive form she has had for the USWNT as of late, scoring twice for the fourth multi-goal game of her career. Swanson opened the scoring in the 52nd minute as she headed home a cross from Rodman and tallied her second of the day in the 63rd, collecting a deftly served ball from Sanchez and finishing from close range after dribbling around the goalkeeper.

Swanson, who scored in the USA’s year-end win over Germany on Nov. 13, 2022, to become the sixth player in USWNT history with 25+ goals and 25+ assists before the age of 25, now has 27 career international goals – nine of which have come in her last 16 caps – as she moved up to 24th on the USA’s all-time scoring charts.

WELCOME BACK, WILLIAMS!

When she came on for Swanson in the 67th minute of the Jan. 18 match in Wellington, it marked Lynn Williams’ first appearance for the USWNT in 329 longs days. The return was made even sweeter when just seven minutes later, she found the back of the net and headed in another well-placed cross from Rodman. The goal, which was the 15th of Williams’ international career and her first since Oct. 26, 2021, came following a 10-month layoff due to a torn hamstring, suffered in March of 2022 in her first game of the NWSL Challenge Cup for the Kansas City Current. After working her way back to health and fitness, she earned the call-up for this January Camp, her first since the 2022 SheBelieves Cup and earned her 48th career cap for the USA.

TRINITY x2

At 20 years and 243 days of age, Rodman became the youngest player to have multiple assists for the USA in a single game since an 18-year-old Mallory Pugh had a pair of assists against Russia in 2017. Rodman, who came on for Midge Purce on the right wing at halftime of the match in Wellington, earned her 11th career cap and tallied the first assists of her international career. Rodman, who attended her first senior team training camp in January of 2022, made her USWNT debut on Feb. 17 vs. Czech Republic at the age of 19, becoming the 69th teenager to earn a cap for the USWNT. She scored her first international goal on April 12 against Uzbekistan and tallied again against Jamaica during the Concacaf W Championship in Monterrey, Mexico.

RUN THROUGH DOWN UNDER

This January camp, which will market the first ever games for the USWNT in New Zealand, provides the USWNT with the unique and invaluable experience of getting to stay and train in the city in which it will base camp during the World Cup, as the USA will be based in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau for the duration of the group stage.

The USA will also get to play at both its World Cup group stage venues this month, as Sky Stadium, which will be known as Wellington Regional Stadium during the World Cup due to sponsorship regulations, will be the site of the USA’s second Group E match against the Netherlands on July 27 (1 p.m. NZT; 8 p.m. ET on July 26 in the USA). The USA’s World Cup opening match against Vietnam (July 22 at 1 p.m. NZT; 8 p.m. ET on July 21) and third group stage match against the Group A Playoff Winner (Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. NZT; 3 a.m. ET) will both be staged at Eden Park in Auckland.

In the lead up to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the USA also had the opportunity to experience travel and training in the World Cup host country, sigholding its January camp in France and opening the 2019 schedule with a match against 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup hosts France in Le Havre.

2022 IN REVIEW

The USWNT is coming off an eventful 2022 campaign which saw the USA qualify for both the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Summer Olympics after winning the 2022 Concacaf W Championship in July. After successfully punching its ticket to a ninth Women’s World Cup, the Americans closed out the year with a highly competitive fall schedule, playing the final eight games of the year against teams that will be competing in World Cup this summer.  

Since the knockout rounds of the Concacaf W Championship, the USA has played Costa Rica and Canada, both of whom will also represent the region in New Zealand and Australia, played two games against perennial African power Nigeria and traveled to Europe for matches against England and Spain, both of whom are amongst the favorites to win the tournament, before hosting Germany for two matches to close out the year.

A total of 34 different players saw action for the USWNT in 2022, with seven players making their international debuts. Smith, who was voted the 2022 U.S. Soccer BioSteel Female Player of the Year, led the USA with 11 goals on the year while Swanson tallied a team-high seven assists. Casey Murphy registered six clean sheets in nine starts, followed by five shutouts from fellow netminder Alyssa Naeher.

SERIES HISTORY: USA vs. NEW ZEALAND

The USA and New Zealand have now played 20 times with the USWNT leading the overall series 18-1-1. The lone loss for the Americans came in a 1-0 defeat during the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 15, 1987. Since then, the USA is unbeaten in the last 19 head-to-head matchups with the Football Ferns, scoring four or more goals in each of the last five meetings. The teams drew 1-1 during a friendly in October of 2013.

Before the meeting in Wellington, which was the USA’s first ever match played in New Zealand, the most recent meeting between the teams came 11 months ago at the 2022 SheBelieves Cup, a 5-0 victory for the Americans in Carson, Calif on Feb. 20, 2022, behind goals from Hatch and Swanson and three New Zealand own goals. Prior to that, the teams squared off in the group stage of the delayed 2020 Olympics, a 6-1 victory for the Americans as Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Christen Press and Alex Morgan scored while the USA forced the Football Ferns into two own goals.

The meeting during the Tokyo Olympics marked the fourth consecutive Olympics in which the USA and New Zealand have squared off, a streak that began during group stage play in 2008.

THE WORLD CUP AWAITS

The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will kick off on July 20 as co-host New Zealand takes on Norway in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau. An hour later, co-host Australia opens against the Republic of Ireland in Sydney/Gadigal. The full tournament schedule along with kickoff times can be found here.

The USA, which has qualified for every FIFA Women’s World Cup in history and will be seeking to lift the trophy for a fifth time, will face World Cup debutant Vietnam, Netherlands and the Group A Playoff Winner -- either Portugal, Thailand or Cameroon -- in Group E, playing the entirety of the group stage in New Zealand. The U.S. will open Group E play against Vietnam on July 22 at Eden Park in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau and then face the Netherlands on July 27 at Wellington Regional Stadium – also known as Sky Stadium - in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara, marking the first time in FIFA Women’s World Cup history that the two finalists from the previous tournament will meet in group play. The USA will then close out the group stage against the Group A Playoff Winner on Aug. 1 at Eden Park in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau.

The Inter-Confederation Playoffs will determine the final three qualification spots for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, including the USA’s final opponent for the group stage. The ten-team playoff tournament will take place in New Zealand from February 17-23, 2023, and features ten nations split into three groups, with the winner of each group qualifying for the Women's World Cup. Group A will feature Cameroon against Thailand on Feb. 18 with the winner taking on Portugal for a berth to the World Cup on Feb. 22.

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND 2023 GROUPS

Group A: New Zealand, Norway, Philippines and Switzerland

Group B: Australia, Ireland, Nigeria and Canada

Group C: Spain, Costa Rica, Zambia and Japan

Group D: England, Group B Playoff Winner, Denmark and China PR

Group E: USA, Vietnam, Netherlands and the Group A Playoff Winner

Group F: France, Colombia, Jamaica, Brazil and the Group C Playoff Winner

Group G: Sweden, South Africa, Italy and Argentina

Group H: Germany, Morocco, Colombia and Korea Republic

Single match passes are available between now and March 3rd via FIFA’s ticketing portal  on a first come, first serve basis. Prices will start at AUD/NZD$20 for adults and AUD/NZD$10 for children. For more information about the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup visit the FIFA’s 2023 World Cup hub.

2023 SHEBELIEVES CUP, PRESENTED BY VISA, COMING SOON

Following these January games in New Zealand, the USA will return stateside for the February FIFA International Window, where it will host the eighth annual SheBelieves Cup, presented by Visa®. This year’s tournament will run from Feb. 16-22 as Brazil, Canada and Japan join the USA for the four-team international tournament. All four nations will be participating in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup next summer and all four are ranked in the top 11 in the world with the USA at No. 1, Canada at No. 6, Brazil at No. 9 and Japan at No. 11.

The SheBelieves Cup will return to its traditional three-venue format with matches played at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla., GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tenn. and Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. Play kicks off on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Exploria Stadium as Japan takes on Brazil (4 p.m. ET) and the USA faces Canada (7 p.m. ET). The tournament resumes on Sunday, Feb. 19, as the competition moves to Nashville’s GEODIS Park with the USA playing the first match of the day against Japan (2:30 p.m. CT / 3:30 p.m. ET) and Brazil facing Canada (5:30 p.m. CT / 6:30 p.m. ET) in the nightcap. The tournament concludes on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, with Canada taking on Japan (3 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. ET) and the USA facing Brazil in the tournament finale (6 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. ET). Broadcast information for all the matches will be available at a later date.

USA ROSTER NOTES

  • Since the start of 2020, the USWNT has played 33 matches in the United States and 19 outside the country. The USA is 30-1-2 in domestic matches and has outscored the opposition 130-6 (+124) at home and is 11-4-4 with a 39-16 goal margin (+23) when playing outside the USA.
  • The most capped player on this roster is Becky Sauerbrunn at 212, followed Alex Morgan (201) and Crystal Dunn (127) while the least capped players are Casey Murphy (11), Trinity Rodman (11), Naomi Girma (11), Adrianna Franch (10), Hailie Mace (8), Taylor Kornieck (8) and Sam Coffey (4).
  • Morgan earned her 200th cap on Nov. 13 in the USA’s match against Germany in Harrison, N.J., becoming just the 13th player in USWNT history to reach the 200-cap milestone.
  • Morgan is the top scorer on the roster in international play with 120 goals. Swanson has 27 and Dunn has 24 goals for the USWNT while Rose Lavelle has 22.
  • Three different players have scored for the USA so far in 2023 – Swanson (2), Morgan (1) and Williams (1) – while three other players have tallied assists this year – Rodman (2), Lavelle (1) and Sanchez (1).
  • Seventeen different players scored for the USWNT in 2022 – Sophia Smith (11), Mallory Swanson (7), Catarina Macario (5), Alex Morgan (4), Rose Lavelle (4), Kristie Mewis (3), Ashley Sanchez (3), Ashley Hatch (2), Trinity Rodman (2), Midge Purce (2), Kelley O’Hara (1), Jaelin Howell (1), Andi Sullivan (1), Taylor Kornieck (1), Emily Sonnett (1), Lindsey Horan (1) and Megan Rapinoe (1).
  • The USA’s other six goals in 2022 came via own goals, the most ever in a calendar year in program history with three on Feb. 20 vs. New Zealand, and one each on April 12 vs. Uzbekistan, June 28 vs. Colombia and Sept. 6 vs. Nigeria.
  • Eight different NWSL clubs are represented on this roster, led by four players each from the Washington Spirit and OL Reign, and three players each from Portland Thorns FC, San Diego Wave FC and NJ/NY Gotham FC.

IN FOCUS: NEW ZEALAND | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

Current FIFA World Ranking: 24

OFC Ranking: 1

FIFA Country Code: NZL

World Cup Appearances: 5 (1991, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019)

Best World Cup finish: Group stage

Record vs. USA: 1-18-1

Last Meeting vs. USA: January 18, 2023 (4-0 win for the USA in Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara, NZ)

Coach: Jitka Klimkova (CZE)

Championship Honors: OFC Women’s Nations Cup Champions (1983, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2018); AFC Women’s Champions (1975)

NEW ZEALAND WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Erin Nayler (IFK Norrköping), 21-Murphy Sheaff (Jacksonville University, USA), 23-Brianna Edwards (Wellington Phoenix FC)

DEFENDERS (8): 7-Ali Riley (Angel City FC, USA), 18-Mackenzie Barry (Wellington Phoenix FC), 19-Liz Anton (Perth Glory, AUS), 24-Ally Green (Vålerenga, NOR), 30-Ashleigh Ward (Southampton FC, ENG), 31-Anna Green (Sydney FC, AUS), 35-Grace Neville (London City Lionesses, ENG), 37-Rebecca Lake (Canterbury United Pride)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 12-Betsy Hassett (Wellington Phoenix FC), 15-Daisy Cleverley (HB Køge, DEN), 20-Jana Radosavljevic (DSC Arminia Bielefeld, GER), 28-Ava Collins (St John’s University, USA),  29-Jacqui Hand (Åland United, FIN), 32-Aniela Jensen (University of the Pacific, USA), 33-Grace Wisnewski (Wellington Phoenix FC)

FORWARDS (9): 9-Gabi Rennie (Arizona State University, USA), 11-Olivia Chance (Celtic FC, SCO), 13-Paige Satchell (Wellington Phoenix FC), 16-Emma Rolston (Wellington Phoenix FC), 22-Hannah Blake (University of Michigan, USA), 25-Grace Jale (Canberra United, AUS), 27-Indiah Paige Riley (Brisbane Roar), 34-Tayla O’Brien (Eastern Suburbs AFC), 36-Deven Jackson (Eastern Suburbs AFC)

NEW ZEALAND ROSTER NOTES

  • The Football Ferns have qualified for every world championship since the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup. New Zealand made a fourth consecutive appearance at the Olympics last summer, having qualified for every Olympic Games since its debut in 2008, and will play in its fifth consecutive World Cup in the summer of 2023.
  • Almost the entirety of NZL’s roster plays club soccer outside the country and they are spread across the world in Australia, the USA, Scotland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Germany and Finland. As these matches are taking place outside a FIFA window, the Ferns are missing a few regular call-ups, but still have a selection of highly experienced players.
  • Team captain Ali Riley, who plays for Angel City FC in the NWSL, is the most experienced Fern on the roster with 148 caps and two goals. Riley, who grew up in Southern California and attended Stanford, has spent most of her pro career overseas, spending about seven years in Sweden, one Germany and one in England, she returned the USA to play for the Orlando Pride and was traded to Angel City FC before last season.
  • Starting goalkeeper Erin Nayler, who plays for IFK Norrköping in Sweden and has 79 caps, has had several excellent games against the USA over the years.=
  • Veteran midfielder and former California Golden Bear Betsy Hassett (138/14) earned her 100th cap against the USA during the match in 2017 in Colorado. Hassett played with U.S. forward Alex Morgan at Cal.
  • Midfielder Daisy Cleverly played college soccer at UC Berkeley and Georgetown and now plays professionally in Denmark.
  • Five players on this New Zealand roster are currently playing college soccer in the USA including Gabi Rennie of Arizona State who scored in New Zealand’s 2-1 loss to Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan. Rennie was a part of the New Zealand U-17 team which made history by winning NZL’s first medal at a FIFA World Cup with a third-place finish at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. Two other players on this roster, defender Mackenzie Barry and midfielder Grace Wisnewski, were also on that team.
  • Head coach Jitka Klimkova was the head coach for the U.S. U-20 WYNT during the 2020 World Cup cycle and was also head coach U.S. U-19s as well as head scout for the U.S. team at the 2018 FIFA U-20 WWC in Papua New Guinea.
  • She came to U.S. Soccer from New Zealand Football Federation, where she was head coach of the New Zealand U-17 Women’s National Team and an assistant coach for the Ferns U-20 Women’s National Team over 2013 and 2014, also serving as an assistant coach for the senior New Zealand Women’s National Team in 2014. 

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