USWNT Continues Group A Action Against Jamaica at Concacaf W Championship

The U.S. Women’s National Team opened the 2022 Concacaf W Championship with a victory in its first match against Haiti on July 4 and will look to continue its winning ways while moving one step closer to qualifying for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup when it returns to the field on Thursday for its second Group A match, taking on Jamaica at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico at 6 p.m. local/7 p.m. ET (Paramount+, ViX).

Thursday’s matchup will have important implications for the Group A standings as Jamaica also opened the Concacaf W Championship in victorious fashion, beating hosts Mexico, 1-0, behind an early goal from star forward Khadija “Bunny” Shaw.

 

The top two finishers in each of the two groups at the CWC will automatically qualify for the 2023 World Cup and will also advance to the semifinal round of the Concacaf W Championship. The third-place finisher in each group will advance to a 10-team intercontinental playoff tournament to determine the final teams in the expanded 32-team field for 2023. Additionally, the tournament champion will automatically qualify for the 2024 Olympics with the runner-up and the third-place nations progressing to a Concacaf Olympic playoff to be staged in September of 2023.

 

Following Thursday’s game against Jamaica, the USWNT will play its third and final group stage match on Monday, July 11, taking on hosts Mexico at Estadio Universitario (9 p.m. local/10 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and ViX).

 

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

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Playing its first match of the Concacaf W Championship on Independence Day, the USWNT kicked off the competition with a 3-0 win over Haiti at Estadio Universitario behind a first half brace from Alex Morgan and a late insurance tally from Midge Purce. Morgan gave the USA the lead in the 16^th minute, connecting on the end of a cross from forward Mallory Pugh and scoring off a nifty backheel, and doubled the lead in the 23^rd when she headed home a cross from defender Kelley O’Hara. Morgan, who is tied with Canada’s Julia Grosso for the most goals so far this tournament, has 21 goals in 21 career qualifying appearances for the USWNT and has scored in the last five consecutive Concacaf Qualifying matches in which she has played, a streak that dates back to 2018 World Cup Qualifying.

Purce, who came on at the half for her first-ever appearance for the USA in a Concacaf Qualifying event, tallied in the 84^th minute for her second foal of 2022 and the fourth overall of her international career.

Defensively, the USA proved up to the task and pitched its 29^th consecutive shutout in a World Cup or Olympic Qualifying event, a streak that dates back to its World Cup qualifying campaign in 2010.
 

AS IT STANDS

Jamaica also sits on three points in the Group A standings after winning its opening match, 1-0, over Mexico, though the USA remains first in the group with a superior goal differential.

The final standings in each group will be determined by total points (three for a win, one for a tie), with the first tiebreaker being overall goal difference, followed by most total goals scored. The top two teams from each group will advance to the semifinal round, where the winner of Group A will play the second-place team from Group B and the Group B winner will face the runner-up from Group A for a spot in the final.

As it currently stands, the USA could clinch its berth in the 2023 World Cup on Thursday with a win over Jamaica and a Mexico draw or loss against Haiti in the second match of the day (9 p.m. local / 10 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and ViX). Jamaica, who is looking to make back-to-back World Cup appearances, could qualify for Australia and New Zealand 2023 with a win over the USA and a Mexico win or draw against Haiti.

Group B play kicked off on Tuesday, July 5, with both group matches played at Estadio BBVA, the site of the USA’s upcoming match against Jamaica. Costa Rica defeated Panama, 3-0, in the first match of the evening while Canada downed Trinidad & Tobago, 6-0, to close out the evening.

USWNT DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit; 1), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage; 6), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars; 81)

 

DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign; 11/0), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC; 15/0), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC; 2/0), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign; 15/0), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit; 155/3), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC; 204/0), Emily Sonnett (Washington Spirit; 66/0)

 

MIDFIELDERS (6): Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA; 112/25), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC; 2/1), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign; 74/20), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 41/5), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit; 10/2), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit; 29/3)

 

FORWARDS (7): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit; 10/4), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC; 193/117), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars; 74/23), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC; 16/4), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign; 190/62), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 4/1), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC; 17/6)

 

Unlike previous years where the rosters for Concacaf Qualifying have featured 20 players, this year roster sizes were expanded to 23, matching the current World Cup roster size. U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski announced his 23-player roster for the final competition on June 13, bringing in a squad that includes proven veterans on the international stage as along with dynamic, up-and-coming talent.

Teams are allowed to utilize five substitutes per match in this tournament, which the USA did in the tournament opener vs. Haiti.

Nine players of the 23 players on this roster for the Concacaf W Championship were part of the 2019 team that won the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Only 10 players entered this tournament with previous experience in World Cup or Olympic qualifying at the senior national team level, though eight players made their World Cup and Olympic Qualifying debuts in the July 4 win over Mexico – Cook, Fox, Mewis, Murphy, Purce, Huerta, Sanchez and Smith.

INSIDE THE SERIES: USA VS. JAMAICA

Thursday’s match in Monterrey will be the fifth meeting all-time between the USA and Jamaica and the fourth in a Concacaf Qualifying match. The USA has won each of the four previous meetings between the sides by shutout, the most recent of which came on June 13, 2021, during the WNT Summer Series friendlies. That match resulted in a 4-0 victory for the USA in Houston, Texas behind first-half goals from Carli Lloyd, Lindsey Horan and Midge Purce. Alex Morgan added an insurance tally in second-half stoppage time for what was her 110^th career goal.  
 
The most recent clash in Concacaf Qualifying came during the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign when the USA defeated Jamaica, 6-0, on October 14, 2018 in Frisco, Texas. The victory, which came in the semifinal round of the tournament, qualified the Americans for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Morgan and Tobin Heath both tallied braces in the win, and Julie Ertz and Megan Rapinoe also found the back of the net in the victory over the Reggae Girlz. 
 
Jamaica and the USA also squared off in World Cup Qualifying in 1994 – a 10-0 victory for the Americans in Montreal, Canada – and in Olympic Qualifying in 2008, a 6-0 win for the USA in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. 

2022 USWNT MEDIA GUIDE

The 2022 U.S. Women’s National Team Media Guide is available for download. The Media Guide features all the history and statistic for the USWNT, as well as full bios on technical staff and the current top players, information on the USA’s Youth Women’s National Teams and general important information on U.S. Soccer.

ABOUT THE CONCACAF W CHAMPIONSHIP

For the first time, Concacaf is holding qualifying for the Women’s World Cup and the Olympics in the same tournament. That puts an end to the format which has seen eight previous Concacaf World Cup qualifying tournaments and five previous Concacaf Olympic qualifying tournaments. For the 1996 and 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cups, teams qualified through their placing at the previous years’ World Cup.

The eight-team field for the Concacaf W Championship features the USA and Canada, who automatically qualified for the championship round as the highest-ranked teams in the region at No. 1 and No. 6 in the world, respectively, along with the six group winners from the Concacaf W Qualifiers. For the qualifiers, 30 teams were drawn into six groups of five for the qualifying competition and played a total of four matches across the February and April 2022 FIFA Windows to determine the group winners. Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago won their respective groups to join the USA and Canada in the field for the Concacaf W Championship, which is one of the two new major women’s summer competitions taking place in the region from 2021 through 2024.

After round-robin group play in the Concacaf W Championship, the top two finishers in each group will qualify for the competition’s semifinals and guarantee their place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Additionally, both group stage third-place finishers will advance to a 10-team FIFA Women’s World Cup intercontinental play-off. At the conclusion of the Concacaf W Championship, the winning nation will also guarantee its place in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games Women’s Football Tournament and the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. The runner-up and the third-place nations will progress to a Concacaf Olympic play-in to be played in September of 2023. The winner of the play-in will also guarantee their place in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games and the 2024 W Gold Cup.

ALL EYES ON AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

With the opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup just over a year away, eleven teams have already qualified for the tournament, which has been expanded to now feature 32 teams, up from 24 in both 2015 and 2019. The nations that have already punched their tickets Down Under are co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, China PR, Philippines and Vietnam from Asia, and Sweden, France, Denmark and Spain from Europe. This will be the first Women’s World Cup at any level for both the Philippines and Vietnam, who qualified through the AFC Asian Women’s Cup. Still to be filled are four slots from Africa, four from Concacaf, three slots from South America, seven remaining slots from Europe and three slots from the 10-team playoff tournament that will feature two teams from Asia (Chinese Taipei and Thailand), two from Africa, two from Concacaf, two from South America, one from Oceania and one from Europe.

 

The USA is looking to looking to qualify for its ninth consecutive FIFA Women’s World Cup, having played in every tournament since the competition’s inception in 1991 and winning a record four titles. The USA will also have the opportunity to qualify for an eighth consecutive Summer Olympics.

USA ROSTER NOTES

• The USA has an overall combined record of 56-1-1 in World Cup and Olympic Qualifying matches, the lone loss coming in 2010 vs. Mexico in the semifinals of World Cup Qualifying. The USA’s only draw in World Cup or Olympic Qualifying officially came in the final of the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament against Canada, though the USA prevailed on penalty kicks to win the tournament.

• The USA has won all five Olympic qualifying tournaments in which it has participated and has won eight of the nine World Cup qualifying tournaments in which it competed, the lone blemish coming in the 2010 Concacaf Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament, the USA fell to Mexico in the semifinal in Cancun, Mexico and Canada defeated Mexico in the championship game.

• Eight players on the Concacaf W Championship roster were on the USWNT’s roster for Olympic Qualifying in 2020: Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Alyssa Naeher, Kelley O’Hara, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, Emily Sonnett and Andi Sullivan. 

• Nine players on this year’s 23-player CWC roster were a part of the USA’s 2018 World Cup Qualifying roster, with Alex Morgan and Mallory Pugh joining Horan, Lavelle, Naeher, O’Hara, Rapinoe, Sauerbrunn and Sonnett.

• Megan Rapinoe leads the squad with a combined 24 appearances in qualifying events – though she will be unavailable for the match against Jamaica as she will be in Washington D.C. to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Rapinoe will return to Mexico immediately after the ceremony and will be available for the July 11 match against Mexico.

• Morgan is the next-most experience player on this roster in World Cup and Olympic Qualifying with 21 qualifying, followed by Becky Sauerbrunn (19) and Kelley O’Hara (17).

• Morgan, Rapinoe and Sauerbrunn were on the U.S. team that last played in a World Cup qualifying tournament in Mexico. That was in 2010 when the USA lost its only match to Mexico, which occurred in the semifinal in Cancun. That loss forced the USA to win the Third-Place Match and then the two-leg playoff vs. Italy to qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a tournament in which the USA advanced to the Final before falling in penalty kicks to Japan.

• The most capped player on the roster is Sauerbrunn at 204, followed by Morgan (193), Rapinoe (190), O’Hara (155) and Lindsey Horan (112) while the least capped players are Trinity Rodman (4), Naomi Girma (2), Taylor Kornieck (2) and Aubrey Kingsbury (1),

• Twelve players on the USA roster for the Concacaf W Championship have 20 caps or fewer: Sophia Smith, Sofia Huerta, Midge Purce, Emily Fox, Ashley Hatch, Alana Cook, Ashley Sanchez, Casey Murphy, Rodman, Girma, Kornieck and Kingsbury.

• Becky Sauerbrunn is the oldest player on the roster (37 years old) while Rodman is the youngest (20 years old) and was six years old when Sauerbrunn made her USWNT debut. Rapinoe celebrated her 37^th birthday on July 5, but is a month younger than Sauerbrunn.

• Of the 23 players on this roster, seven are in their 30s while eight players are age 25 or younger.

• Morgan is the top scorer on the roster with 117 career goals. Rapinoe has 62 and Lindsey Horan has 25. Pugh has 23 goals for the USWNT while Rose Lavelle has 20.

• Fourteen different players have scored for the USWNT so far in 2022 – Catarina Macario (5), Mallory Pugh (5), Sophia Smith (5), Alex Morgan (2), Rose Lavelle (2), Ashley Hatch (2), Ashley Sanchez (2), Midge Purce (2), Jaelin Howell (1), Kelley O’Hara (1), Kristie Mewis (1), Trinity Rodman (1), Andi Sullivan (1) and Taylor Kornieck (1).

• The USA’s other five goals this year 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 and June 28 vs. Colombia.

• Eleven different players have registered an assist for the USWNT so far in 2022, led by Pugh with six assists. Lavelle (3 assists), Alana Cook (2), Sanchez (2) and O’Hara (2) also have multiple assists on the year while Sofia Huerta, Megan Rapinoe, Purce, Hatch, Macario and Sullivan have one assist each.

• In total, 17 different players have been directly involved in goals for the USWNT in 2022, tallying either a goal or an assist.

• Defender Alana Cook leads the USA in total minutes played so far in 2022 with 594 minutes of action, followed by defender Emily Fox (531) and midfielder Andi Sullivan (526).

• Three players – Mallory Pugh, Ashley Sanchez and Kristie Mewis – have appeared for the USA in all eight matches in 2022.

• Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is 35-2-6 in 43 games (two at the end of 2019, nine in 2020, 24 in 2021, and eight so far in 2022).

• Of Andonovski’s first 43 games, 31 have been at home and 17 have been against teams ranked in the top-13 in the world.

• Fifteen players have earned their first cap under Andonovski, nine of whom are on this roster.

• Through eight games in 2022, the USWNT has had 20 goals scored by players under the age of 24. Over the course of 2019, 2020 and 2021 — a total of 57 games — the USWNT had a combined total of 10 goals scored by players under the age of 24.

• Eight of the 12 NWSL clubs have players on the roster with the Washington Spirit having seven, followed by OL Reign with four.

 

IN FOCUS: JAMAICA | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

Current FIFA World Ranking: 51

Concacaf Ranking: 5

FIFA Country Code: JAM

World Cup appearances: 1 (2019)

Best World Cup Finish: Group Stage (2019)

Olympic appearances: N/A

Record vs. USA: 0-4-0

Last Meeting vs. USA: June 13, 2021 (4-0 USA win in Summer Series Friendly; Houston, Texas)

Coach: Lorne Donaldson (JAM)

 

JAMAICA WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

Goalkeepers (3): 1-Sydney Schneider (Kansas City Current, USA), 13-Rebecca Spencer (Tottenham Hotspur FC, ENG), 23-Yazmeen Jamieson (Unattached)

Defenders (5): 2-Satara Murray (Racing Louisville FC, USA), 3-Vyan Sampson (Charlton Athletic, ENG), 4-Chantelle Swaby (Rangers FC, SCO), 12-Jayda Pelaia (Arizona State, USA), 17-Allyson Swaby (Angel City FC, USA)

Midfielders (9): 5-Jade Bailey (Liverpool FC, ENG), 6-Havana Solaun Nelson (North Carolina Courage, USA), 7- Chinyelu Asher (Aik Fotboll, SWE), 9-Drew Spence (Unattached), 14-Deneisha Blackwood (Unattached), 15-Kalyssa Vanzanten (University of Notre Dame, USA), 16-Paige Bailey-Gayle (Unattached), 18- Trudi Carter (FC Gintra, LTU), 20-Atlanta Primus (London City Lionesses, ENG)

Forwards (6): 8-Kayla McCoy (Rangers FC, SCO), 10-Jody Brown (Florida State University, USA), 11-Khadija Shaw (Manchester City FC, ENG), 19-Tiernny Wiltshire (Unattached), 21-Olufolasade Adamolekun (University of Southern California, USA) 22-Mireya Grey (Unattached)

 

JAMAICA ROSTER NOTES

• Jamaica had a fantastic start to this tournament, defeating Mexico, 1-0, on a goal from Khadija “Bunny” Shaw to stun the hosts. While Mexico out-shot Jamaica 13-12, Jamaica had four shots on goal to three and had an expected goals of 2.09 to Mexico’s 1.49 (but a large portion of the expected goals for Jamaica was due to a missed penalty kick).

• Jamaica’s win over Mexico to start the 2022 Concacaf W Championship furthers the momentum from a historic 2018 Qualifying campaign for the Reggae Girlz. At that tournament, Jamaica finished second in Group B, bouncing back from an opening 2-0 loss to Canada to defeat Cuba, 9-0, and then topping Costa Rica, 1-0, to advance out of the group. After falling to the top-ranked USA in the semifinal, Jamaica faced Panama in the Third-Place Match with a spot in the 2019 FIFA Women’s Cup on the line. Tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and extra time, the Reggae Girlz prevailed on penalty kicks, 4-2, to become the first Caribbean nation to qualify for the Women’s World Cup. At France 2019, Jamaica competed in Group C against Brazil (3-0 loss), Italy (5-0 loss) and Australia (4-1 loss).

• With an eye on getting back to the World Cup in 2023, the Reggae Girlz completed an undefeated campaign during the Concacaf W Qualifiers to win Group C. Jamaica won all four of its matches against Bermuda (4-0 win on Feb. 17), Grenada (6-1 win on Feb. 20), Cayman Islands (9-0 win on April 9) and Dominican Republic (5-1 win on April 12) to advance to the eight-team championship round. Shaw led Jamaica with nine goals in qualifying, while Brown and Jodi Carter scored five goals each.

• Last summer in the USA, Jamaica won its other 2021 Summer Series match 1-0 over Nigeria as then Houston Dash midfielder Deneisha Blackwood scored in the 51^st minute. Jamaica out-shot Nigeria 12-8 and 8-4 in shots on goal in an excellent victory for Jamaica. Blackwood has NWSL experience with Houston and the Orlando Pride.

• While Jamaica has not been a particularly common foe for the USA, many members of this Jamaica roster will be familiar to American players and fans alike. Four players – Solaun (North Carolina Courage), goalkeeper Sydney Schneider (Kansas City Current), and defenders Satara Murray (Racing Louisville FC) and Allyson Swaby (Angel City FC) – are active in the NWSL while another four players on this Jamaica roster – defender Jayda Pelaia (Arizona State), midfielder Kalyssa Vanzanten (Notre Dame) and forwards Jody Brown (Florida State) and Olufolasade Adamolekun (Southern California) – compete collegiately in the USA. 

• Solaun represented the USA at the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship and is a club teammate of USA goalkeeper Casey Murphy with the North Carolina Courage. She made history by scoring the first and only World Cup goal in Jamaica history in the 4-1 loss to Australia in 2019.

• Solaun, a former star for the University of Florida who hails from Miami and whose father is Cuban and mother is Jamaican, currently plays for the North Carolina Courage, but spent 2015-2016 with the Seattle Reign, 2017-2018 with the Washington Spirit, and then did stints in Norway, France and Cyprus before returning to the NWSL.

• Murray was a stand-out player at UNC where she played more than 80 games for head coach Anson Dorrance between 2011-2014 and won an NCAA title in 2012.

• Recently appointed Jamaica head coach Lorne Donaldson is also a very familiar figure in American soccer. Donaldson, who was born in Jamaica and played for the Jamaican Men’s National Team, is the Executive Director of Coaching for Real Colorado, where he coached current USWNT forwards Mallory Pugh and Sophia Smith during their youth club careers. A longtime fixture on the Colorado soccer scene, Donaldson’s first match as head coach of the Reggae Girlz was the July 4 victory over Mexico.

• Forward Jody Brown, currently of Florida State, has scored nine career goals with the Seminoles with 11 career assists and helped FSU to the NCAA Title last fall.

• Shaw, Jamaica’s top player led France’s Division I Feminine scoring with Bordeaux in the 2020-2021 season, pounding in 22 goals, and earned heself a transfer to Manchester City. Shaw played her college soccer Eastern Florida State College before transferring to University of Tennessee where she scored 27 goals with 11 assists over two seasons.