USWNT Faces England At Historic Wembley Stadium

The U.S. Women’s National Team kicks off its highly anticipated two-game tour of Europe during this international window when it takes on England on Friday, Oct. 7 at the iconic Wembley Stadium in London. The match will kick off at 3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. local on FOX with pre-game broadcast coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. A sellout crowd of nearly 90,000 fans is expected to be in attendance to watch the USA, reigning World Cup Champions and the top-ranked team in the world, take on recently crowned European Champions and fourth-ranked England, which would make it the highest-attended friendly in USWNT history and the largest crowd for any USA match since the iconic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl. With less than ten months to go until the start of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, England is the highest-ranked opponent the USA has faced this year and marks the first of four matches against Top-10 foes to close out the year, with matches against Spain (Oct. 11) and Germany (Nov. 10 and 13) ahead for the red, white and blue.

Following the game against England, the USA will continue travel to Spain to take on La Rojas.

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 (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS)

 

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

 

DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC),

 

MIDFIELDERS (8): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Jaelin Howell (Racing Louisville FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

 

FORWARDS (5): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Total Futbol Academy)

INSIDE THE SERIES: USA VS. ENGLAND

The USA and England are set to meet for the 19^th time with the USWNT leading the overall series 12-4-2. The series between the squads has been highly competitive, with seven of the last eight meetings between the teams decided by one goal or fewer, with the USA holding a 5-2-1 advantage over that stretch.

The most recent meeting between the teams came during the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, a 2-0 victory for the USA at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium behind goals from Christen Press and Carli Lloyd. Six of the 18 matchups overall between the teams – and five of the most six most recent meetings – have come at the SheBelieves Cup.

The USA and England met in a match for the ages in the semifinal of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Lyon, France. The USA took the lead in the 10^th minute on a header goal from Press, but England came up with the equalizer in the 19^th minute off a strike from recently retired forward Ellen White. Alex Morgan, playing on her 30^th birthday, scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 31^st minute with a header off a perfectly timed cross from Lindsey Horan. With the USA leading 2-1, England was awarded a penalty in the 84^th minute following a VAR review, but Alyssa Naeher proved up to the task, saving the attempt by Lionesses’ captain Steph Houghton to seal the victory and send the USWNT through to the final.

Naeher is one of five players on this current USA roster who saw time in the 2019 semifinal against England, joined by Horan, Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle and Becky Sauerbrunn. Megan Rapinoe did not dress for the match while nursing a minor injury but returned to the field for the World Cup Final days later.

Friday’s match at Wembley Stadium will be just the third time the teams have played in England and the teams split the previous two matchups across the pond. In 2011, England defeated the USA 2-1 victory at Leyton Orient in London and in 2015 the USA won 1-0 at MK Dons in Milton Keynes.

England will be the seventh different European opponent the USA has faced since the start of 2021, having played Sweden twice during that span and the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Czech Republic and Iceland once each.

SELLOUT AT WEMBLEY

The 87,192 fans on hand on July 31 for the EURO final between the Lionesses and Germany set a record as the highest-attended European Championship, for men or women, in the history of the competitions. The crowd on hand that day also set a record for the most spectators to watch a women’s game in England, surpassing the previous crowd of 80,203 which attended the USWNT’s gold medal match at Wembley at the 2012 Olympics, which saw the USA defeat Japan 2-1 to win its fourth gold medal. It also marked the second-largest crowd in history to watch a women’s international match, behind only the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, which drew 90,185.

The USA and England are headed for yet another day of historic attendances with tickets for the match, as many as 80,000 of them, selling out in less than a day – the quickest sellout on record for a match at Wembley. The crowd on hand for Friday’s meeting between the World Cup and European Champions is primed to be the second-highest attended USWNT ever after the 1999 World Cup Final and the largest ever to watch the USA in a friendly, with the current attendance record for a friendly match for the USWNT belonging to the 49,504 fans who watched the USA play Portugal at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on August 29, 2019, as part of the 2019 Women’s World Cup Victory Tour.

The sellout at Wembley continues a trend of remarkable growth in women’s soccer attendance numbers, both on the international and club level. In April of 2022, 91,648 fans watched Barcelona take on Wolfsburg at Camp Nou in the UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinal, setting a record for the highest official attendance ever at a women’s soccer match. Records have been set as of late in the NWSL and Women’s Super League as well. On September 18, a record 32,000 fans watched San Diego Wave FC’s 1-0 victory over Angel City FC at newly opened Snapdragon Stadium, shattering the previous NWSL attendance record of 25,218 and on September 24, a Women’s Super League attendance record was set with 47,367 in attendance at Emirates Stadium to watch the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

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.

DESTINATION DOWN UNDER

With the opening match of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup less than a year away, 27 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, Spain, Germany, England, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands from Europe, the USA, Costa Rica, Canada and Jamaica from Concacaf, Zambia, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa from Africa and Brazil, Colombia and Argentina from South America. This will be the first Women’s World Cup at any level the Philippines and Vietnam, who qualified through the AFC Asian Women’s Cup, as well as Morocco and Zambia, who qualified through the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations. Still to be filled are two 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 (Cameroon and Senegal), two from Concacaf (Haiti and Panama), two from South America (Chile and Paraguay), one from Oceania (Papua New Guinea) and one from Europe.

 

The USA has qualified 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. Brazil, Japan, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Nigeria have also qualified for a ninth Women’s World Cup.

The draw for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be held on October 22 in Auckland as all the competing nations will find out their group play schedules and path through the tournament.

The USA also qualified for an eighth consecutive Summer Olympics by virtue of its 1-0 win over Canada in the Concacaf W Championship Final. The USA, Sweden and Brazil are the only nations to appear in every edition of the Olympic Women’s Football Tournament since its inception in 1996.

USA ROSTER NOTES

• The USA heads to Europe on a 13-game winning streak, which dates back to its second match of the year against New Zealand. During the 13-game winning streak, the USA has outscored its opposition 52-2 and had kept nine consecutive clean sheets before allowing a goal to Nigeria on Sept. 6.

• The current 13-game win streak is the USA’s second-longest win streak during Andonovski’s tenure, trailing only a 16-game winning streak from November 2019 to February 2021.

• The most capped player on this roster is Becky Sauerbrunn at 208, followed Megan Rapinoe (194), Crystal Dunn (123) and Lindsey Horan (118) while the least capped players are Casey Murphy (9), Trinity Rodman (7), Naomi Girma (7), Hailie Mace (5), Jaelin Howell (5), Aubrey Kingsbury (1), Sam Coffey (1), Savannah DeMelo (0) and Alyssa Thompson (0).

• Fifteen of the 24 players on the USA roster for this trip to Europe have fewer than 25 caps: Sophia Smith, Sofia Huerta, Emily Fox, Alana Cook, Ashley Sanchez, Ashley Hatch, Murphy, Rodman, Girma, Howell, Mace, Kingsbury, Coffey, DeMelo and Thompson.

• Becky Sauerbrunn is the oldest player on the roster (37 years old) while Thompson (17) is the youngest, making Sophia Smith (22) and Trinity Rodman (21) no longer junior members of the squad.

• Of the 24 players on this roster, just six are in their 30s while 11 players are age 25 or younger.

• Through 14 games in 2022, the USWNT has had 26 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.

• Rapinoe is the top scorer on the roster in international play with 62 goals while Lindsey Horan has 26. Dunn has 24 goals for the USWNT while Rose Lavelle has 22.

• Andonovski is 41-2-6 in 49 games and went unbeaten (22-0-1) in his first 23 matches in charge of the USWNT, setting a record for the best start for a head coach in USWNT history. The USA opened the Andonovski era on a 16-game winning streak.

• Of Andonovski’s first 49 games, 33 have been at home and 18 have been against teams ranked in the top-13 in the world.

• With Trinity Rodman’s debut on Feb. 17, Naomi Girma and Aubrey Kingsbury’s first caps on April 12, Taylor Kornieck’s debut on June 25, Carson Pickett’s first cap on June 28 and Sam Coffey’s first cap on Sept. 6, 16 players have now earned their first cap under Andonovski, with six debuts coming in 2022. The others to be capped by Andonovski are Nov. 30, 2021, debutant Imani Dorsey, Nov. 27, 2021, debutants Casey Murphy, Morgan Weaver, Ashley Sanchez and Bethany Balcer, as well as Alana Cook, Midge Purce, Sophia Smith, Jaelin Howell and Catarina Macario. Nine of the 16 players to earn first caps under Andonovski are on this roster for the European friendlies.

• Nine of the 12 NWSL clubs are represented on this roster, along with 2021-22 UEFA Women's Champions League winners Olympique Lyon and Los Angeles youth club Total Futbol Academy, for whom Alyssa Thompson plays. Five players are from the Washington Spirit and four are from 2022 NWSL Shield Winners OL Reign and an additional four from Portland Thorns FC. Three players from Racing Louisville FC are on the roster, the most-ever on a USWNT roster from that club in its short history.

 

IN FOCUS: ENGLAND | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
Current FIFA World Ranking: 6
UEFA Ranking: 2
FIFA Country Code: ENG
World Cup Appearances: 5 (1995, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) 
Best World Cup finish: Third-Place (2015)
Record vs. USA:  4-12-2
Head Coach: Sarina Wiegman (NED)

ENGLAND WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

 

GOALKEEPERS (3): Mary Earps (Manchester United), Sandy MacIver (Manchester City), Ellie Roebuck (Manchester City)

 

DEFENDERS (9): Millie Bright (Chelsea), Lucy Bronze (Barcelona), Jess Carter (Chelsea), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Alex Greenwood (Manchester City), Esme Morgan (Manchester City), Demi Stokes (Manchester City), Lotte Wubben-Moy (Arsenal)

 

MIDFIELDERS (7): Fran Kirby (Chelsea), Jessica Park (Everton), Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich), Ella Toone (Manchester United), Keira Walsh (Barcelona), Katie Zelem (Manchester United)

 

FORWARDS (6): Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Lauren James (Chelsea), Chloe Kelly (Manchester City), Beth Mead (Arsenal), Nikita Parris (Manchester United), Ebony Salmon (Houston Dash)

ENGLAND ROSTER NOTES

• Sixteen of the 23 players that were on the roster for the EUROS will be available for selection against the USA.

• England will also play the Czech Republic in this FIFA window, taking on the Czechs at Brighton and Hove Albion on Tuesday October 11.

• England won the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO in historic fashion at Wembley Stadium on July 31, defeating Germany, 2-1, in overtime on a goal from forward Chloe Kelly in front of a record-setting crowd of 87,192 fans. Ella Toone scored England’s first goal. This is the Lionesses first trip ack to Wembley since that historic triumph.

• During England’s triumphant run through the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, it beat Austria 1-0 (goal by Beth Mead), Norway 8-0 (Georgia Stanway, Lauren Hemp, Ellen White (2), Mead (3) and Alessia Russo) and Northern Ireland 5-0 (Kirby, Mead, Russo and an OG) in group play. England then knocked out Spain, 2-1, in the quarterfinal with an epic comeback (Ella Toone equalized in the 84^th and Stanway with the winner in the 96^th), and crushed Sweden 4-0 (Mead, Lucy Bronze, Russo, Kirby) in the semifinal before setting up the championship clash with the Germans. England’s 22 goals over the six games gave them a remarkable 3.6 goals per game at the Euros.

• England ended its World Cup qualifying campaign with a 10-0-0 record while scoring 80 goals and allowing zero in a group with Austria, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg, North Macedonia and Latvia.

• Beth Mead scored 13 goals during World Cup qualifying while Ella Toone and Ellen White had 10 each. Beth England and Georgia Stanway had eight each while Lauren Hemp had seven. Alessia Russo had five goals.

• England has friendlies schedules vs. Japan and Norway in Spain during the November FIFA window and will play in another historic game next year when it takes on Brazil next February in what will be the first edition of the UEFA–CONMEBOL Women's Finalissima, an intercontinental women's football match between the winners of the previous European and South American championships.

• England finished fourth at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, falling 2-1 to Sweden in the Third-Place Match.