USWNT Opens 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup Against Dominican Republic

The U.S. Women’s National Team kicks off the 2024 campaign on Tuesday, Feb. 20, taking on the Dominican Republic to open group stage play at the Concacaf W Gold Cup. The teams will square off at 10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. and the match will be broadcast in English on Paramount+ and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.

Drawn into Group A along with Argentina and Mexico, the U.S. will play the entirety of the Group Stage in Carson, Calif., taking on Argentina on Feb. 23 (10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT) and Mexico on Feb. 26 (10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT ) to close out the group stage.

Fans will also be able to follow all the action from the W Gold Cup via X (formerly Twitter - @USWNT), Instagram (@USWNT), Facebook and the official U.S. Soccer App.

U.S. WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 21-Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), 18-Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), 1-Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), 19-Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 12-Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 23-Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), 4-Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), 20-Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), 3-Jenna Nighswonger (NY/NJ Gotham FC), 5-Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)

MIDFIELDERS (6): 15-Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), 17-Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), 10-Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), 16-Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 13-Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), 14-Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

FORWARDS (6): 7-Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC, ENG), 9-Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 22-Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), 8-Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), 11-Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), 6-Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

Interim head coach Twila Kilgore named the 23-player roster for the Concacaf W Gold Cup on Feb. 7, though one change has since been made as center back Alana Cook was forced to withdraw due to a minor knee injury sustained during NWSL preseason. She was replaced by veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn.

Twenty players on this roster took part in the USA’s year-end matches against China PR last December, including three players – defender Jenna Nighswonger and midfielders Korbin Albert and Olivia Moultrie – who made their international debuts during those games.

The three additions to this roster are proven veterans with a wealth of experience, as Sauerbrunn, goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and defender Crystal Dunn return to the squad for the first time since the October 2023 friendlies against Colombia. 

ALL ABOUT THE GOLD CUP

The Concacaf W Gold Cup is the region's new flagship competition for Women's National Teams, providing additional opportunities for competition and exposure. The field for the final tournament was finalized on Feb. 17 as the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Puerto Rico won their Preliminary Round matches to secure their spot in the 12-team field. The Dominican Republic topped Guyana 1-0 to join the USA in Group A, Puerto Rico upset Haiti 1-0 to join Group B and El Salvador defeated Guatemala 3-1 to secure a spot in Group C.

The 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup will be played in four venues across the United States, with matches being played at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Shell Energy Stadium in Houston and BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

Group A will be played entirely at Dignity Health Sports Park, while Group B, which features Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Puerto Rico, will play all its group matches at Snapdragon Stadium. Canada, Costa Rica, Paraguay and El Salvador make up Group C, which will play its group games at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.

The top two finishers from each group will advance to the knockout rounds, along with the two best third-place teams overall. The knockout rounds begin with the Quarterfinal Round on March 2 and 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, with the pairings to be determined by the group stage standings. The team accumulating the most points overall in group play (with various tie-breakers in place to for teams which accumulate the same amount of points) will face the country that finishes eighth, the second place team will face the seventh place team, and so on, so the #1 seed will face the #8 seed, #2 will play #7, #3 will play #6 and #4 will play #5.

The winners of the single-match elimination games will then advance to the semifinal and final rounds.

The tournament will then head to San Diego where the Semifinal (March 6) and Final (March 10) will be played at Snapdragon Stadium, home of the 2023 NWSL Shield Winners San Diego Wave FC.

INSIDE THE SERIES: USA vs. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Tuesday’s Group A matchup will be the second meeting all-time between the USWNT and the Dominican Republic and the first since 2012, when the teams met in Concacaf Olympic qualifying. The teams squared off in Vancouver, Canada on January 20, 2012, in the group stage of Concacaf Qualifying for the 2012 Summer Olympics at which the USA would go on to win the gold medal.

The USA defeated the Dominican Republic 14-0 in that match, setting program records for the most goals scored and largest margin of victory in program history. Amy Rodriguez led the USA with a five-goal outburst while Heather O’Reilly also netted a hat trick for the Americans.

Overall, the U.S. is unbeaten in its last 79 matches against Concacaf opposition on home soil, posting a record of 77 wins, two draws and zero losses during this run which dates back to December of 2000.

CALIFORNIA STATE OF MIND

All six possible games for the USWNT at this Concacaf W Gold Cup will be played inside the friendly confines of California. The USWNT has played more matches in California (53) than any other state in the country and has never lost a match in the Golden State, boasting an overall record of 49W-4D-0L.

The U.S. was won 31 of its last 32 games played in the state of California, including both matches played in 2023 – a 2-0 victory over Wales in San Jose on July 9 and a 3-0 win over Colombia in San Diego on Oct. 29.

Yet no venue in California or the country has hosted the USWNT more than the Dignity Health Sports Park. The U.S is unbeaten at the Carson, Calif. venue, going 17W-1D-0L since playing its first game there in September of 2003 shortly after the stadium opened. The U.S. most recently played at the Dignity Health Sports Park in February of 2022 in the SheBelieves Cup with matches against the Czech Republic and New Zealand.

Overall, the U.S. is unbeaten in its last 13 games on home soil, a streak that dates back to the year-end victory over Germany to close out the 2022 campaign. During that 13-game run, the U.S. has kept 10 clean sheets and has outscored the opposition 25-3.

NAEHER NEARING 100 CAPS

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher heads into the W Gold Cup with 97 caps, just three away from becoming the third goalkeeper and 42^nd player overall in U.S. Women’s National Team history to reach the 100 cap milestone. Naeher is, and has been for a while, the goalkeeper with the third-most caps (97), wins (79) and shutouts (59) in U.S. history, trailing only Hall-of-Famers Briana Scurry and Hope Solo.

A two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, Naeher debuted for the USWNT in December of 2014 and became a consistent starter following the 2016 Olympics. She matched her calendar-year high with nine shutouts for the USWNT in 2023, three of which came at the World Cup as the U.S. allowed just one goal the entire tournament.

DOMINANT DEFENSE

Buoyed by staunch goalkeeping and a stalwart backline, the U.S. Women’s National Team is coming off one of its most dominant defensive years ever. In 2023, the USWNT allowed just three goals in 18 total matches – good for an average of 0.17 goals allowed per game. That shattered the previous single-year team record (minimum 10 games) of 0.40 goals allowed per match set in 2016.

The USA kept 15 shutouts in 2023, with nine credited to Naeher and six to Casey Murphy. The USA’s defensive might was on full display at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup as the Americans allowed just two shots on goal during the entire tournament. Center back Naomi Girma, the 2023 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and two-time reigning NWSL Defender of the Year, started 16 games in 2023 while outside Emily Fox made 15 starts and finished second on the team with 1,341 total minutes played.

HAYES TO THE HELM IN MAY

After a worldwide search process led U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker, Emma Hayes was officially announced as the 10^th head coach in U.S. Women’s National Team history on November 14, 2003. The long-time head coach for English powerhouse Chelsea FC, Hayes started her coaching career in the United States in the early 2000s and more than two decades later will take the helm of the USWNT. Due to her contact with Chelsea, Hayes will finish the 2023-24 Women’s Super League season in England and then join the U.S. team officially two months prior to the start of the Olympics. U.S. Soccer has put a comprehensive plan and process in place to maximize the productivity in all aspects of moving the USWNT forward leading into the Olympics, a key part of which is interim head coach Twila Kilgore continuing in her role and then joining Hayes’ staff full-time as an assistant coach in late May.

SHEBELIEVES CUP ON THE HORIZON

Following the completion of the Concacaf W Gold Cup, the U.S. will turn its attention to the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, presented by Visa. The USA will host Brazil, Canada and Japan in the ninth edition of the four-team tournament. All four participants are ranked in the top 11 in the world and competed in last year’s tournament, where the U.S. took first, followed by Japan in second, Brazil in third and Canada in fourth. In the Semifinals on April 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, the USA (#2) will face Japan (#8) at 12:30 p.m. ET (TNT, Universo, Max & Peacock) and Brazil (#11) will take on Canada (#10) at 3:30 p.m. ET (Universo, Max & Peacock).

The four nations will then travel to Columbus, Ohio with Lower.com Field hosting the final two games of the tournament at 4 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET on April 9 as the Semifinal winners play in the Championship and the losers play in the Third-Place Match. The USA will play in the 7 p.m. ET time slot (TBS, Universo, Max & Peacock) whether it is playing in Championship or Third-Place Match, and the other game will be at 4 p.m. ET (TBS, Universo, Max & Peacock).

Tickets are available for purchase now at ussoccer.com/tickets.

PATHWAY TO PARIS

Five months until the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the USWNT is deep in preparation for its pursuit of a fifth Olympic gold medal. The Olympic Football Tournament features 12 teams and will be contested in seven different venues across France from July 25 to August 10: Parc des Princes in Paris, Stade de Lyon, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, Stade de Marseille, Stade de Nice, Stade de Bordeaux and Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes. The USA is one of just five teams to have already qualified for Paris, joining hosts France, South American qualifiers Brazil and Colombia and Canada, which secured Concacaf’s second berth to the Olympics berth by beating Jamaica in a two-game playoff during the September international window.

The USA qualified for Paris by virtue of winning the 2022 Concacaf W Championship in Monterrey, Mexico, which served as the region’s qualification for the Olympics as well as the 2023 World Cup.

All but one of the remaining Olympic berths will be determined during this February International Window, with the 2024 UEFA Women’s Nation’s League Finals and the 2024 AFC Olympic Qualifying Tournament set to conclude later this month and New Zealand and the Solomon Islands meeting in the final of the OFC Qualifying Tournament on Feb. 19. The 2024 CAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament will conclude in early April to produce two qualifiers from Africa  while the Final Draw to set the tournament schedule will be held in late March.

USA ROSTER NOTES

• Becky Sauerbrunn (217), Crystal Dunn (140 caps) and Lindsey Horan (139 caps) are the only players on this roster with 100+ international appearances.
• Seven players on this roster have fewer than 10 caps, five of whom debuted in 2023: 23-year-old Jenna Nighswonger, 22-year-old Mia Fishel, 20-year-old midfielder Korbin Albert, 19-year-old Jaedyn Shaw and 18-year-old Olivia Moultrie
• Eight players on this roster – Naomi Girma, Sophia Smith, Nighswonger, Mia Fishel, Trinity Rodman, Albert, Shaw and Moultrie – were born after the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will celebrate its 25^th anniversary this summer. Smith became the first player born after the ’99 World Cup to earn a USWNT cap when she debuted for the U.S. on November 27, 2020, against the Netherlands.
• Horan is the top scorer on this roster with 31 career international goals, followed by Lavelle and Dunn with 24, Williams with 17 and Smith with 15.
• Eleven players called up for this camp were on the USA’s roster at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and eight – Dahlkemper, Davidson, Dunn, Horan, Lavelle, Naeher, Sauerbrunn and Sonnett – were on the roster for the 2019 Women’s World Cup Champions.
• Eight of the 14 NWSL clubs are represented on this roster, led by seven players from NJ/NY Gotham FC. Portland Thorns FC have four players and San Diego Wave FC has three.
• Four players on this roster play for clubs in Europe – two in France (Lindsey Horan at Olympique Lyon and Korbin Albert at Paris Saint-Germain) and two in England (Mia Fishel at Chelsea FC and Emily Fox at Arsenal FC).

IN FOCUS: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

FIFA World Ranking: 107
Concacaf Ranking: 14
Record vs. USA: 0W-0D-1L (GF:0, GA: 14)
Last Meeting vs. USA: Jan. 20 2012 (14-0 USA win in Vancouver, Canada)
Head Coach: Henry Parra (COL)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Odaliana Gomez (Florida International, USA), 12-Carolina Moreno (Cibao FC), 20-Paloma Peña (Univ. of Florida, USA)

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Alexa Pacheco (Goldey-Beacom College, USA), 3-Stella Tapia (Univ. of Michigan, USA), 4-Giovanna Dionicio (Univ. of Connecticut, USA), 5-Nadia Colon (Univ. of Texas, USA), 16-Renata Mercedes (Connecticut FC, USA), 18-Claudia Alcantara (Fundacion Eagles FC), 19-Gabriella Cuevas (Unattached), Brianne Reed (SF Damaiense, POR)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 7-Winibian Peralta (Municipal Perez Zeledon, CRC), 13-Keisla Gil (Central Methodist Univ., USA), 14-Lucia Marte (Watford FC, ENG), 15-Kat Gonzalez (Unattached), 21-Jaylen Vallecillo (Unattached)

FORWARDS (7): 6-Yomerci Brito (5 de Abril), 8-Dahien Cabrera (Edward Waters Univ., USA), 9-Mia Asenjo (Univ. of Central Florida), 10-Vanessa Kara (Unattached), 11-Alyssa Oviedo (Unattached), 17-Jazmin Jackson (Virginia Commonwealth Univ., USA), 23-Angelina Vargas (PDA, USA)

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TEAM NOTES

• There is a heavy American influence in the squad selected by head coach Henry Parra for this Concacaf W Gold Cup as twelve of the 23 players on the roster currently play for clubs or colleges in the United States.
• Parra is Colombian.
• Forward Mia Asenjo plays for former U.S. WNT player and assitant coach Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak – one of the USA’s famed 99ers – at Central Florida. She scored three goals with three assists for the Knights last season.
• Team captain Lucia Marte is one of the older and more experienced players on this roster at 26 years old. A creative and crafty attacking player, Marte currently plays for Watford FC in England. Marte, who also spent time with the Under-23 Spain Women’s Youth National Team, began her club career with Tottenham Hotspur, spending many seasons with the London club followed by a stint with Real Betis.
• The Dominican Republic won Group C in League B of Concacaf W Gold Cup qualifying, downing Bermuda, Barbados and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines by a 24-3 overal goal difference, to qualifying for the Preliminary Match play-in game, at which they defeated Guyana, 1-0, on Feb. 17 at the Dignity Health Sports Park Track and Field Stadium.
• Kat Gonzalez scored DR’s only goal on a perfectly-struck swerving strike from outside the penlaty area in the 55th minute to earn a spot in Group A of the tournament. Gonzalez, who hails from Pennsylvania, played college soccer at East Carolina and Marshall.
• Jazmin Jackson led her team in scoring in the prequalifying tournament with four goals. Mia Asenjo, Gonzalez and Lucia Marte had three each.