USWNT vs. Mexico: Starting XI & Lineup Notes

USWNT vs. Mexico – 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup – Group A
Date: February 26, 2024
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park; Carson, Calif.   
Broadcast: Paramount+, ESPN Deportes, ESPN+
Official Kickoff Time: 10:15 p.m. ET / 7:15 p.m. PT

Starting XI vs. Mexico: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 2-Abby Dahlkemper, 5-Becky Sauerbrunn, 6-Lynn Williams, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 11-Sophia Smith, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Sam Coffey, 19-Crystal Dunn, 22-Trinity Rodman, 23-Emily Fox

Available Subs: 3-Jenna Nighswonger, 4-Naomi Girma, 7-Alex Morgan, 8-Jaedyn Shaw, 9-Midge Purce, 12-Tierna Davidson, 13-Olivia Moultrie, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Korbin Albert, 18-Casey Murphy, 20-Casey Krueger, 21-Jane Campbell

GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW                

• USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Sauerbrunn (219) Dunn (142), Horan (141), Naeher (99), Lavelle (95), Dahlkemper (82), Williams (61), Fox (42), Smith (41), Rodman (31), Coffey (10)
• The starting lineup to take on Mexico features seven different players from the Starting XI that opened Friday’s match against Argentina. Crystal Dunn, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle and Trinity Rodman will make back-to-back starts while Emily Fox makes her first start of the tournament.
• The USA’s most experienced starting lineup so far this tournament, the Starting XI to take on Mexico averages 29.3 years of age lineup averages 27.0 years of age and 87 caps per player. Coffey is the only player in today’s starting lineup without World Cup or Olympic experience.
• Four players in this Starting XI played against Mexico when the teams met most recently in the 2022 Concacaf W Championship – Becky Sauerbrunn, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle and Sophia Smith.
• Lindsey Horan will captain the USWNT for the 20^th time in her career as she earns her 141^st cap. Horan, whose goal against Argentina made her the seventh player in USWNT history to score in at least 10 consecutive years, has been involved in six goals in nine career games against Mexico (2 goals, 4 assists), more than any other opponent in her USWNT career.
• Alyssa Naeher will make her second start of 2024 in what will be her 99^th international appearance overall for the USWNT. On the cusp of becoming just the third goalkeeper in USWNT history to reach the 100-cap milestone, Naeher now has 60 career shutouts and has kept a clean sheet in each of her last five starts.  When Naeher hits 100 caps, the U.S. will become the first country in history to have three female goalkeepers with 100+ caps.
• Abby Dahlkemper is set to earn her 82^nd cap as she makes her second start of 2024. Dahlkemper played the full 90 minutes in the USA’s Feb. 20 win over the Dominican Republic, which marked her second full 90 – and second appearance – for the USA since undergoing major back surgery in November 2022. Dahlkemper led the USWNT in minutes played in both 2019 and 2020.
• One of only three active players in women’s international soccer with 200+ caps, Becky Sauerbrunn will make her second start of 2024 and her 218^th international appearance overall for the USWNT. Sauerbrunn captained the U.S. in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup opener against the Dominican Republic, going the distance as she logged her first 90-minute performance for the U.S. since April 8, 2023.
• Lynn Williams is set to earn her 61^st cap as she makes her second start of the year. Williams played the full 90 minutes and scored her 18^th international goal in the win over the Dominican Republic on February 20. It was her ninth 90-minute performance for the USWNT and just her second since the start of 2023.  
• Sophia Smith will make her second start and third appearance of the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup as she earns her 41^st cap for the USWNT. Smith started the tournament opening match against the Dominican Republic and assisted the opening goal by Olivia Moultrie for her eighth career assist. The 2023 NWSL Golden Boot winner, she came on as a second-half substitute against Argentina.
• Rose Lavelle will earn her 95^th cap as she makes her second start of 2024 and her fourth appearance for the USA following the World Cup. She assisted Jaedyn Shaw’s second goal in the Feb. 23 win over Argentina, which was the 22^nd of her international career. Lavelle is now just one goal and three assists away from becoming the 19^th player in USWNT history with 25+ goals and 25+ assists.
• Midfielder Sam Coffey will earn her 10^th cap for the USWNT as she makes her fourth career start and second of the W Gold Cup. Coffey, who made her international debut in September 2022, will have now appeared in each of the last six matches for the USWNT, a streak that began with the October 29 win over Colombia in San Diego. Coffey started the Feb. 20 victory over the Dominican Republic and logged her third 90-minute performance for the USWNT.
• Crystal Dunn is set to earn her 142^nd cap as she makes her second consecutive start of the Concacaf W Gold Cup. Dunn made 14 appearances for the U.S. in 2023 – all of them starts -  and played all but eight minutes at the World Cup while helping the USA defense to just two shots on goal allowed all tournament.
• Trinity Rodman will make her second consecutive start at the W Gold Cup as she earns her 31^st career cap. After coming on as a substitute against the Dominican Republic, Rodman made her first start of 2024 in the Feb. 23 win over Argentina and to earn her 30^th cap. At 21 years and 279 days of age, Rodman was the 14^th-youngest player in USWNT history to reach 30 caps and the youngest to do so since Mallory Swanson reached the mark in 2018 at age 19.
• Rodman was the only player to appear in all 18 matches for the USWNT in 2023 and will be making her 21^st consecutive appearance for the USWNT, tallying five goals and five assists over the last 20 outings.
• Emily Fox makes her first start of 2024 as she earns her 42^nd cap. The 25-year-old defender appeared in all but one match for the U.S. in 2023 and finished second on the team in total minutes played. A mainstay on the USWNT backline since the fall of 2021, Fox is third on the team in total minutes played following the 2021 Olympics trailing only Lindsey Horan and Andi Sullivan.