USA vs. Japan: Starting XI & Lineup Notes

USWNT vs. Japan – Paris 2024 Olympics – Quarterfinal
Date: August 3, 2024
Venue: Parc des Princes; Paris, France
Broadcast: USA Network, Telemundo, Universo, Peacock
Official Kickoff Time: 3 p.m. local / 9 a.m. ET

Starting XI vs. Japan: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 2-Emily Fox, 3-Korbin Albert, 4-Naomi Girma, 5-Trinity Rodman, 7-Crystal Dunn, 9-Mallory Swanson, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 11-Sophia Smith, 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle

Available Subs: 6-Casey Krueger, 8-Lynn Williams, 13-Jenna Nighswonger, 15-Jaedyn Shaw, 18-Casey Murphy, 21-Emily Sams

Suspended: 17-Sam Coffey

GAME NOTES| FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

• USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Horan (154), Dunn (153), Naeher (110), Lavelle (105), Swanson (98), Sonnett (97), Fox (55), Smith (54), Rodman (44), Girma (38), Albert (16)
• The starting lineup to face Japan features one change from the lineup that started the group stage finale against Australia, with midfielder Korbin Albert starting in place of Sam Coffey, who will miss the match due to card accumulation after earning yellow cards against Germany and Australia. With Coffey suspended, the U.S. will have 17 players on today’s matchday squad.
• Forward Jaedyn Shaw returns to the matchday roster after missing the group stage with a leg injury. Midfielder Croix Bethune, who was activated in her absence, returns to the alternate list. Emily Sams remains part of the matchday squad in place of Tierna Davidson (leg contusion).
• Six players in today’s starting lineup – Naeher, Fox, Girma, Horan, Rodman and Swanson – started the most recent match against Japan on April 6 at the 2024 SheBelieves Cup while another four players starting today – Dunn, Sonnett, Albert and Smith – came on as substitutes in the USA’s 2-1 win in Atlanta.
• Four players in today’s Starting XI – Naeher, Dunn, Horan and Lavelle – featured in the USA’s most recent match at Parc des Princes, downing hosts France 2-1 on June 28, 2019, in the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
• Lindsey Horan is set to make her 154th international appearance as she makes her 15th consecutive start for the USWNT. Horan, who began her professional career playing in Paris for PSG, scored the game-winning penalty kick against Japan at the 2024 SheBelieves Cup and has three goals in her previous seven appearances against Japan.
• Alyssa Naeher will make her 110th international appearance and her 20th start overall for the USWNT at a World Cup or Olympics. She enters the match with nine clean sheets and just 12 goals allowed in her 19 previous world championship appearances. Naeher is the only player on this U.S. roster who was also on the roster for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final against Japan, which marked the most recent meeting between the teams at a world championship, though she did not play in that match.
• Emily Fox is set to earn her 55th cap as she makes her sixth consecutive start for the USWNT. Fox ranks fifth on the USWNT with 244 minutes played this Olympics and is fourth on the team in total minutes played in 2024, eclipsing the 1,000-minute mark for the second consecutive year.
• Midfielder Korbin Albert will make her first start for the U.S. at a World Cup or Olympics as she earns her 16th cap overall for the USWNT. Albert, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain and helped the club win the 2023-24 French Cup, scored her first international goal in the group stage finale vs. Australia, becoming the first player in program history to score her debut goal at an Olympics.
• The 20-year-old Albert is the third-youngest player to ever start for the USWNT at the Olympics, trailing only Mallory Swanson (18-years-old at Rio 2016) and Tiffany Roberts (19-years-old at Atlanta 1996). Albert is the youngest to start for the USA at a world championship since 20-year-old Tierna Davidson started and tallied two assists against Chile at Parc des Princes in the 2019 World Cup group stage.
• Naomi Girma will make her 38th international appearance and her sixth consecutive start for the USWNT. Girma has completed 96% of her pass attempts so far this tournament, the highest completion percentage of any player this Olympic tournament (min. 100 pass attempts) and has played every minute of the USA’s last seven games at the World Cup and Olympics, the only field player to do so. Girma, Naeher and Sam Coffey were the only Americans to play every minute of the group stage at Paris 2024.
• Trinity Rodman will earn her 44th cap as she makes her 34th consecutive appearance for the USWNT, the longest streak by any USWNT player since 2018. Rodman is tied for the team lead with four assists this year and has two goals in three games at Paris 2024 after scoring just twice in her previous 17 appearances heading into the Olympics.
• Crystal Dunn will earn her 153rd cap as she makes her 19th consecutive start for the USWNT in World Cup or Olympic match, the longest streak by any USWNT field player since Christie Pearce made 27 consecutive starts from 2004-2012. Dunn leads the USWNT with seven tackles this Olympics and is tied for second on the team with seven clearances.
• Mallory Swanson will make her 98th international appearance overall and her 10th appearance for the USA in 2024. Swanson, who made her first appearance – and first start – since returning from injury in the USA’s April 6 match against Japan in Atlanta, has four goal involvements (two goals, two assists) in six career match against Japan.
• Swanson is tied for third in scoring with three goals at Paris 2024, trailing only France’s Marie-Antoinette Katoto (5 goals) and Zambia’s Barbra Banda (4). Her three goals tied Abby Wambach (2012) for the most ever by a USWNT player in an Olympic group stage and are tied for the fifth-most by any USWNT player at single Olympics.
• Sophia Smith is set to earn her 54th cap as she makes her eighth consecutive start for the USWNT in a World Cup or Olympic match. Smith leads the USWNT in scoring with seven goals this year and is tied for the team lead with four assists, two of which have come at Paris 2024. Smith has nine goal involvements (6 goals, 3 assists) in her last eight games for the USWNT after just six total goal involvements (3 goals, 3 assists) for the USWNT in 11 appearances in 2023.
• Emily Sonnett will make back-to-back starts for the USWNT for the first time ever at a world championship as she earns her 97th cap overall for the USWNT. One of seven players on this Olympic roster from the 2019 Women’s World Cup champions, Sonnett has appeared in 27 of the USA’s 33 matches since the start of 2023 and will be making her fourth start of 2024.
• Rose Lavelle will make her 105th international appearance as she makes her 10th career start at the Olympics. Lavelle, winner of the Bronze Ball at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, ranks fourth on the team with six chances created this tournament and has started every match in the midfield this tournament.