The U.S. women’s national team’s quest for a third straight World Cup is officially underway, with coach Vlatko Andonovski announcing his 24-player roster for the squad’s January camp. Jetting to New Zealand, the USWNT will kick off 2023 with a pair of friendlies against this year’s World Cup cohosts, taking on the Football Ferns in Wellington, New Zealand, on Jan. 18 before facing off again in Auckland on Jan. 20. Both venues will serve as sites for July’s tournament.
This January camp isn’t the typical USWNT training that traditionally features up-and-comers and seasoned pros alike, with refined roster selection ever-important as the World Cup nears. Andonovski’s latest lineup features key absences, including veteran Megan Rapinoe, and fresh faces not seen in the USWNT pool in some time as mainstays return from injury and, per usual, some controversy.
Here are three major takeaways from the USWNT’s January roster.
Absences on the front line
Mia Fishel is, once again, missing from Andonovski’s roster. Despite a stunning run with her Liga MX club Tigres Femenil, including a Golden Boot award in her rookie season, Fishel hasn’t earned a call-up from the senior national team.
“In terms of Mia, I said before, she is a good young player,” Andonovski said following the roster announcement. “The league doesn’t mean anything, or it doesn’t matter where she plays. It matters obviously first what she does, and what she does in comparison with the players that she’s competing [with] for the spot.”
While Andonovski revealed that the USWNT coaching staff is watching and analyzing Fishel’s performance in Mexico, the 21-year-old, who is in rare form, remains off his roster.
The forward pool is also missing familiar faces in Rapinoe and 2022 NWSL MVP Sophia Smith, both out due to injury. However, expect the Portland Thorns striker to be back on the pitch shortly, with Andonovski revealing that Smith is simply rehabbing “something that has been bothering her for a longer time” and that the start of the year was the best time to fix the issue impacting her foot.
Injuries continue to impact Andonovski’s squad
Speaking of injuries, as USWNT onlookers have grown accustomed, rehab timelines continue to affect the team, and January’s roster is no exception.
Catarina Macario, seen by many as vital to USWNT’s next generation, is still working back from an ACL tear she picked up in June. The good news is that Andonovski says the 23-year-old is expected to be ready for contact play in 4–5 weeks after undergoing rehabilitation at FIFA’s facilities in Qatar.
Also close to returning are defenders Tierna Davidson and Kelley O’Hara, per Andonovski. Davidson and O’Hara were essential pieces to the USWNT’s back line during the Tokyo Games, and their veteran presence will be valuable for a younger defensive line that includes Naomi Girma, Alana Cook and Emily Fox.
Back in the groove
The January roster also featured several players, including defender Emily Sonnett, who are working their way back into the USWNT pool after prolonged absences.
Most notably, Lynn Williams, who missed almost the entirety of 2022 with a complex leg injury, will be joining the USWNT on its trek to New Zealand.
“She was a regular on the national team roster, and we did not want to punish her just because she got injured,” Andonovski said of Williams. “This is a good camp for her to experience what the rest of the team is going to experience and a good opportunity for us to see where she’s at and how she’s going to integrate back and evaluate everything for future calls.”
Williams has emerged as an essential piece to Andonovski’s system, possessing a unique ability to trigger a high press from the front line and pin back opposing teams’ fullbacks. The 29-year-old notched a goal and an assist in the U.S.’s quarterfinal win over the Netherlands during the 2020 Olympics, helping her side to a bronze medal run in Tokyo.
Margaret “Midge” Purce will also get a chance to prove herself during the team’s January trip, with Rapinoe and Smith’s absences making way for the NJ/NY Gotham FC forward on Andonovski’s roster. The 27-year-old was left behind during the team’s European friendlies in the fall, with Andonovski saying he’d seen a “dip in form” from Purce.
“We wanted to be fair to her and give her a fair chance to get back on the team and to give her a fair chance to fight for the spot,” said Andonovski. “Obviously, one of the things that we want to see is a consistent Midge Purce, so we need to see consistency on the national team, but also in between camps.”
January will be Purce’s, along with several others, shot to stake a claim ahead of February’s SheBelieves Cup and before the USWNT’s World Cup roster begins to calcify.
The USWNT will train in New Zealand for six days before its first game against the Ferns at Sky Stadium on Jan. 18 (10 p.m. ET on Jan. 17 in the United States).
