The first international window of 2026 has come and gone for the US women’s national team – though you’d be forgiven if it felt like a continuation of a familiar, looping theme.
Once again, Emma Hayes used the window to examine fresh faces among her incredibly deep player pool. Even considering the constant shuffling under Hayes after the 2024 Olympics, this was an especially experimental squad. Per the federation, the lineup for Saturday’s 6-0 thrashing of Paraguay featured the fewest average caps for a starting 11 (9.6) in a quarter of a century. On Tuesday, that record was broken again: a 5.2 cap average across the lineup.
