Uncertainty is an uncommon feeling for the United States women’s national team. The program has four World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals to its name, each of which is a record. Until August, the US had never been ranked below No 2 in the world and never finished worse than third at a World Cup.
Change arrived quickly, however. A historic exit from the 2023 World Cup in the round of 16 evoked existential questions about the program’s future as other top nations surpassed it. Former head coach Vlatko Andonovski also resigned in the immediate aftermath of the tournament, leaving the US without a coach.
