This is not the USA women’s team you think it is. Yes, USA are in search of an unprecedented third successive World Cup title. Yes, USA are still ranked No 1 in the world by Fifa. And yes, there is a target on their collective back as one of the perennial favourites at any major tournament. The players who won in 2019 though? They are mostly absent.
Just nine of the 23 named in USA’s World Cup squad were part of the triumph four years ago, of whom only five also took part at the 2015 tournament. News of captain Becky Sauerbrunn’s foot injury, which will keep her out of what would have been the 38-year-old’s fourth World Cup, only underscores the dramatic turnover that has played out during the past 18 months. If USA are to “threepeat”, they will do so with a vastly younger and less experienced group.
