For the U.S. women’s national team, ensuring that it has the chance to go for a Women’s World Cup three-peat didn’t prove to be all that difficult.
Two games into the Concacaf W Championship, the tournament that doubles as 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympic qualifying, the U.S. has punched its ticket to Australia and New Zealand next summer by securing a top-two group finish. The eight-team W Championship field was split into two groups of four, with the top two in each group claiming the region’s four places at the first 32-team Women’s World Cup next summer. The winner of the competition will secure an automatic berth in the 2024 Olympics, while the second- and third-place finishers will play for the region’s other spot in Paris.
But the first order of business was taking care of a return to the World Cup stage, and that has come with relative ease. The U.S. didn’t blow out Haiti—ranked 60th by FIFA and the second-lowest-ranked team in the W Championship—in its opener in Mexico, but two first-half Alex Morgan goals and an insurance strike from Midge Purce gave the top-ranked U.S. a rather comfortable 3–0 win on Monday.
Jamaica, ranked 51st and a team that competed in the 2019 World Cup, provided even less resistance Thursday night, with the U.S. leading 2–0 within eight minutes thanks to a Sophia Smith double before Rose Lavelle, Kristie Mewis and Trinity Rodman put the finishing touches on a 5–0 win with second-half goals. That result, coupled with Haiti’s stunning 3-0 rout of host Mexico, clinched a top-two berth for the U.S. before what was supposed to be its most difficult group game. Mexico, ranked 26th in the world, also lost to Jamaica in its opener, though, and has sorely disappointed in Monterrey, while Haiti is now well-positioned to qualify for its first Women’s World Cup and can do so with at least a draw against Jamaica in their group finale.
The U.S.’s achievement, meanwhile, came on a day that was momentous for a couple of other reasons. Thursday marked the three-year anniversary of the U.S.’s 2019 World Cup triumph, in which Megan Rapinoe and Lavelle scored against the Netherlands to secure a second-straight World Cup title and a fourth in USWNT history. Rapinoe, meanwhile, spent Thursday at the White House, being honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She missed the Jamaica match but immediately returned to Mexico to rejoin the U.S. and will be available going forward in the competition.
The U.S. squad that just qualified for the World Cup could look significantly different compared to the one that competes in it. Crystal Dunn recently gave birth, while Julie Ertz and Casey Krueger are both pregnant. It’s unclear when any of the three will return and how long it may take to get back into peak playing form. Beyond that, Catarina Macario, Tierna Davidson and Christen Press are all out after tearing their ACLs, while Lynn Williams and Sam Mewis have been nursing leg injuries and Abby Dahlkemper is just getting over broken ribs. Tobin Heath, meanwhile, just resurfaced on the club level, signing with OL Reign after leaving Arsenal in April.
All told, manager Vlatko Andonovski will have some tough cuts to make, with some of the players called in to fill the void left behind by the veterans returning to the fold. Smith, in particular, leads all U.S. scorers with seven goals in 2022. But before looking too far ahead, there is still business for the current U.S. group to tend to in Mexico. Olympic failure last summer still stings, with the U.S. settling for bronze after losing to Canada in the semifinals in Japan, and if the W Championship pans out as anticipated, a rematch with the neighbor to the north could be on tap for the final and the automatic 2024 ticket.
Canada and Costa Rica are the favorites to get out of the other group, which also features Panama and Trinidad & Tobago. Presuming the U.S. wins its group, it will face the second-place finisher of the other group in the semis.
As for the World Cup, the U.S. is the 12th team to qualify, including the co-hosts. Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines and Vietnam have come out of the Asian confederation, while Sweden, Spain, France and Denmark have claimed the first four UEFA automatic berths. The U.S. has never failed to qualify for a Women’s World Cup and will take part in a ninth straight competition of its kind.
