2023 Womens World Cup roster

This evening, the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup draw took place before a packed Aotea Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. The United States Women’s National Team, along with 38 other teams, learned where they will be playing in the co-hosted tournament next summer along with their group opponents.

Co-hosts New Zealand and Australia were already pre-drawn into Groups A and B, respectively. The USWNT, as the #1 ranked team in the world and a seeded team in Pot 1, was drawn into Group E, where they will be joined by Vietnam, the Netherlands, and the winner of the Group A Playoff. The USWNT will head to New Zealand for the group stage of the tournament.

The 8 groups in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup (current FIFA ranking in parentheses):

Group A - New Zealand (22), Norway (12), Philippines (53), Switzerland (21)

Group B - Australia (13), Ireland (24), Nigeria (45), Canada (7)

Group C - Spain (6), Costa Rica (37), Zambia (81), Japan (11)

Group D - England (4), Playoff B Winner (Senegal (84)/Haiti (56)/Chile (38)), Denmark (18), China (15)

Group E - USA (1), Vietnam (34), Netherlands (8), Playoff A Winner (Cameroon (58)/Thailand (41)/Portugal (23))

Group F - France (5), Jamaica (43), Brazil (9), Playoff C Winner (Chinese Taipei (40)/Paraguay (51)/Papua New Guinea (50)/Panama (57))

Group G - Sweden (2), South Africa (54), Italy (14), Argentina (29)

Group H - Germany (3), Morocco (76), Colombia (27), South Korea (17)

UPDATE (10/24): Times have been set by FIFA for each of the matches in the tournament, and here are the dates for the 3 group stage matches for the USWNT:

USA vs. Vietnam - July 21st, 9:00pm ET, Auckland

USA vs. Netherlands - July 26th, 9:00pm ET, Wellington

Playoff A Winner (Cameroon (58)/Thailand (41)/Portugal (23)) vs. USA - August 1st, 3:00am ET, Auckland

And rounding out the group...
Either Portugal ,Cameroon , or Thailand

Group E

USA
VIE
NED
⬜️ Group A Playoff Winner

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 22, 2022

Hit the comments to discuss the USWNT draw at the World Cup!

The USWNT flew home from Monterrey with the newest trophy to add to the cabinet, but only after forward Alex Morgan discovered the CONCACAF W Championship cup fit roughly 20 margaritas. 

The team did the double on the qualification front, picking up their spots for both the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics in their perfect run through the tournament, outscoring their opponents 13 to zero.

Now, 364 days remain until next summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (though no repeat of the heat wave in France, it’ll be winter in the host nations). The work for U.S. head coach Vlatko Andonovski had already turned from evaluation to qualification. Now, the switch can be flipped once again, to the final piece: cohesion.

Andonovski and the squad have 13 games between now and their World Cup opener to build the chemistry, address any lingering questions and try to peak at the right time. All the pressure’s on the back-to-back World Cup winners to add a third consecutive trophy, though that’s also nothing new for the USWNT.

While Andonovski was honest in saying the USWNT is not — at this time — ready for the World Cup, the team’s performance in the W Championship final against Canada was a timely reminder of how the U.S. can turn it on against top teams. Take all those narratives about Olympic revenge with a grain of salt too, since the roster had a real mix of players who experienced that loss and plenty more who didn’t. The kids are more than okay, and they’re making their case for starting roles next summer.

“It’s very obvious that the team is significantly younger than the previous time we played Canada,” Andonovski said after the match in his press conference. The USWNT made six changes from the starting XI that featured in Tokyo last year, with the additions of Sofia Huerta, Alana Cook, Emily Fox, Andi Sullivan, Mal Pugh and Sophia Smith.

“They’re going to be here for at least three, maybe four, World Cups,” he said about players like Smith (21 years old) and Fox (24), in a delighted tone that perhaps just crossed the line into smugness. “So get used to them.”

There’s still time for potential shake-ups on the World Cup roster, and there’s still time for players to return from injuries (or pregnancies) or make their case for the final 23. While it’s impossible to anticipate every potential twist between now and the FIFA deadline for the World Cup roster, it’s worth taking a look at where things stand right now, and where the biggest question remarks remain for Andonovski.

This intellectual exercise does assume that World Cup rosters will remain at 23 players for 2023, though FIFA expanded the men’s World Cup rosters to 26 for the tournament this fall, due to the strain on players. Considering the recent run of injuries (and, of course, the ongoing pandemic), and an increasing focus on player workload, it’s not impossible that the same change could happen for the women, too.

We’re still a year out, but one outside factor that could play a role here is vaccination status. Currently, Australia has relaxed entry requirements and does not require proof of vaccination, but New Zealand has not

My picks are italicized, and while they are my picks, they are influenced heavily by a few key moves I think Andonovski will make on the roster.

Goalkeepers

There are three spots to fill here, and at this point in time it already feels safe to assume that Alyssa Naeher and Casey Murphy have essentially locked up two of them. One of the major subplots of the W Championship was the increase in minutes for Murphy, providing crucial development in a tournament setting; Naeher getting the nod in the final against Canada does point to her still being the trusted No. 1, though.

Aubrey Kingsbury seems to have the inside track on the third spot, but this is absolutely a spot on the roster that could be swayed by NWSL form and previous experience. AD Franch might not want to speak with the media about her USWNT status, but there’s a really good case for her to be part of the World Cup depth chart. Her form in KC has been good, she was on the 2019 roster, and she stepped in after Naeher’s major injury at the 2021 Olympics. 

Historically, the goalkeeping selection for the World Cup has been pretty easy to predict, but the current pool is the strongest it’s ever been. Splitting the backup goalkeepers between the promising heir apparent and a more veteran presence feels like the most logical approach, however — despite all the options.

Meg’s picks (3): Naeher, Murphy, Franch

Defenders

We’re into the territory where it’s hard to pin down what the exact number of players in any positional bucket might end up. In 2015, former USWNT head coach Jill Ellis took eight defenders (four center backs, four outside backs), then she took seven in 2019 (four center backs, three outside backs — though there was more positional flexibility among the group). Andonovski named seven defenders for the W Championship, also a 23-player roster.

Let’s start with the center backs. Right now, it feels like there are five players in the mix for a minimum of three, but more likely four spots — the question there is if Andonovski both selects Emily Sonnett for the roster, and also feels confident enough in her ability to play across the back line.

For outright center backs though, it’s Becky Sauerbrunn, Alana Cook, Naomi Girma, Abby Dahlkemper and Tierna Davidson (currently recovering from an ACL tear). Sauerbrunn will be 38 years old by the start of next year’s tournament, but she’s also the team’s captain and was just named to the best XI of the W Championship. Cook feels like a lock already, not just because she’s been a consistent call-up since Andonovski took over, but she’s an option for the starting XI in 2023 based on her NT minutes and NWSL form. As of this moment, Dahlkemper feels like she might be at the bottom of the depth chart between the five, though future rosters for friendlies might not be instructive until Davidson returns to determine if that’s right. 

Girma is the youngest option, but she’s got a full year to show why she should be making the trip. She was a stand-out in the minutes she got in Monterrey, making the tournament best XI despite not playing every match, plus she’s a leading contender for the NWSL rookie of the year award. She’s made the transition to the pros and international level look easy so far; it’s not hard to imagine her in the final 23. 

For outside backs, right now there are two potential head-to-heads for starts on the two wings. Emily Fox has seamlessly stepped in on the left, but Crystal Dunn is nearing her return after giving birth (Dunn also offers versatility in the midfield, of course). On the right, there’s Kelley O’Hara and Sofia Huerta. Sonnett provides potential options on a wing or as a center back. There are other candidates here, as well: Carson Pickett earned her first call-up as part of the June friendlies, Imani Dorsey’s had some looks and Casey Krueger could also make her return after having her child.

No matter what, there’s a difficult decision ahead for Andonovski. Seven or eight? Four centerbacks, four outside backs? Do you opt for versatility with Sonnett or just go directly for two left backs and two right backs?

Meg’s picks (8): Sauerbrunn, Cook, Davidson, Girma, Fox, Dunn, O’Hara, Huerta

Midfielders

In 2015, the USWNT took seven midfielders, four years later they took six. There are currently three players who are very easy to predict, as it would be shocking if the starting midfield in 2023 isn’t Rose Lavelle as the No. 10, Lindsey Horan as the No. 8, and Andi Sullivan as the No. 6.

But, once again, there’s a lot of depth and players who are currently absent. Sam Mewis has missed a huge amount of 2022 to injury. Julie Ertz certainly looked like she not only found the extreme limit of player workload during the 2021 Olympics, but blew past it. She is currently expecting a child, and remains somewhat of an unknown concerning a potential return. 

At the W Championship, Andonovski didn’t originally employ a direct approach to having a backup for each role in the midfield, though Sam Coffey was called in and eventually offered depth at the six though she did not make her national team debut. Jaelin Howell also is a contender in that spot, and is likely ahead of Coffey on the depth chart with more call-ups, though she only has five career caps with the USWNT so far (three of them in 2022, with 86 minutes played).

Taylor Kornieck is the newest name to be making a play for a more permanent role on the roster, but Ashley Sanchez is currently the top depth pick at the 10 (bringing both Lavelle and Sanchez in order to play a double 10 to break down a low block feels like a smart call for the group stage). Kristie Mewis offers another attacking midfield option, but the experiment with her at the six was hopefully deemed ill-advised by the USWNT technical staff and will not be repeated.

The midfield depth for 2023 could go in any direction, but it does feel imperative to have an option for a creative playmaker, a traditional box-to-box midfielder and a defensive midfielder. If Sam Mewis can get healthy, it’s going to be really hard to leave her off a roster, but it might mean it’s at the expense of her sister.

Meg’s picks (6): Lavelle, Horan, Sullivan, Sanchez, S. Mewis, Howell

Forwards

Every single one of these categories has its own challenges, but there’s nothing quite like the fight to make the forward pool of the USWNT right now. Catarina Macario missed out on the W Championship due to her ACL injury, but it’s clear how prominently she features in the future of this team. Sophia Smith and Mal Pugh have been consistently starting, and Alex Morgan just reminded everyone in Monterrey that her NWSL form isn’t a fluke by earning the golden ball as the W Championship’s best player.

In 2015, Ellis only took five forwards, and in 2019 she upped it to seven. There’s a legit case for a dozen different options this time around, so paring it down is really, really tough.

Do you prioritize bringing the youths? Trinity Rodman, Midge Purce and Ashley Hatch have each gotten plenty of minutes this year. The chance feels very remote for a World Cup roster spot, but high schooler (committed to USWNT talent pipeline that is Stanford) Alyssa Thompson made the W Championship provisional roster and is already playing with the U-23 youth national team, and scoring goals there, too.

Do you lean on the vets? Megan Rapinoe has been talked about a lot in terms of her playing time and her role on the team in the twilight of her career. Tobin Heath is easing her way back in with OL Reign, finally making her first appearance for the team, and Christen Press is early into her ACL recovery. Lynn Williams suffered a nasty injury during the first match of this year’s Challenge Cup, but stepped up for the team in Tokyo last year, when called upon.

Here’s the key one where my picks are built around anticipating Andonovski: if Rapinoe is still playing, I think the same decision gets made as the one he made for the W Championship. But four different players could be named to that final spot and I would think the decision is sound and justifiable, with Press, Williams and Purce all being strong picks, too. 

I remain glad I’m just writing words on the internet and not actually trying to make these decisions in real life.

Meg’s picks (6): Smith, Macario, Pugh, Morgan, Rodman, Rapinoe

(Photo: Brad Smith/ISI Photos)

Who qualified for the Women's World Cup 2023?

England, USWNT, Australia: Which teams have qualified for FIFA Women's World Cup 2023?.
Australia (FIFA World Ranking: 12) ... .
New Zealand (22) ... .
Philippines (53) ... .
South Korea (10) ... .
China (16) ... .
Japan (11) ... .
Vietnam (33) ... .
Spain (8).

How many teams will be in the 2023 Women's World Cup?

32 nations will compete in the Women's World Cup for the first time.

How many teams will qualify in Women's World Cup?

All statistics correct as of 11 October 2022. The field was expanded from 24 teams in the 2019 edition to 32 in the 2023 edition.

Who will host FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023?

The tournament will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the first time that the FIFA Women's World Cup will have two host nations and is scheduled to take place from 20 July to 20 August 2023.