Surprising no one, USWNT won the 2026 She Believes Cup, with a surprisingly tense game against Columbia. While Linda Caciedo is a dynamic Columbian striker and Leicy Santos is a quality midfielder, the US struggled more than they ought to have to eek out a 1-0 win on an 80th minute goal from Alyssa Thompson. Good to have a win, not especially inspiring. Also, throughout the tournament I suspect that the xG was higher than the number of goals the US put in the net, particularly against Canada. They need to improve their finishing.
In 2023, I thought the USWNT made a mistake by using a roster spot on Thompson in the world cup, but she has grown a lot in the last three years. Now I think she is one of the most dynamic players they have, probably even when (if?) Swanson (Pugh) and Wilson (Smith) return (Wilson appears to be closer, but she is the one that Thompson is most likely to bypass as Swanson is the more natural 9). The US midfield is still a big work in progress, and the back line needs more consistency (which is the plan) over the next year and a half before the next women's world cup. We have an embarrassment of riches at the forward positions, except for the 9. I expect Macario will be right back from injury and will help the attack out. Will be interesting to see if Tierna Davidson returns there; I expect she will, which would probably move Sonnett back to a substitute role. As for up and coming players, I really like Emma Sears. She's a little different than the strikers we've been relying on, who are all very fast one-on-one threats. She appears comfortable in the role of a wing, largely serving crosses into the middle of the field (similar to Trinity Rodman's primary role), but Sears has a bigger body and should be useful both when games get more physical, and in the air on set pieces.
