The two best teams in women’s soccer will share the same pitch Saturday at Audi Field, and the stakes stretch well beyond the result. The United States hosts Spain with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. ET. TBS, HBO Max, Universo and Peacock will carry the match in the United States, with Westwood One handling the English radio call.
Spain arrives as FIFA’s top-ranked team and the reigning World Cup champion. The Americans are second in the world and the reigning Olympic champions. Head coach Emma Hayes framed the night in simple terms. “I think it’s about the team game, rather than the individual game,” she told reporters. “In order to defend well against them, you have to do it well as a collective. In order to attack well against them, you have to do it well as a collective.”
Hayes called the training week “really, really good” and described the Spain series as essential preparation for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. The U.S. still must qualify next month. Spain has already qualified. These are also the first matches of a FIFA international break in four months, following a June trip in which the Americans split two road games against World Cup host Brazil.
Both squads are short-handed. Defender Naomi Girma and midfielder Sam Coffey withdrew from camp before arriving because of injuries sustained with their clubs, Chelsea and Manchester City. Girma has been dealing with a recurring calf problem that Hayes said was happening “too often” and would require further consultation with Chelsea.
Spain is without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, whose return from a broken leg has been slowed by recent pain. Forward Clàudia Pina and defender Mapi León also withdrew Friday after training at Audi Field, and Lucía García will fly to Washington to join the squad as a replacement. Hayes still praised Spain’s midfield, calling Patri Guijarro “an exceptional football player,” and pointed to a “clear identity” built by a development and coaching system she rated better than anyone else in the world.
Handling Spain’s pressure is the assignment. “They’re really good at pressing,” forward Trinity Rodman said earlier in the week. “I think what’s going to be a challenge is getting out and getting it to our forward line, which we’ve been working on.”
Claudia Dickey starts in goal. The lineup in front of her includes captain Lindsey Heaps, Rose Lavelle, Sophia Wilson, Rodman, Alyssa Thompson, Lily Yohannes, Avery Patterson, Emily Fox, Tierna Davidson and Kennedy Wesley.
Heaps, 32, earns her 179th cap, her 139th start and her 46th match as captain. Her 40 career goals rank 16th in U.S. history. Lavelle, 30, gets cap No. 123 and start No. 103, tying Julie Ertz for 34th on the all-time appearance list. Fox, 27, the Ashburn, Virginia native, earns her 79th cap and 67th start.
Davidson, 27, returns for her 71st cap and 55th start after a year-long injury absence. Wilson, 25, earns her 64th cap and 45th start in her third camp since giving birth to her daughter, making her the 18th mother to play for the USWNT. She scored on June 6 against Brazil to become the ninth woman to score as a mother, 590 days after her previous goal on Oct. 24, 2024, against Iceland.
Rodman, 24, takes the field at her club’s home stadium for the first time in more than two years, and only the second time overall, after missing last year’s match at Audi Field with an injury. Her last appearance in Washington for the U.S. came on July 16, 2024, against Costa Rica, the final match before the team departed for the 2024 Olympics.
Alyssa Thompson, 21, earns her 33rd cap and 21st start. If her sister Gisele enters while she is still on the field, it would be their ninth match together, three short of the 12 the Mewis sisters played. Yohannes, 18, the youngest player on the roster, earns her 21st cap and 14th start. Dickey, 26, makes her 12th start and carries eight shutouts and 11 wins across 11 caps. Wesley, 25, earns her eighth cap and sixth start.
Hayes has other options to weigh. Ashley Sanchez, recalled for the first time in two years after a standout season with the N.C. Courage, has been playing as a strict left winger under coach Mak Lind, cutting inside onto her right foot and outperforming an expected-goals mark of 13.98. Rodman, meanwhile, sits on 11 goals and eight assists with three games left in the Washington Spirit’s regular season, chasing a 10-goal, 10-assist season that no player has produced in the NWSL. Cloe Lacasse and Pietra Tordin are tracking the same mark for the Utah Royals and Portland Thorns.
Alyssa Thompson has shifted slightly deeper at Chelsea, operating as a wing back, and how that changes her role is one of the questions of this camp. Mallory Swanson gives Hayes flexibility further up the field. “She can play as the 10, she can play as the seven, the nine, the 11,” Hayes said. Midfield is thinner without Croix Bethune and Olivia Moultrie. The second match is Tuesday in Chester, Pennsylvania.
