USWNT announces three-game slate for SheBelieves Cup in February
The United States women's national team will play Brazil, Canada and Japan in the annual SheBelieves Cup this February, U.S. Soccer announced Friday.
The four-team tournament will take place across three different cities from Feb. 16-22 as the USWNT continues its preparation for next summer's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The top-ranked Americans, who are favorites to win their third consecutive World Cup, will face Canada on Feb. 16 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. (7 p.m. ET); Japan on Feb. 19 at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee (3:30 p.m. ET); and end with Brazil on Feb. 22 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas (7 p.m. ET). Broadcast information is not yet available.
U.S. Soccer previously announced two friendlies in New Zealand against the World Cup co-hosts in January. Those matches will take place Jan. 17 at Sky Stadium in Wellington and Jan. 20 at Eden Park in Auckland — two stadiums the USWNT will play during the group stage of the tournament.
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"The first five games of the 2023 schedule will be against teams playing in the World Cup, and we expect to confirm a few more matches against top opponents before we go to New Zealand next summer," USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said. "We love the SheBelieves Cup for the world-class competition it brings, the format that helps replicate group play at a World Cup and the overall meaning that it has for our team and women's teams.
"Obviously, you get more rest days in a World Cup, but managing a roster with three games over seven days against teams with three very different styles of play is really good preparation for us as we continue to grow as a team toward next summer."
The USWNT, which qualified for both the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics earlier this year, needs as much preparation as possible if it wants to defend its title.
FIFA recently came out with its latest world rankings and while the U.S. is still No. 1, it's by some pretty slim margins. The USWNT struggled to finish out its year, losing three of its last four matches to England, Spain and Germany. The Americans did redeem themselves a bit by beating the Germans in their second match of a two-game series, 2-1.
Sweden, which had previously been ranked second in the world, is now No. 3 behind Germany, while England, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Brazil and South Korea round out the top 10.
The 2023 World Cup will be held across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand and begins July 20, with the final set for Aug. 20. The U.S. was drawn into Group E with Vietnam, the Netherlands and the winner of a Cameroon-Thailand-Portugal playoff that will be determined in February.
The USWNT will play all three group games in New Zealand, with the squad opening the tournament against tournament newbie Vietnam at Eden Park in Auckland on July 22. It will face the Netherlands on July 27 and then the playoff-winner on Aug. 1.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously covered college football, college basketball, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team and the Olympics at Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. Her first book, written in partnership with Rizzoli and Sports Illustrated and titled "Strong Like a Woman," was published in spring 2022 marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
