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Even as the U.S. women’s national team appropriately basked in the glow of their gold medal-winning performance at the summer Olympics, the just completed October camp amounted to a turning of the page. The camp went as expected: three games, three wins and a whole bunch of very good goals.
If it wasn’t clear by their exploits this summer, it is now: the USWNT is incredibly talented. Even without injured superstar Trinity Rodman in attack, this group has a seemingly endless amount of players that can turn games on their head. For Ballon d’Or women’s coach of the year Emma Hayes – still unbeaten in her first 13 games with the USWNT – the hardest part isn’t finding game-changers to put on the field, it’s figuring out which ones to even bring off the bench.
She’ll have a lot to sort out over the next three years, but time does go quickly, and it doesn’t take long to either play yourself into the mix, or play yourself right out. A new cycle is beginning, and there will be turnover. There will probably be players in big roles by the 2027 World Cup that we haven’t even seen yet.
We got a glimpse at several newcomers this camp, as seven players got their first USWNT caps. We also got a closer look at familiar faces and established stars in a group filled with varying levels of international experience. Who stood out? Whose stock rose, and whose fell? GOAL takes a look.
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ImagnSTOCK UP: Alyssa Thompson
Emma Hayes isn’t one to mince words, and she didn’t when it came to Thompson. The teenager was a member of the 2023 World Cup team. She was then left off the Olympics squad in 2024. Hayes says that, in her eyes, it felt like it was too much too soon for the winger.
“Her international career started at a very early stage,” Hayes said. “That’s why I believe it does take time. Maybe she wasn’t ready before.”
She sure looked ready this time around, scoring a stunning goal that left even Hayes impressed. In the opener against Iceland, Thompson reintroduced herself to the national team with that first USWNT goal, showing off the growth and, more importantly, confidence she’s developed during her time out of the national team’s bright spotlight.
Thompson has improved by leaps and bounds during her time with Angel City, and the USWNT will reap those rewards in the years to come.
“The biggest adjustment that I had to make was learning who I was as a soccer player again,” Thompson said. “Last season, there was so much going on, and there [were] a lot of good things, but I didn’t really have the time to think, process and continue to improve. This season, I’ve been really honing in on things that I need to work on that will make my game even better and get me into positions where I want to be, like making this roster.”
She’s still far from a finished product and, given the quality in the USWNT attacker pool, she faces a fight to beat out Triple Espresso – superstars Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson – for legitimate minutes up top. Still, she showed that she’s in the conversation and, at 19, that’s a great place to be.
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Getty ImagesSTOCK DOWN: Casey Murphy
It’s tough being a goalkeeper, simply because it’s a position in which even the slightest mistakes are magnified. Murphy made one of those errors in the second of two 3-1 victories over Iceland, one that, 99 times out of 100, wouldn’t even matter given the scenario.
This was the one, though, as Iceland’s Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir curled home an Olimpico that exposed Murphy’s positioning and, ultimately, cost the USWNT a goal.
Murphy was fine other than that and, based on available evidence, is a talented goalkeeper. All goalkeepers have these moments. One can look back to Alyssa Naeher earlier this year in the lead up to the Olympics as an example. We all know what happened next: Naeher went supersonic in France, playing near-perfect soccer to lead the USWNT to gold.
This program is, realistically, crying out for Naeher’s successor. The USWNT legend is 36 years old and, while she has plenty of gas in the tank, that fuel isn’t infinite. Murphy could well be that successor, but first she has to catch Naeher. That won’t be easy, particularly with little mistakes like the one she made this camp.
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Getty ImagesHOLD: Lynn Williams
Williams is in a tough spot right now. The 31-year-old is surrounded by 20-somethings and teenagers that have the potential to be among the best in the world. A new generation is rising, although several of them have already arrived.
For Williams, or any other forward, to stay in this mix, they’ll need to score goals. Williams did that this camp.
In the second game against Iceland, Williams scored one and assisted another, providing the attacking spark the USWNT needed. Her goal was a fantastic finish, while her assist did all of the hard work to set up a Lindsey Horan tap-in. It was a game that showed exactly what Williams can offer, even in attack as loaded as this one.
Unfortunately for Williams, goals are the expectations in this group. That’s the baseline for any player looking to contribute. The standards are so high and living up to them is challenging, but that’s the nature of this. For Williams to keep pushing the likes of Triple Espresso, she needs to keep providing goals, just like she did this camp.
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IMAGNSTOCK UP: Emily Sams and Eva Gaetino
We’ll group these two centerbacks together, as they both stepped up for their USWNT debut this camp.
Sams was great against Iceland, showing so much composure next to veteran Emily Sonnett to clean up whatever dangerous moments came their way. Gaetino looked just as comfortable next to Naomi Girma against Argentina and, although she was overshadowed by the unlikely brace-scorer, she was nearly as important in keeping the clean sheet.
Both made good enough impressions to justify their inclusions, and both seem like they’ve entered the pool of centerbacks. One spot is locked down by Girma for the next decade or so. The other is likely Sonnett’s, for now, but that race is a bit more open. Veterans such as Tierna Davidson, Abby Dahlkemper and Alana Cook are surely in the mix, too.
Gaetino and Sams are pushing. The former has a chance to get better every week with a powerhouse in PSG, while the latter could very well win a title this season with the Orlando Pride. It’s the point in a cycle in which new blood is injected into a team, and these two feel like a part of that process.
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Getty Images SportSTOCK DOWN: Korbin Albert
Albert is a jack of all trades, but a master of none. And when you’re competing in a group as fierce as the USWNT, you have to be great at something.
Albert wasn’t necessarily unimpressive during her appearances in this camp, but she didn’t really impress, either. There was nothing to suggest that she should leapfrog Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle or Sam Coffey for a starting spot. She’s just 21, so she might get there but, right now, she just isn’t good enough at any specific facet of the game to challenge that trio – all of which offer very specific skills at the international level.
Meanwhile, Hal Hershfelt stepped in and impressed in her first two caps. Olivia Moultrie didn’t quite stand out but, at 19, the sky still seems limit. The midfield picture is tight, and that’s before you even consider the injured Catarina Macario, a Hayes favorite, and the yet-to-commit Lily Yohannes. Albert is in the mix, but she hasn’t seized anything this camp.
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IMAGNSTOCK UP: Emma Sears
You can put it right up there among the best USWNT debuts in recent memory. Sears’ first cap was an incredible one, as she provided both a goal and an assist in the second 3-1 win over Iceland. In the process, she became the first player since Christen Press to score and assist in her USWNT debut. Considering how good Press’ career turned out, it’s safe to say that Sears finds herself in pretty damn good company, right?
The 23-year-old attacker has had an absurd rise, going from a second-round NWSL Draft pick all the way to USWNT goalscorer in under 11 months. There’s still a long way to go before she’s an regular USWNT contributor, though.
Even so, considering where she was at this time last year, that has been a wild ride for Sears, who, at the very least, earned another look with her goal contributions this camp.
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ImagnHOLD: The locked-in starters
For players such as Lavelle, Horan, Swanson, Smith and Girma, this was a camp both to celebrate their collective accomplishments, and help usher in some newcomers with a veteran presence. Those five, in particular, are locked-in starters, and nothing we saw this camp indicated that should change.
Girma, in particular, was incredible in the win over Argentina, putting in a legendary two-goal performance. It came on the heels of a Ballon d’Or snub – she wasn’t even listed among the 30 nominees as the best in the world, which looks even more foolish after that game.
Horan and Lavelle did their thing in midfield, with both creating and/or scoring goals during this window. Smith scored a banger herself, smashing home from outside of the box to put an exclamation point on the first win over Iceland. Swanson was the only one of the four to not really create a goal but, even so, just look back at the Olympics to know how dangerous she is.
As the cycle turns over, it’s clear that there are several players that remain key for this team. None of their spots are under threat, and they serve as the base for the run-up to the next World Cup. With this camp complete, the USWNT will close out the year with a pair of matches in Europe. They play England at Wembley on Nov. 30 before facing the Netherlands in The Hague on Dec. 3.
“We’re obviously excited to head to Europe and play two great opponents,” Girma said. “I think now it’s about turning the page on this celebration and really looking forward to 2027, and trying to make sure we start developing things now.”
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