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Jeff KassoufApr 14, 2026, 03:45 AM ET<\/span><\/p>\n
Close<\/a><\/p>\n- Jeff Kassouf covers women’s soccer for ESPN, focusing on the USWNT and NWSL. In 2009, he founded The Equalizer, a women’s soccer news outlet, and he previously won a Sports Emmy at NBC Sports and Olympics.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Multiple Authors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The U.S. women’s national team<\/a> is about to embark on a rare journey of playing the same team three times in a week — and it’s Japan<\/a>, the fifth-ranked team in the world.<\/p>\n
The 2027 Women’s World Cup is just over a year away, and USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has begun to narrow down her roster<\/a>, refining both the team’s tactical ideas and the personnel she thinks can best execute them. Still, she has plenty of questions that still need answering — and less time than it may seem to do it.<\/p>\n
Forward Sophia Wilson<\/a> is due to play for the United States for the first time in 17 months after her maternity leave, and defender Tierna Davidson<\/a> is back with the team for the first time in over a year after tearing an ACL. Those two returns alone are major headlines, and they each further complicate important positional decisions.<\/p>\n
The USWNT will have just six international windows before the World Cup once these friendlies against Japan are over, meaning Hayes can’t let any USWNT matches go to waste. Here are the burning questions for Hayes in this crucial international window.<\/p>\n
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Wilson’s highly anticipated return comes with Catarina Macario<\/a> sidelined by a lingering heel injury, meaning the two players yet again won’t be in camp together. That is an important note because they are the two obvious starters for the No. 9 role — and they play it in entirely different ways.<\/p>\n
Macario had held down the No. 9 role in Wilson’s absence and hit her groove in late 2024, ending the year with a strong showing in a pair of wins over Italy<\/a>. Macario plays the position as a false 9 who wants to drop deep and combine. Wilson can both stretch the line and drift wide to beat defenders one-on-one. She is a constant threat behind.<\/p>\n
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\nSophia Wilson, Tierna Davidson are back with the USWNT<\/p>\n
Jeff Kassouf reports on Sophia Wilson and Tierna Davidson being back with the United States Women’s National Team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Come the World Cup, Hayes has to decide how<\/i> she wants to play against a given team to choose who will occupy that role. And in this camp against Japan, she’s going to see who can carry that load beyond Wilson (who will be on restricted minutes) and Macario.<\/p>\n
Ally Sentnor<\/a> stepped up in that role in the SheBelieves Cup<\/a>, and the versatile Jaedyn Shaw<\/a> could get another look up top. Jameese Joseph<\/a> is likely to get time there as well in what will be her biggest test yet as a pro. Is the 23-year-old Joseph ready for the moment?<\/p>\n
Who should be the USWNT’s starting pair at center back?<\/h2>\n
Davidson will be on restricted minutes in this camp as she works her way back to full fitness, but her return should, at some point, reunite her with Naomi Girma<\/a> for the preferred center-back partnership of the 2024 Olympic gold medal run.<\/p>\n
As we said in last month’s World Cup lineup predictions<\/a>, a healthy Davidson would likely be the preferred partner to Girma at the 2027 World Cup. These upcoming matches against Japan are the first opportunities to test that theory again, even if only briefly. Davidson’s left-footed, cerebral play offers something unique among the pool of defenders.<\/p>\n
Emily Sonnett<\/a> remains a steady option and potential starter, but Emily Sams<\/a> and Kennedy Wesley<\/a> are each off to hot starts this NWSL<\/a> season.<\/p>\n
Wesley is the most intriguing up-and-coming option outside of the injured Jordyn Bugg<\/a>. There are Girma-like qualities to Wesley that extend beyond the San Diego Wave jersey to her ball-reading and play-setting abilities. Wesley’s experience is still limited at the international level with just four caps, but she is bound to get an extended audition in one of these games and hopefully move her name up the depth chart.<\/p>\n
Which USWNT player combinations will be solidified?<\/h2>\n
Hayes alluded to the idea that she will roll out one lineup in two of the games against Japan, and a second, distinct lineup in the other. She will likely alternate them too, similar to how she handled the SheBelieves Cup.<\/p>\n
These are not necessarily A- and B-teams, but we can infer that the stronger, more experienced group is most likely to feature more favored starters. Roughly speaking, that was the XI that played Canada<\/a> in March at the SheBelieves Cup<\/a>, although the additions of Wilson and Davidson could change that.<\/p>\n
What’s important, Hayes has said, is the combinations within those lineups. That could be as simple as a midfield trio, but it is also about developing patterns of play between, say, a fullback, central midfielder and winger who have been asked to combine more down a given flank.<\/p>\n
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