When Do the Uswnt Play Again
- The US women'southward national soccer team hosts international opponents for the SheBelieves Cup each twelvemonth.
- The world's superlative-ranked squad will face noticably weaker opposition in the 2022 tournament.
- The Czech Republic, Republic of iceland, and New Zealand — all ranked exterior of the top-15 — will compete.
For as long as women's soccer teams have competed at the international level, the US Women's National Team has been the crème de la crème.
But the power dynamics of the sport may be shifting.
The USWNT will face up a noticeably weaker schedule of opponents in this year's edition of its annual SheBelieves Cup, a tournament in which the Stars and Stripes invite iii international teams stateside for a slate of friendly matches. The earth's No. one squad is set to face up three different teams ranked exterior of FIFA'due south top-fifteen to starting time the yr — the everyman collective opposition ranking of any SheBelieves Cup to engagement.
No. 24 Czech Republic, No. 22 New Zealand, and No. 16 Iceland will all head west to face the USWNT in mid-Feb. And while all 3 squads are up-and-comers in the women's soccer sphere, none is expected to truly challenge the Americans to the same caste every bit past SheBelieves Cup participants.
Multiple factors likely played into the national squad'due south inability to schedule tougher opponents for the tournament. The ongoing COVID-nineteen pandemic, which has created serious health concerns for teams and restricted overseas travel, almost certainly contributed to several squads' choices to stay in Europe rather than crossing the pond.
But the pandemic doesn't tell the whole story. The quality of the USWNT's SheBelieves Cup opposition has steadily decreased since 2018 — more than two years before the virus proliferated in the United States.
For the first two years of the tournament, all participating teams landed inside the peak five of FIFA'south Women's World Ranking. In yr three, a sixth-ranked team joined the fold, and an eighth- and 10th-ranked team found their means in the year later on that.
All the same, all of the squads at the tournament were competitive in matches against the mighty Usa, producing two draws and one narrow loss to the USWNT in 2019. But the tide seemed to plow in the 2020 tournament — which was held just before the United states of america began to feel the beginning effects of the pandemic — when the USWNT went undefeated and allowed just one goal through games confronting No. half dozen England, No. 10 Japan, and No. xiii Kingdom of spain.
The 2021 SheBelieves Cup continued that trend, as two eighth-ranked teams were joined by the world No. 31 in facing the US simply months before the Tokyo Olympics. One time over again, the Americans won all three games, and this time, they held each opponent scoreless while pouring in nine goals of their ain.
The 2022 tournament figures to cease with similarly lopsided results and the US on top. And while practiced old-fashioned thrashings may exist fun for the fans watching in Carson, California, and Frisco, Texas, they won't show very useful as the US prepares for a Globe Cup simply i year abroad.
"It'due south going to be disquisitional for united states to use every single moment together on the field to bask a tournament atmosphere where y'all are trying to finish get-go," USWNT full general managing director Kate Markgraf told The Equalizer's Jeff Kassouf. "Information technology's the only mode to endeavour to replicate what y'all're going to meet in a tournament. So, for us, whatever opportunity to play in a tournament or host a tournament is an opportunity for us to grow equally a team."
Just information technology may non be an opportunity for the USWNT to grow enough, especially relative to those who pose the greatest threat to the Americans' Earth Loving cup title defense. While the USWNT is busy pummeling outmatched opponents, many of its meridian-ranked counterparts will be challenging themselves against formidable foes in European round-robin tournaments.
England's countdown Arnold Clark Cup volition feature the No. viii Lionnesses hosting No. 9 Espana, No. iii Germany, and No. six Canada — which is fresh off a surprise gold-medal stop in Tokyo. And around the aforementioned time, No. 4 France will welcome No. 7 Brazil, No. 5 Netherlands, and No. 28 Republic of finland to its Tournoi de France.
The US will have enough more opportunities to schedule friendlies against stronger teams ahead of the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. But the longer the USWNT waits to do so, the more time the balance of the globe's best teams take to bridge the gap.
Source: https://www.insider.com/uswnt-schedule-2022-features-noticeably-weaker-opponents-than-usual-2022-1
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