The U.S. women’s national team has released the 26-player roster for its April friendlies against Ireland, and several big names remain in limbo.

Catarina Macario, Christen Press, Tobin Heath and other players have starred for the USWNT on the international stage. What is keeping them off the roster as the team prepares for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand?

Just Women’s Sports breaks down the key players who are missing from the USWNT.

Abby Dahlkemper

The 29-year-old defender missed the 2022 NWSL playoffs for the San Diego Wave due to a back injury, for which she underwent surgery in November.

She provided an update on her recovery in late January, saying she hoped to start cardio and lifting again in the “near future.” The implied recovery timeline would make her an unlikely selection for the World Cup.

Tobin Heath

The 34-year-old forward underwent knee surgery in September, which ended her season with OL Reign. She did not sign with an NWSL club in the offseason, but while she remains a free agent and is still rehabbing her injury, USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said in February that Health “absolutely” remains in the running for World Cup roster consideration.

Upon the release of the April roster, the coach reiterated that Heath is in “return-to-play protocol,” but he also cautioned that any player would “have to play professional games to give us a chance to evaluate them.”

Catarina Macario

While Andonovski had hoped to see the 23-year-old return to the lineup for the April friendlies, she is still working her way back from an ACL tear suffered last June, in Lyon’s final match of the 2021-22 Division 1 Féminine season.

“She’s supposed to be on the field sometime beginning of next month,” Andonovski said. He also noted that Macario is ahead of Heath and Press in her recovery.

Sam Mewis

The 30-year-old midfielder underwent knee surgery in January. She has been dealing with a nagging injury since August 2021, when she played with the USWNT in the Tokyo Olympics.

“I don’t have a timeline for return to soccer,” she said in January.

Christen Press

After tearing the ACL in her right knee during the 2022 NWSL season, the 34-year-old forward had three surgeries on the same knee in eight months. Press revealed her “unique journey” to recovery in an Instagram post in March.

Andonovski had described her as “in return-to-play protocol” ahead of February’s SheBelieves Cup and again ahead of the April camp, but continued rehab puts the timeline for her return in question.

Megan Rapinoe

The 37-year-old forward missed her NWSL club’s season opener with a calf injury, and she is out for the April friendlies as well. She also missed the January friendlies in New Zealand with an ankle injury before returning for February’s SheBelieves Cup.

The No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and No. 3 Las Vegas Aces have spots in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs on lock, but the league's top-tier teams still have plenty to play for as MVP frontrunners Napheesa Collier and A'ja Wilson gear up for their final regular-season clash.

Collier's 23.5 points per game this season is nearly identical to Wilson's 23.4 average, plus the Lynx standout ranks third in steals per game and fourth in block rate on the year.

Wilson, however, has the edge as the WNBA's blocks leader and the league's second-best rebounder on the season.

This is far from the first time the two titans have squared off in a WNBA awards race, with 2024 voters splitting honors by naming Collier the Defensive Player of the Year while Wilson earned a third MVP title.

History will be made should either emerge as the 2025 MVP, as Collier is still hunting her first title as the league's top player while a Wilson win would mint the Las Vegas star as the WNBA's first-ever four-time honoree.

MVP race aside, Collier's Lynx and Wilson's Aces have a lot on the line in their Thursday matchup, with Minnesota aiming to snap Las Vegas's 12-game winning streak — a stretch dating back to the Aces's 53-point blowout loss to the Lynx on August 2nd.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas will be looking to dish out some revenge and claim their first win of the season over Minnesota, all while continuing to fight their way up the WNBA table in order to snag the postseason's coveted No. 2 seed.

How to watch Minnesota Lynx vs. Las Vegas Aces in Thursday's WNBA lineup

Coming off an eight-day rest, No. 3 Las Vegas will host No. 1 Minnesota on Thursday.

The top-tier matchup will tip off live at 10 PM ET on Prime.

The Chicago Stars are moving out of Bridgeview, the NWSL club announced on Wednesday, signing a one-year deal to play at Northwestern University's Martin Stadium on the shore of Lake Michigan for the 2026 season.

Currently home to the Big Ten school's lacrosse and football teams, the open-air, turf-field stadium in Evanston accommodates 12,000 fans — a steep drop from the 20,000-seat capacity SeatGeek Stadium where the Stars have competed for the last 10 years, often struggling to fill the stands.

"What began as a temporary lakefront home for Northwestern football has quickly become a unique venue that has welcomed collegiate, professional, and international competition," said Northwestern director of athletics Mark Jackson in a club statement.

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The Stars have never had a full-time home inside Chicago's city limits, making their 2011 debut at Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, before moving to Bridgeview ahead of the 2016 season.

Stars fans will have a sneak peek of what it's like to attend an NWSL game at the team's 2026 digs this Sunday, when a surging Chicago side will host the reigning champion Orlando Pride in a pre-announced match at Martin Stadium.

"This is just one step in a series of changes, including the recent hiring of renowned head coach Martin Sjögren,... [to] set the club on a new trajectory," noted Chicago Stars president Karen Leetzow.

Retired USWNT superstar Alex Morgan hit up Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast this week, talking motherhood, soccer stardom, and the fight for equal pay.

"Fast forward to 2019, and we were owning our s—t," she said, referencing the USWNT's long fight to achieve financial equity. "We're going to win, we filed an equal pay lawsuit against US Soccer, we know that winning [the World Cup] is going to help our case, and we are the best."

"We likely won't reap the benefits of what we're fighting for, but our kids will," Morgan recalled thinking. "I hope my daughter knows nothing other than equal."

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Morgan also opened up about life as a high-profile soccer celebrity, discussing how she juggled becoming a new mother while also navigating her playing career for both club and country.

"It was very difficult because there was no rules — there was no standard for moms in the NWSL, or even on the national team," she said. "I was trying to be a great mom, and I was trying to be a great soccer player, but I was also now having to write new rules and advocate for all moms in the future in soccer."

How to watch Alex Morgan on Call Her Daddy

Wednesday's Call Her Daddy episode featuring Morgan is currently available to download on all podcast platforms and can be watched on YouTube.

USWNT rising star Alyssa Thompson is officially on her way to London, with the NWSL's Angel City and WSL side Chelsea FC finalizing the 20-year-old's reported £1 million transfer ahead of the UK league's 2025/26 season kick-off on Friday.

The two clubs reached a verbal agreement with Thompson readying to ink a five-year contract on Thursday, just hours before the WSL's 6 PM ET transfer window closure — with six-time reigning league-winners Chelsea set to open their next WSL campaign against Manchester City in a mere 24 hours.

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Chelsea has been aggressive in the transfer market this year, as the WSL titan fields mounting pressure from clubs eager to upend the top of the table.

Second-place 2024/25 finishers Arsenal enter the season as UWCL champions, coming off Canadian star Olivia Smith's splashy £1 million transfer while also signing Smith's former Liverpool teammate Taylor Hinds.

Man City will also be looking to better their fourth-place 2024/25 run, hoping for a healthy Bunny Shaw to combine with Dutch phenom Vivianne Miedema while adding ex-Arsenal defender Laura Wienroither and decorated German midfielder Sydney Lohmann to their ranks.

This weekend's WSL action will also feature the newly promoted London City Lionesses, kicking off their top-flight entry against Arsenal on Saturday.

Backed by US-based multi-team owner Michele Kang, London City has also been busy this offseason, bringing on a laundry list of talent including midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk (OL Lyonnes) and forward Nikita Parris (Brighton) plus their own Angel City finds in midfielder Katie Zelem and defender Alanna Kennedy.

How to watch the Barclays WSL season kick-off this weekend

The 2025/26 WSL action kicks off with Chelsea hosting Manchester City at 2:30 PM ET on Friday, before league debutants London City visit Arsenal at 8:30 AM ET on Saturday.

Currently, WSL matches will likely stream live on YouTube, though an official US media partner has not yet been announced.