Alex Morgan would not comment on her future with the U.S. women’s national team in the aftermath of Sunday’s loss to Sweden, which marked the USWNT’s earliest World Cup exit ever.

Morgan and the USWNT had not lost even a single match at a World Cup in more than a decade, since the 22-year-old “Baby Horse” played in her first major tournament with the team. The 2011 World Cup ended with a USWNT loss to Japan in the championship match.

In contrast, the USWNT’s 2023 run ended in the Round of 16, with Sweden advancing 5-4 on penalties after the teams played to a scoreless draw through regulation and extra time. Morgan and the USWNT finished with a 58% possession advantage and a 22-9 shots advantage but failed to convert their chances.

When asked about her future with the national team on the Fox broadcast after the match, Morgan did not have an answer.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I was so focused on the World Cup that, I don’t know. I just need to get back to San Diego, get back to work, go from there.”

The 34-year-old San Diego Wave striker had three shots in the match, all of them on target, but Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic stopped every one. Morgan’s best chance came off a cross from Lynn Williams. Morgan tracked down the ball coming into the box from the right side and sent a header toward the goal, but Musovic managed one of several stellar saves to keep the USWNT off the scoreboard.

Nine minutes into extra time, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonoski sent Megan Rapinoe to replace Morgan. So the veteran striker did not get a chance in the shootout to redeem her missed penalty kick against Vietnam.

“Just devastated,” she said of her emotions after the match. “Feels like a bad dream. And, I don’t know, the team put everything out there tonight. I feel like we dominated. But it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, we’re going home. It’s the highs and lows of the sport of soccer. It just doesn’t feel great.”

After the final round of the penalty shootout, which ended with Sweden scoring by millimeters, the USWNT huddled together for one final time at the 2023 World Cup.

“To be honest, it was really loud. I couldn’t hear anything but my own thoughts,” Morgan said. “I think that everyone just wanted to lean in on each other in the moment. It’s a really tough moment. This team was a really special team. I just feel like everyone got along really well. So it’s a tough one to swallow.”

The 2023 World Cup is just getting started, but it’s never too early to look at the possible path to the title for the U.S. women’s national team.

What opponents could the USWNT face on its route to a third consecutive World Cup championship? Just Women’s Sports used the FIFA world rankings to pick projected winners for each group and then for each match in the knockout stage, all the way through to the World Cup final on Aug. 20.

Check out the projected bracket and the USWNT’s projected opponents.

Round of 16: Italy

As the No. 1 team in the FIFA rankings, the USWNT would be expected to advance as the top team out of Group E. After starting the tournament with a 3-0 win against Vietnam, the U.S. still has to face the Netherlands and Portugal to close out the group stage.

The winner from Group E will face the runner-up from Group G in the first round of the knockout stage. Based on FIFA rankings, No. 16 Italy would be expected to finish second to No. 3 Sweden in Group G. Striker Cristiana Girelli could be dangerous for Italy, but the multifaceted USWNT would be a tough draw.

Quarterfinals: Japan

Japan sits at No. 11 in the FIFA world rankings, which puts them as the projected runner-up out of Group C behind Spain. But after a 5-0 win in their World Cup opener, the 2011 World Cup champions are ahead of every team in chaotic Group A, which could open a path to the quarterfinals.

Japan and the USWNT have recent World cup history, facing off in back-to-back championship matches in 2011 and 2015. But this year’s younger Japan squad is relatively unknown to the USWNT — and the same could be said in reverse, as the USWNT features 14 World Cup debutantes itself. Japan does have urgency on its side, as the players want to provide a clear path forward for women’s soccer in their country.

Semifinals: Sweden

Sweden gave the USWNT its toughest match in the group stage at the 2019 World Cup, then reached the tournament semifinals before falling to runner-up Netherlands. The squad also has had good Olympic luck against the USWNT, winning 3-0 in the group stage in 2021 and winning 4-3 on penalties in the semifinals in 2016.

Barcelona star Fridolina Rolfö headlines a group of world-class players for Sweden, which also features Sofia Jakobsson, Anna Sandberg, Stina Blackstenius and Kosovare Asllani. Sweden has all the tools to beat the USWNT — it’s just a question of whether the team can put all the pieces together.

Final: England or Germany

England and Germany met in the 2022 Euros final. The teams could be headed for a rematch at the 2023 World Cup, and the projected quarterfinal clash between the heavyweights would hold the import of a tournament final. Certainly, the winner of a match between world No. 4 England and No. 2 Germany would emerge as the favorite to reach the championship from that half of the bracket.

Both teams bested the USWNT in friendlies last fall. England scored a 2-1 against the USWNT at London’s Wembley Stadium in October, and then Germany and the USWNT split a pair of friendlies stateside in November. Germany had the more impressive start to the World Cup, but the Sarina Wiegman-led Lionesses are just as formidable.

The 2023 World Cup has arrived, and with it comes a fresh set of kits for the competing national teams.

Designers had some fun with the away kits in particular. And while the home kits featured comparatively less variation, there are still some standout styles on display among the 32-team field. Just Women’s Sports is ranking the top 10 kit pairings you’ll see at this year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand.

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(Courtesy of Nike)

10. Brazil

Brazil kept many similarities to its men’s team in its kits but added a flair to the sleeves on the away kit with a pattern inspired by the Amazon rainforest. The individuality is nice, but still keeps Brazil in line with the long history of soccer in their home country. The only thing? Nike needs to release Marta jerseys worldwide.

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(Courtesy of Nike)

9. England

England’s away jersey is one of the few Nike kits to make a splash in this year’s release from the brand. Shades of blue and a geometric pattern set the kit apart as the Lionesses look to capitalize on their first Euros win and make a deep run in this year’s World Cup.

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(Courtesy of Nike)

8. USWNT

The USWNT’s home paint splatter kit gets props for its unique look and for the inspiration it draws from the abstract expression art movement from 1940s New York. With the start of the World Cup, it could become a favorite among the USWNT kit ranks.

The away kit, though, leaves a lot to be desired, with the distinctive pairing of the bright red and blue. As a result, the full kit release did not live up to its full potential for the reigning World Cup champions; it would have been fun to see a nod to the past as this year’s team looks to make history.

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(Courtesy of Nike)

7. Portugal

Portugal went with a classic home design but mixed it up with its away jersey. Vibrant colors coupled with a pattern inspired by traditional designs and craftsmanship make this jersey unique. The idea was to “celebrate soccer as an art form,” and that comes through loud and clear. The interweaving of the colors of the national flag is an added touch that makes this look stand out.

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(Courtesy of Adidas)

6. Argentina

Argentina’s home kit offers a familiar design, one everyone has grown to know and love thanks to Lionel Messi. Props to the squad for holding onto that. On the other hand, the away kits are a fun nod to local landscapes across the country, continuing a theme of this year’s Adidas away kits.

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(Courtesy of Adidas)

5. Spain

Paired with Spain’s traditional red home jerseys, the away kits are a sight to behold. Inspired by coral reefs, the jersey combines gorgeous shades of blue accented by varying shades of purple. Props to Spain, too, for having a recognizable home jersey with a timeless design.

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(Courtesy of Adidas)

4. Colombia

Colombia’s away kit is a nod to the Caño Cristales, known as the “river of five colors.” It features hues of purple, yellow and blue, and brings a unique flair to the World Cup jersey lineup. Without a new home jersey, it’s the standout design for Colombia, and it holds its own.

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(Courtesy of Nike)

3. Nigeria

Nigeria’s kits are bright and fun, with their away jersey featuring a distinctive textile pattern reminiscent of the country’s local prints and patterns, a perfect nod to those watching at home. Not to mention, the bright green of the home kit stands out from the other national teams, and the detail on the sleeve ties both kits together to create a cohesive look.

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(Courtesy of Adidas)

2. Japan

Japan’s away kit is fun. It’s light. It’s everything that a World Cup kit should be. And with the color taking cues from the sunrises at Mount Fuji, the meaning behind this jersey – with the team emerging into another World Cup much like the sun emerges from behind the volcano – is just as cool.

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(Courtesy of Germany)

1. Germany

As mentioned above, Adidas went with a nature theme for its away jerseys this year. The theme proved strong all around, but Germany takes the top spot with its deep greens inspired by the forests of the country. Gold accents and trim pop against the darker colors, and the collar is a 10/10. It’s hard to find fault with this kit.

Lindsey Horan feels the weight of the captain’s armband as she prepares for her second World Cup with the U.S. women’s national team.

The 29-year-old midfielder had served as co-captain to veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn over the last few years, taking up the armband when Sauerbrunn was not on the field. But Sauerbrunn is missing the World Cup with a foot injury, and Horan will serve in her stead.

While Horan and Alex Morgan are co-captains for the tournament, Horan will wear the armband when both are on the pitch at the same time. And she will aim to live up to the example set by Sauerbrunn, whom she called her “role model and inspiration.”

When Horan took the captain’s armband in place of Sauerbrunn before this World Cup, Sauerbrunn would put the armband on Horan’s sleeve. The physical manifestation of the passing of the torch stands out in Horan’s memory as she steps forward without Sauerbrunn by her side.

“We had this mutual respect. And I wanted to make her proud and get the same respect that that she’s gotten as a captain,” she told USWNT teammate Kelley O’Hara.

Sauerbrunn’s absence from the World Cup roster came as a “massive shock” to Horan. The reality of the situation hit even harder as she began to consider the impact on the team and her role within it.

“Oh my gosh, what is going to happen?” said Horan, describing her racing thoughts at the time. “How does this change our team dynamic? Who’s going to step up into this responsibility? Is that going to be me?”

Even as Sauerbrunn dealt with her own heartbreak over missing what would have been her fourth World Cup, she leant her support to Horan.

“She gets to lead this team out at a World Cup and to really appreciate what that means, in the course of your career,” Sauerbrunn said on the Snacks podcast. “Like, that’s such a crazy, cool accomplishment.”

The USWNT opens its World Cup run at 9 p.m. ET Friday against Vietnam. And Horan is stepping into her new responsibility as the team trains in New Zealand.

“Last World Cup, a lot of my focus was, I need to be at my very best. Everything I do is mentally preparing for Lindsey to be at her best to help her team,” she said. “And now it’s like, I need to help everyone be at their best — support them, advise, get the team together…

“So much changes, but (it’s) also a very cool thing to be able to take on that responsibility and get to experience this. And I will have a lot of great people that get to help me along the way.”

As for the type of captain Horan wants to be, she plans to model herself after Sauerbrunn, “leading by example” on and off the pitch.

“Becky, I don’t think you’re going to hear her voice a lot. But body language, the way she acts, the way she respects everyone — she is such a good human being, and she is always doing the right thing, but maybe isn’t the most outspoken person that I know. She is a completely different leader. I think I’m more of that kind of person.”

When Lynn Williams tore her hamstring in March 2022, the U.S. women’s national team forward worried if she would ever get back to peak form. Sixteen months later, she holds an integral role on the USWNT’s World Cup roster.

Looking back, though, she still remembers the anxiety that accompanied her recovery, she told USWNT teammate Kelley O’Hara.

In July 2023, she is training with her teammates in New Zealand in preparation for their World Cup opener at 9 p.m. ET on Friday against Vietnam. In July 2022, she was several months post-surgery and had not yet returned to training on her injured leg.

“In my head, I obviously knew I wanted to be here still,” she said. But she and her doctors worried: “Will you still be the same power athlete you were before? I’m a sprinter and the way I play the game is, I think, so powerful that they were nervous and I was nervous if I would ever get back to top speed. Would I ever get back to who I was?

“And so I think that in the back of my mind, I was always nervous about that.”

After missing the entire 2022 NWSL season with the injury, she made her comeback for the first USWNT camp in 2023, which included a week of training in New Zealand and two friendlies against the World Cup co-hosts. But while she had made it back to the pitch and to the national team, the camp environment brought with it a new set of nerves.

“You have to train your mind to be on at all times,” she said.

Even after she came off the bench to score against the Football Ferns in her first game back, she did not feel like she connected “a single pass,” telling her teammates: “I don’t think I’m playing well.”

“I was still nervous then, too,” said the Gotham FC forward. “But I liked that I was thrown into the fire, because I knew exactly how much I needed to go to get back to what I needed to get back to.”

Williams’ determination to return from injury echoed the determination she felt after she was left off the World Cup roster in 2019. While she has called the snub “devastating,” she used it as fuel.

“I jumped straight back into, how do I get back on the team?” she said. “If I crumble now, then I will never get back into that environment ever again. … I was devastated for myself but I can’t stay devastated for too long because then I’ll never end up where I want to be.”

Kristie Mewis is headed to her first World Cup with the U.S. women’s national team. But the wait for the call from head coach Vlatko Andonovski was “very painful,” she shared Wednesday.

After a morning of training for Gotham FC, the 32-year-old midfielder waited alone in her apartment until the call came at 4 p.m.

“So it was a very draining, emotional, wait-around day,” she told reporters Wednesday.

When she answered the FaceTime from Andonovski, who told her she would join the USWNT’s 23-player roster for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, the emotions hit her.

“I think I started crying before I even saw Vlatko’s face on the FaceTime, just because everything was coming into that moment,” Mewis said. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear those words.”

The countdown to the World Cup roster drop officially started after the USWNT’s April training camp. But for Mewis, the wait seemed much longer.

While she made her debut for the senior national team in 2013, she spent five years off the team and missed out on the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. On Wednesday, she described herself as a “bubble player,” though she has made every USWNT camp since before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Of the 14 players making their World Cup debuts for the USWNT in 2023, Mewis is the oldest.

Her parents, her sister — injured USWNT star Sam Mewis — and her girlfriend — Australia star Sam Kerr — served as her “absolute rocks” through the grueling process. She called all of them in turn as soon as she hung up with Andonovski.

“I called my girlfriend immediately. I called my parents. I called my sister,” she said. “They all have been such huge, huge people in my life through this process, because I’m sure I’ve been such a pain in the ass because I’ve been so stressed for so long.”

After the USWNT roster was revealed Wednesday, Kerr congratulated Mewis on Instagram. But she also noted: “Last time I’ll cheer for you is today.”

Kerr is the top player for the Matildas in their home World Cup, which kicks off on July 20. She and Mewis started dating during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they did not go public with their relationship until they made headlines at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. And they’re both ready to give everything they have this summer.

“We’re just raging for the next six months to the World Cup, doing whatever we can,” Kerr told soccer lifestyle magazine Gaffer in an interview with Mewis earlier this year. “We both feel like we’ve been gunning for this World Cup for so long now that it’s kind of going to be like we’re just giving everything for the next six months and then it’s gonna be like a breath of fresh air.”

The Equalizer’s Jeff Kassouf shared Mewis’ full comments on her World Cup call from Wednesday’s Gotham FC news conference.

LSU star Alexis Morris was waived by the Connecticut Sun just hours after playing in the team’s preseason win Wednesday against the New York Liberty.

With Morris’ exit, both LSU players selected in the 2023 WNBA Draft have been cut by their teams, as rookies across the league feel the roster crunch. LaDazhia Williams, Morris’ teammate with the national champion Tigers, was waived Tuesday by the Indiana Fever.

“Welp I just got waived. Thank you Sun nation,” Morris tweeted Wednesday afternoon.

The point guard contributed two points and three rebounds in eight minutes for the Sun on Wednesday. As she heads to the waiver wire, she told her supporters not to express any sympathy.

“Don’t call me or text me on no sad behavior, it’s up!!!!” she wrote. “It’s too much cheese and oppurtunities out here to be sad. Im the COMEBACK KID! I will be back.”

Last season, just 17 of the 36 picks from the 2022 WNBA Draft made opening day rosters.

This season is headed in a similar direction. As of Wednesday afternoon, 23 of 36 picks from the 2023 draft appeared on rosters, and almost every team still has cuts left to make to fit under the 12-player maximum.

Not every player who does not appear on a roster has been waived. For example, Washington Mystics draftee Txell Alarcon and Minnesota Lynx draftee Maia Hirsch are both draft-and-stash picks who will remain in Europe for at least the upcoming season.

Still, the fact remains: With just 144 spots across 12 teams, roster space is at a premium in the WNBA, and the issue may not be rectified any time soon.

Morris even spoke about a related issue — the adjustments required of college players when they make the jump to the WNBA — in a TikTok after her first day of group workouts with the Sun.

“This is for the colleges and the institutions: in order to grow the league, you have to prep the players for what’s to come. In order to do that, you have to watch the league, you have to see the style of play, the systems that they’re running, so that the adjustment and the transition for college players — women’s college players — to the WNBA won’t be so difficult,” she said.

The NWSL expects to add two expansion teams in the 2026 season.

The league already has announced two additional teams set to join the league in 2024, in Utah and in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two more are in the pipeline, commissioner Jessica Berman said Tuesday on Washington Post Live.

“We do expect for the 2026 season to add two more teams,” Berman said. “That process will began later this calendar year, and through the process we ran in 2022 for this round of expansion, we have an incredible amount of interest from qualified investors.”

Boston has been tabbed as an expansion destination, the Wall Street Journal reported in January, though the NWSL has not confirmed its selection.

The Boston Breakers franchise previously called the city home for the first five NWSL seasons but folded after the 2017 season. A Breakers revival has precedence; the Utah Royals are making their return in 2024 after folding in 2020, and Kansas City introduced the Current in 2021 after FC Kansas City folded in 2017.

The NWSL has grown from an eight-team league at its founding in 2013 to a 12-team league. With the introduction of four additional teams by 2026, the league would double its original number.

The 2022 season featured two new teams, both in California: Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC. The newcomers proved wildly successful in their inaugural seasons, as Los Angeles-based Angel City averaged more than 19,000 fans per game and San Diego reached the playoff semifinals (and set the postseason attendance record to boot).

As the league has expanded, franchise values have increased, with the Bay Area ownership group paying $53 million to buy the franchise rights. (The Utah team paid a fixed reactivation fee of between $2 million and $5 million.)

“Even though our valuations have increased in a meaningful way to $53 million with the team we sold to the Bay Area, we’re still really early in our process in terms of our growth and where we think this league is going to be in three to five to 10 years,” Berman said.

Former NWSL coach Craig Harrington received a two-year suspension from the league in January for his inappropriate conduct and sexual comments toward players.

Just weeks later, he was hired by a Chicago youth club as the director of coaching, The Athletic reported Friday.

While Harrington has since been fired by the youth club, that he was hired at all exposes the continued cracks in the systems meant to ensure player safety at all levels of soccer, even in the wake of the NWSL’s wide-reaching misconduct investigations.

The NWSL’s misconduct report outlined misconduct allegations against Harrington, who served as head coach of the Utah Royals in 2020, and as an assistant coach for the Chicago Red Stars in the previous two seasons.

In the report, two NWSL players recalled an instance at a bar in which an intoxicated Harrington made sexual advances toward them and said, “I need to have sex with someone tonight who’s not my wife.” He also made comments on more than one occasion about players’ looks and bodies, the report stated.

The former coach denied such allegations, stating that he “never made comments about players’ physical attractiveness and never sexualized players.” The NWSL and NWSLPA joint investigative team, however, “did not find his denials to be credible when viewed against the accounts of multiple other witnesses,” according to the report.

The NWSL handed down a two-year suspension for Harrington, which banned him from coaching in the league until at least January 2025.

Soon after the suspension, youth club Chicago Empire FC hired Harrington “as an independent contractor” in late January. In the hiring process, the club obtained a “clean NCSI (National Center for Safety Initiatives) background check and certification of his U.S. Center for SafeSport training,” as well as confirmation that his coaching licenses were in good standing with the U.S. Soccer Federation and the Illinois Youth Soccer Association, director of operations Matt Tunis told The Athletic.

On April 25, Empire FC received notice from the Illinois Youth Soccer Association that Harrington’s membership had been suspended, at which point the club terminated his contract, Tunis said.

“At no time since February has Mr. Harrington been listed on either the SafeSport or U.S. Soccer risk management list of ineligible, suspended or disciplined individuals,” Tunis continued in his statement to The Athletic. “Nonetheless, Chicago Empire FC’s top priority is the safety and well-being of its players and staff.”

However, U.S. Soccer confirmed to The Athletic that Harrington was added to the federation’s risk management list following the NWSL’s announcement of his suspension in January.

Chicago Red Stars general manager Michelle Lomnicki knew of Harrington’s role with youth club Chicago Empire FC. The club fired her Friday for failing to inform club leadership of the information.

The Los Angeles Sparks enter the 2023 season as a transformed team, with a new coach, a new general manager and a new philosophy.

Nneka Ogwumike has noticed the difference.

The 32-year-old forward has spent her entire career with the Sparks, from her 2012 Rookie of the Year campaign to the 2016 WNBA championship season. While she has seen ups and downs in her tenure, she has never seen the organization at this level, she said at the start of training camp.

“This is the first time I’ve really experienced what I believe to be a professional organization,” Ogwumike said.

Head coach Curt Miller and general manager Karen Bryant, who both came to Los Angeles in the offseason, immediately put their stamp on the team.

“That leaves space for me to not have to step into a manager role, which doesn’t leave me a lot of time to do the things that I really want to do, which is play basketball and hang out with my teammates,” Ogwumike said. “I really feel like I’ve relinquished a lot of that because we have some truly phenomenal people that have turned this organization into what it deserves to be.”

In another change, the Sparks parted ways with team president Vanessa Shay earlier this week. She had joined the team last May from the NWSL’s San Diego Wave. Sparks managing partner Eric Holman thanked Shay for guiding the team “through an important transition.”

With the reins now in the hands of Bryant and Miller, the team is prepared to start fresh. And while Ogwumike rejoined the Sparks on a one-year deal, Miller does not feel any pressure for the upcoming season, which tips off on May 19.

Miller cautioned against looking too far into the future. Instead, he wants to work day by day to build toward success, a journey “we think could be very special — and more importantly, sustainable,” he said.

“There’s going to be no more pressure than what we believe in our own locker room,” Miller said.