Which one player is the most essential to the success of the U.S. women’s national team at the 2023 World Cup?

Each month since September 2022, Just Women’s Sports has made the argument for a different member of the USWNT. Heading into the upcoming roster drop, that gives us 10 players who could make or break the team’s chances in Australia and New Zealand.

With one month to go until the World Cup, which players will have the biggest impact for the USWNT?

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World Cup newcomers

Naomi Girma, 23, defender

After nearly sweeping the NWSL’s end-of-season awards as a rookie in 2022 – which included winning rookie and defender of the year and finishing as an MVP finalist – Girma has picked up right where she left off to begin 2023. And this summer at the World Cup, she’ll have the chance to prove herself on the world stage.

Sophia Smith, 22, forward

The reigning NWSL MVP scored 14 goals in the 2022 season, and she scored almost that many for the USWNT. Smith’s 11 goals in 2022 made her the youngest player to lead the team in scoring in a calendar year since Mia Hamm did it as a 21-year-old in 1993.

Lynn Williams, 30, forward

If Williams seems more like a World Cup veteran than a newcomer, that speaks to how indispensable she has become for the USWNT since the 2021 Olympics — even after missing most 0f 2022 with a hamstring injury. Her first goal of 2023 came just seven minutes into her first game back with the USWNT in January, and she has nine goals this year across all competitions.

.@Lynnraenie causing chaos in LA!

🎥 » @NWSL

pic.twitter.com/EqzsywLa6A

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) March 27, 2023

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Invaluable veterans

Crystal Dunn, 30, defender

With versatility as her self-proclaimed “superpower,”  Dunn can do it all for the USWNT. She starts for the team as an outside back, but her natural position is midfield, and you can tell in her creative ball movement.

Alex Morgan, 33, forward

A staple for the U.S. women’s national team for more than a decade, Morgan ranks fifth in USWNT history in goals and 1oth in assists. She was left off the roster for five camps from October 2021 through April 2022, but she used the absence as a challenge. Morgan enters the World Cup as the favorite to start at center forward.

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Fitness questions

Julie Ertz, 31, midfielder

Several players could be key not just for their play but also for exactly how much they can play. Take Ertz, who made a surprise return in April for her first USWNT camp since August 2021. She played a full 90 minutes for Angel City FC on June 10, but she has been in and out of the lineup since April while working her way back to fitness after the birth of her son last August.

Rose Lavelle, 28, midfielder

Since injuring her knee in an April friendly against Ireland, Lavelle has not played a single minute. She has missed OL Reign’s last 12 across all competitions. The 2019 World Cup served as a breakout moment for the midfielder, and if she can recapture even a piece of that glory in 2023, the USWNT will be better for it.

ERTZ SO GOOD@julieertz scores for Angel City!

🎥 » @NWSL pic.twitter.com/pqxKbuVRbg

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) April 30, 2023

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Major absences

Becky Sauerbrunn, 38, defender

Absent players can leave their own impact on the lineup, and Sauerbrunn’s reported absence represents a huge blow to the USWNT backline. The 38-year-old returned from a nagging foot injury on June 3 for the Portland Thorns, playing 24 minutes in her first action since April 22. But she missed their June 11 match, and then came the report that the USWNT captain would not make the trip to Australia and New Zealand.

Catarina Macario, 23, midfielder

The rising star “won’t be physically ready for selection” to the USWNT as she continues to recover from an ACL tear, she revealed in May. The midfield has lacked depth in the absence of a player Andonovski has called the “future of the team.”

Mallory Swanson, 25, forward

After a 2021 Olympic snub, Swanson started 2023 in the best form of her career, with five goals in seven USWNT matches through the first two months of the year. In April, though, she tore the patellar tendon in her left knee during a friendly against Ireland. Even with the USWNT’s depth at the forward position, Swanson’s absence is a significant blow.

Big-name roster cuts dominated the WNBA headlines on Wednesday, with teams scrambling to meet the league's size and salary cap requirements before Friday's 2025 season tip-off.

The Golden State Valkyries, Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream, Washington Mystics, and Dallas Wings announced finalized rosters, leaving a handful of teams still weighing their options as the clock ticks down.

Expansion side Golden State caused the most Wednesday commotion, dropping 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella story Kaitlyn Chen (UConn) and 2023 No. 8 overall draft pick Laeticia Amihere (South Carolina), among other cuts, after initially waiving this year's No. 17 overall pick Shyanne Sellers (Maryland) last week.

With this year's No. 5 overall pick Justė Jocytė (Lithuania) choosing to remain overseas for this summer's EuroBasket, the Valkyries will now make their WNBA debut without a single 2025 draftee.

The South Carolina alum scored 20 points in her preseason debut for the Valkyries and was selected 8th overall by the Dream in the 2023 Draft. pic.twitter.com/JNQVpP1twS

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 14, 2025

2023 WNBA Draft Class takes a hit

The hits kept coming for the 2023 WNBA Draft class, as Atlanta's No. 6 overall pick Haley Jones (Stanford) and Minnesota's No. 7 selectee Grace Berger (Indiana) joined Amihere on the league's cutting room floor on Wednesday — leaving only five 2023 first-rounders currently on WNBA rosters.

On the flip side, the Connecticut Sun dropped 30-year-old guard Diamond DeShields on Thursday morning — just three months after signing the 2021 WNBA champion.

Ultimately, rookies, mid-career players, and veterans alike are on the chopping block this week, with teams showing little mercy for fan favorites as they hone in on what promises to be a highly competitive 2025 WNBA season.

The NWSL Players Association (NWSLPA) is advocating for an immediate change in protocol in the name of player safety, with the union voicing concerns about the handling of Angel City defender Savy King's mid-match medical event last Friday.

Following current league guidelines, the game between the LA club and the Utah Royals resumed play on Friday, picking up where they left off after King's on-pitch collapse required nearly 10 minutes of life-saving intervention from medical staff.

Amid a crowd of visibly distressed players and coaches, paramedics rushed King to an area hospital, with the 20-year-old later undergoing successful surgery to fix a previously undetected heart abnormality.

"These moments demand humanity, sound judgment, and restraint," the NWSLPA posted on Wednesday. "Any medical emergency that requires the administration of life-saving care should bring play to an end. The match should not have continued."

"Our members are elite, world-class competitors who have proven they can perform under unimaginable conditions. That does not mean they should have to," the statement continued.

"Incidents of this severity must prioritize our collective humanity and should automatically trigger suspension of the match. The Players Association is committed to making this the standard in [the] NWSL."

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NWSL player safety again takes center-pitch

As the NWSL braces for rapid expansion, the NWSLPA remains laser-focused on ensuring player safety never takes a backseat, both on and off the field.

That priority was mirrored in the league's own Wednesday post.

Shortly before the NWSLPA's statement hit feeds, the NWSL issued its own statement, saying "Player Safety is paramount to the NWSL. The seriousness of this incident requires a deliberate process that is careful and methodical. That process is underway and will include necessary revisions that prioritize the consideration of player, staff, and fan well-being."

The lack of an instant protocol change doesn't sit well with NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke.

After reviewing the league's post, Burke told Front Office Sports "The reality is these decisions are made in real time. A decision needed to be made last Friday night.... Five days later, they still [haven't] decided whether or not this game should have been suspended." 

"This is a human issue. The right thing to do was to call this game. It doesn't take this long to realize that."

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian is Chelsea FC's newest owner, with the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams reportedly dropping £20 million ($26.6 million) on a 10% stake in the WSL champions earlier this week.

Ohanian is no stranger to investing in women's sports, from launching Angel City as the 2022 NWSL expansion club's majority owner to last year's founding of Athlos NYC, an annual women's track and field event with a $663,000 purse.

"I've bet big on women's sports before — and I'm doing it again," Ohanian posted on social media on Wednesday. "I'm proud to announce that I'm joining @ChelseaFCW as an investor and board member. I'm honored for the chance to help this iconic club become America's favorite @BarclaysWSL team and much, much more."

"These players are rewriting the game. Undefeated season. Eyes on the treble," said Ohanian about Chelsea FC's historic 2024/25 success. "But this isn't just about winning titles. It's about finally matching their talent with the resources, visibility, and respect they deserve."

Ohanian's investment comes amid soaring valuations for women's pro teams — with Chelsea's $257 million price tag ranking as the highest in all of women's soccer.

Calling Ohanian's buy-in "game-changing," Blues manager Sonia Bompastor told reporters on Thursday that "It's really important for the women's game but also for England to have someone to invest in a team like Chelsea."

"We want to be the leaders," she continued. "We want to be the team who shows to every other team how you need to perform and how you need to invest in the women's game."

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Women's clubs still successful after splitting with men's teams

Ohanian's investment also indicates Chelsea's commitment to further distancing their women's team operations from their men's side, following last June's ownership move to place the women's squad under an independent subsidiary.

Though most European women's teams remain closely affiliated with their men's counterparts, severing ties is on the rise, with US billionaire Michele Kang assuming majority ownership over women's clubs Olympique Lyonnais and the newly promoted London City Lionesses in recent years.

With skyrocketing revenue — plus Kang's fleet proving that independence benefits women's teams — expect to see even more US investors eyeing women's sports opportunities abroad.

FIFA is setting a new goal for the Women's World Cup, with organization president Gianni Infantino stating this week that the governing body is aiming to generate $1 billion in revenue from the international championship tournament.

"Women's football and women in football are crucially important," Infantino said at the 2025 Saudi Arabia/US Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday.

"It's growing as well, and exponentially, and we are targeting [growth] as well to have $1 billion revenue just with the Women's World Cup to reinvest in the women's game."

The public push to hit the billion-dollar mark comes after the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand became the first edition of the tournament to break even, generating a revenue total over $570 million.

The 2027 World Cup will take place in Brazil, becoming the first iteration ever held in South America, while the US — as the only bid on the table — has a near-guaranteed lock on hosting the 2031 edition.

As FIFA takes aim at its $1 billion target for the 2027 tournament, the 2031 World Cup could have a leg up in the revenue game, with FIFA expanding the competition's field from 32 to 48 teams just last week.

Consequently, that 16-team increase boosts the total matches from 64 in 2027 to 104 in the 2031, instantly creating 62.5% more inventory — a move that could help meet or potentially exceed FIFA's bold new revenue goal.