The USWNT’s 39-game unbeaten streak remains intact after a pair of friendlies against Sweden and France. Two of the best teams in the world, each of them tested the USWNT as the squad continues to prepare for this summer’s Olympics. 

Last Saturday, Sweden provided the learning opportunity manager Vlatko Andonovski was hoping for, as Sweden scored first before the US came back to settle for a 1-1 draw. Sweden outplayed the US for much of the game, exposing weaknesses the team can now focus on strengthening after a relatively breezy start to 2021.  

Three days later, the USWNT notched a 2-0 victory over France, showcasing just how adept they are at rapidly course correcting. 

Though the coming weeks will shed more light on the Tokyo roster, these past two games provided some clear learnings to chew over. 

Here are our five key takeaways:

1. No matter what happens, Carli Lloyd is a legend 

Carli Lloyd etched her name into the history books on Sunday, becoming only the third soccer player (women’s or men’s) to ever hit 300 international caps. She joins the ranks of former teammates Kristine Lilly and Christie Pearce Rampone, who retired with 354 and 311 caps respectively. 

Alex Morgan praised her teammate and former co-captain, telling reporters that Lloyd is still passing along the culture of the national team to the next generation of players. 

“It’s great to have her on this team and have her leading the way still.”

Whether or not she makes the Olympic roster, Lloyd is already a legend for the national team. (But you better believe she’ll do everything she can to make that team.) No matter which way you cut it, 300 caps is simply absurd. 

Lloyd, for her part, says her career so far with this team has been an honor, as “nothing is ever given, everything is earned.”

Closing in on her 300th cap, @CarliLloyd - in her own words - on what the milestone means 👑#Carli300 pic.twitter.com/TYHFan3ojQ

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) April 10, 2021

2. The backline looks locked 

Though there hasn’t been much doubt about which core defenders Vlatko will take to Tokyo, these past two games further solidified that Abby Dahlkemper, Crystal Dunn, Kelley O’Hara, and Becky Sauerbrunn remain locked in as the starters. 

Tierna Davidson may have likewise secured a spot after her 90-minute battle against Sweden’s tenacious offense in the center back position, adding to her impressive play as an outside back during the SheBelieves Cup. 

With five spots seemingly filled, all eyes will now be on the remaining contenders: Emily Sonnett, Midge Purce, Alana Cook, Ali Krieger, and Casey Krueger, who will all have to prove at the club level that they belong in Tokyo this summer. 

3. Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan are (almost) fully back 

It’s hard to imagine that the team plane could leave for an international tournament without Megan Rapinoe or Alex Morgan on board. But after Rapinoe opted out of play for most of 2020 and Morgan gave birth, incurred a knee injury, and battled COVID-19, fans and coaches alike had to get used to the idea that the two stars may have been slow in returning to fitness.

Well, after this trip, those worries can be largely laid to rest. 

Leaving Europe with two penalty kick goals, Rapinoe now leads the USWNT for goals scored in 2021. As for Morgan, Andonovski said she has her “killer instinct back” after drawing a penalty and scoring against France. 

💅 She’s not gonna miss from there. pic.twitter.com/fJTkL2XXht

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) April 10, 2021

“I’m very happy with the way she’s progressing and where she is at this point in the preparation,” Andonovski said of his star striker.

🫖 pic.twitter.com/EYSeYULxq6

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) April 13, 2021

4. Vlatko is still searching for ways to maximize his midfield 

Andonovksi played a bit of musical chairs in the midfield in the match against France, subbing in Lindsey Horan for Rapinoe in the 63’, which moved Christen Press to the 11 spot and Rose Lavelle up high on the right.

The move gave us a glimpse into how Andonovksi plans to maximize his roster by having Horan, Lavelle, Sam Mewis, and Julie Ertz all on the field at once. 

“All four of them are incredible players, and as a coach, you want to have the best players on the field at the same time,” he told the press after the game, dispelling previous notions that those four were playing for just three spots. 

5. Questions remain for Catarina Macario and Kristie Mewis 

Andovski was hoping to have Catarina Macario at this camp, however, she was forced to stay home due to protocols surrounding Lyon’s recent COVID outbreak. The French club is scheduled to return to play on April 18, giving Andonovski a handful of opportunities to assess her performance before the next camp. 

Kristie Mewis saw the field for about ten-minutes against Sweden and was listed as an available sub for the France match. It’s reasonable to wonder why she wasn’t given an opportunity to play more during the trip given her impactful showing in multiple games since re-joining the national team. It’s possible that Vlatko has seen what he needs to see from her for the time being and will continue to analyze Mewis as she returns to her home market. 

Up next: 

The USWNT is scheduled to return to the pitch in June to host the Tournament of Nations. As for us, we’ll continue playing roster roulette while juggling multiple screens as we watch the upcoming NWSL, FAWSL, and Champions League matches.

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

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In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

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Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

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The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

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"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.