The U.S. women’s national team will visit 2023 World Cup host New Zealand for a pair of international friendlies in January, the team announced Wednesday night.

The USWNT will travel to New Zealand for a six-day training camp, then will play two games against the Football Ferns.

The first will kick off at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday, Jan. 17, at Sky Stadium in Wellington, and the second will kick off at 10 p.m. ET Friday, Jan. 20, at Eden Park in Auckland. These venues will play host to the USWNT’s three group-stage matches at the World Cup.

𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙔𝙀𝘼𝙍, 𝙉𝙀𝙒 𝙕𝙀𝘼𝙇𝘼𝙉𝘿

🇳🇿 New Zealand vs USA 🇺🇸
📆 January 17
📍 Sky Stadium

🇳🇿 New Zealand vs USA 🇺🇸
📆 January 20
📍 Eden Park

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) November 2, 2022

The first-ever matches in New Zealand for the USWNT will provide players and fans with a sneak peak of the atmosphere for the July tournament and of one potential opponent.

The 2019 World Cup champion United States will play in Group E against 2019 runner-up Netherlands, as well as Vietnam and an intercontinental playoff winner, while New Zealand will play in Group A against Norway, Switzerland and the Philippines.

Still, the USWNT and the Ferns could see each other in the knockout round.

“We will get some quality training time together and have two tough matches against a great opponent that is hosting the World Cup,” USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski said in a statement. “We also get to experience the long travel and familiarize ourselves with the host cities, the stadiums, the training grounds and the culture, and hopefully we’ll play in front of some big crowds supporting the home team. It will be a great way to start the year.”

The USWNT holds the No. 1 spot in the FIFA world rankings, even after back-to-back losses to England and Spain. The team will host No. 3 Germany next week in a pair of friendlies.

New Zealand is ranked No. 22 in the world, while World Cup co-host Australia is ranked No. 13.

The Ferns have a 1-1-17 all-time record against the USWNT, with their one win coming in 1987. The most recent meeting between the teams came in February at the SheBelieves Cup in California, a 5-0 win for the home team.

Another Washington Spirit coach is departing DC, with multiple weekend reports linking current manager Jonatan Giráldez to the newly opened head coaching job at French Première Ligue side OL Lyonnes.

According to The Athletic, Giráldez will step away from the Spirit in June, with assistant Adrián González — who led Washington as interim manager prior to Giráldez's mid-2024 arrival — set to take over the NWSL squad on July 18th.

The move follows additional reports that first-year OL Lyonnes boss Joe Montemurro is Australia-bound after agreeing to head up his home country's national team, the Matildas.

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Spirit coach swap raises questions for multi-team owner Kang

With Giráldez jumping from one Michele Kang-owned team to another, the former Barcelona manager's European return raises questions about Kang's multi-club ownership model — and concerns about the future of injured Spirit star Trinity Rodman, who recently took leave from the NWSL to seek treatment overseas.

"We are not going to sacrifice one team to make another team successful. Absolutely not," Kang told Forbes in 2024 interview. "Our goal is to make every team the champion in each of their leagues."

In addition to the Spirit and OL Lyonnes, Kang's Kynisca corporation also owns recently promoted WSL side London City Lionesses.

The Spirit has weathered big changes before, but Kang's involvement in this particular personnel swap will face critique should Washington lose pace later this season.

Two US tennis stars are still shining at the 2025 French Open, as world No. 8 Madison Keys and No. 2 Coco Gauff blew through their Round of 16 matches on Monday to set up an all-US quarterfinal showdown on Tuesday.

Gauff dealt No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova a dominant 6-0, 7-5 loss early Monday morning, while 2025 Australian Open champion Keys ended fellow US player No. 70 Hailey Baptiste's French Open run with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat shortly afterward.

"Coco is so good, and especially on clay," Keys said ahead of her upcoming quarterfinal opponent. "She's an unbelievable player and such a great athlete.... I'm looking forward to it and happy to see there will be another American in the semifinals."

Five US women and three men reached the fourth round at Roland-Garros this past weekend, tying the country's 1985 record before Baptiste joined No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 16 Amanda Anisimova on the ousted list.

No US player has won the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015, with both Gauff and Keys shooting for a championship match date against top contenders like No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka or No. 5 Iga Świątek — winner of four of the last five Parisian Grand Slams.

How to watch the 2025 French Open

Gauff and Keys will battle for a spot in semifinals on Tuesday morning.

The quarterfinals kick off at 5 AM ET, with live coverage on TNT.

While the undefeated New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx look down from the top, Phoenix and Atlanta are shaping up to be the early season's biggest players, as the No. 3 Mercury and No. 4 Dream continue to climb the 2025 WNBA standings.

The Mercury topped the skidding LA Sparks 85-80 on Sunday to reach 5-2 on the season, while the Dream secured their own 5-2 record after Friday's 94-87 win over the Seattle Storm.

Atlanta and Phoenix made some of league's boldest offseason moves this year, as Mercury legend Brittney Griner joined the Dream in free agency while Phoenix picked up top talent in forwards Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally.

With Thomas nursing an injury, Sabally led Phoenix over LA behind a team-high 24 points on Sunday.

Griner's 15-point, eight-rebound performance helped Atlanta quiet the Dallas Wings 83-75 on May 24th, before established stars Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard combined for 61 points against Seattle.

Meanwhile at the bottom of the table, the Connecticut Sun registered their first victory of the 2025 season on Friday, edging out the injury-laden Indiana Fever to become the final WNBA team to enter the win column this season.

The Sun, however, came crashing back to Earth on Sunday, falling to the reigning champion Liberty by a steep 48-point margin on the first day of Commissioner's Cup play.

How to watch WNBA games this week

The Mercury are back in action in a road match against the Lynx at 8 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on ESPN3.

Following a full week of rest, the Dream will travel to Connecticut to take on the Sun at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ION.

In their first match since early April, the USWNT didn't miss a beat, comfortably taking down China PR 3-0 to kick off a series of two international friendlies on Saturday.

Forward Catarina Macario opened scoring in the match's 28th minute, before midfielder Sam Coffey doubled the scoreline later in the first half. A header from captain Lindsey Heaps in the 54th minute put the finishing touch on the Saturday victory.

Head coach Emma Hayes's top-ranked USWNT played fluidly against No. 17 China PR, dominating the game's attack with more than 70% possession while notching 18 shots on goal — seven of them on target.

"I feel like I'm working a lot on trying to join the play more, get up in counter-measures. I tend to play it too safe, and think too 'worst-case scenario,' so I was just trying to join," Coffey told TBS after tallying her second international goal.

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The match also saw the international debut of 32-year-old midfielder Lo'eau Labonta, who became the oldest player to earn a first cap in USWNT history with her entrance in the game's 70th minute.

"When they called my name, I was sitting being the best cheerleader I could be on the bench," LaBonta joked after the win. "I was like, 'This is amazing. I've never been field-view watching the national team.' It was so cool."

The US will go again against No. 40 Jamaica on Tuesday, but it appears that Hayes's roster reshuffling hasn't yet hindered their ability to control games.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Jamaica friendly this week

The USWNT will take on the Reggae Girlz at 8 PM ET on Tuesday in St. Louis, Missouri, with live coverage on TNT.