The U.S. women’s national team is still waiting on several players to return from injuries in the run up to the 2023 World Cup.

After the release of the roster for February’s SheBelieves Cup, which will serve as a tune-up for this summer’s main event, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski provided updates on the status of many of the injured and absent players.

Catarina Macario

Andonovski described the forward/midfielder, who reaching the end of her rehab for an ACL injury, as being available for selection in April. She also is preparing to rejoin her club Olympique Lyonnais.

“She’s started training on the field, started training with the ball,” Andonovski said. “She’s still in Qatar in the center for rehab. She’s doing well, and she’s going back to Lyon to start training to start team training middle of February, and then hopefully we can see her starting playing for her club team sometime in the second half of March. It takes about five to six weeks in team training before she starts playing games. So we expect to see her back, or eligible for selection, for April camp.”

Sophia Smith

The Portland Thorns forward missed the January USWNT camp while rehabbing a lingering injury. Smith is still building up fitness to be available for selection in April, Andonovski said.

“Both [Macario and Smith] are in return to play protocols. Soph actually is looking good. She’s back on the field running, and I think that if we rushed it a little bit, we could have got some minutes from her. But I didn’t feel like this was a situation where we rushed to get it back. Our goal is not just to get her back, but to stay back, and that’s why she’s not in this camp.”

Tobin Heath

The free agent forward also was listed as a possibility for selection in April, and Andonovski said Heath is “absolutely” still under consideration for selection for the 2023 World Cup.

“Tobin is one of those players that has tremendous experience with the national team playing against top level teams, and she’s a born leader and born winner. She has won World Cups. She has won championships in club, college, everywhere. So anyone that is, you know, healthy and ready and in good form and can help this team be successful, is gonna be looked at and selected for the roster for the World Cup.”

Jaelin Howell

The 23-year-old midfielder hasn’t seen USWNT minutes since April 2022, but Andonovski says she is still in the conversation for the World Cup as she works with her club Racing Louisville.

“Jaelin and I had a really good conversation before we sent out the invites, and the conversation pretty much was that Jaelin is certainly not out of the picture. She does have something that, or she is good at something that probably not another No. 6 in the league is now with Julie Ertz absent so we want to see that from her in the league. We want to see it on a consistent basis. And that’s what is going to get her back on the team. We’re excited about Jae, she’s not someone that we have given up on just because she’s not on the roster. We are in constant communication with her and analyzing everything that she’s doing.”

Christen Press

The 34-year-old forward, back in training with Angel City FC as she finishes rehabbing an ACL injury, could be available for selection in April, Andonovski said.

“Christen Press, who I think is very similar to Tobin, just very experienced, has been in two World Cups, won two World Cups, and we know that can be an asset on any team.”

Sam Coffey

The Thorns midfielder was left off the 2023 SheBelieves roster after earning a roster spot in January, though she did not see time in two games against New Zealand.

“Obviously she’s not on this roster in this camp, but that doesn’t mean that she’s out by any means. Anytime someone makes the roster, someone else has to be off the roster. And there was something else that we wanted to see in this camp, in these games, and Sam is very much in the pool. She’s someone that we’re still evaluating and analyzing and is someone that we consider as a player that can have a spot in the World Cup roster.”

Julie Ertz

Andonovski did not have an update on Ertz’s plans for 2023, though he did provide insight into her likelihood for the World Cup. She is a free agent, and she has not played since the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“Another person that hasn’t been in camp for a while, Julie Ertz, is someone that, obviously we see that she hasn’t committed to any training [or] team in the league so far. And the time is running out pretty much for her as well, and she’s someone that we’re probably not going to be able to count on in the World Cup.”

Sam Mewis

The Kansas City Current midfielder will not be available for selection for the 2023 World Cup due to a progressive knee injury, which has required a second surgery, Andonovski confirmed.

“That’s something that we’ve known for a while. We just wanted to allow Sam to make a decision on when to make this public.”

Kelley O’Hara

The newly minted Gotham FC defender was mentioned as a player who could be available for April selection.

O’Hara told reporters earlier this week that she is still in the rehab process for the hip injury that sidelined her in 2022, but she is confident she will be ready by her club’s first regular season match in March.

Tierna Davidson

The Chicago Red Stars defender “is in the final stages of her recovery from an ACL injury and will participate in the first part of the BioSteel Training Camp in Orlando but will not be on the tournament roster,” according to a U.S. Soccer press release.

Davidson should be available for team selection in April.

The 2025 New York City Marathon not only crowned its champion on Sunday, the race also saw a new course record as Kenya's Hellen Obiri crossed the Central Park finish line with a time of 2:19.51 — shattering fellow Kenyan Margaret Okayo's 2003 record by a full two minutes and 40 seconds.

Returning to the top of the New York marathon field after first winning the race in 2023, 2024 runner-up Obiri led a Kenyan contingent that swept the podium, as 2022 winner Sharon Lokedi trailed by a mere 16 seconds while 2024 champion Sheila Chepkirui claimed third with a time of 2:20:24 — all three blasting through the previous course record of 2:22.31.

"We had a very strong field," said Obiri following the race. "[I told myself] let me try to do my best, let me push."

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With her championship, Obiri claimed both the $100,000 winner's check as well as an additional $50,000 in prize money for breaking the course record.

Though the 2025 New York City Marathon marked the second straight year that Kenyan runners owned the podium, Fiona O'Keeffe also made history by setting a a new US course record with her fourth-place finish.

Finishing the five-borough race in 2:22.49, O'Keeffe shaved nearly two minutes off the previous US record of 2:24:42 — set in 2021 by Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel.

"I can't take too much credit for the time — that was all on the women ahead of me," O'Keeffe said, sharing the spotlight with the runners who pushed her on Sunday. "Grateful to be back in the marathon. Feels like coming home."

Europe's top soccer teams have started down their 2027 World Cup paths, with UEFA revealing the field of 2026 European Qualifiers in a Tuesday morning league-stage draw.

Reigning world champion and world No. 1 Spain headlines the results, with La Roja set to face 2023 World Cup runners-up — and newly minted back-to-back Euro champs — No. 4 England in Group A3, while Group A1 pits perennial titans No. 3 Sweden against rising stars No. 12 Italy.

Group A2 will see No. 6 France taking on the No. 11 Netherlands, with No. 5 Germany and No. 13 Norway headlining Group A4.

A total of 11 UEFA teams will clinch spots in the 2027 World Cup via the European Qualifiers, which kick off in March 2026, though one additional UEFA nation will earn the opportunity to try and punch a ticket to the Brazil-hosted tournament via an inter-continental playoff in February 2027.

Based on the 2025 Nations League results, UEFA teams fell into three leagues entering the 2026 qualifiers, with League A and B housing 16 squads each while League C holds 21.

The winners of League A's four groups will directly qualify for the World Cup, while the remaining League A teams along with top finishers from League B and C will move on to a series of playoffs to ultimately determine the seven other direct UEFA qualifiers, plus the inter-confederation play-off contender.

The 2026 UEFA World Cup Qualifiers League A Groups

• Group A1: No. 3 Sweden, No. 12 Italy, No. 14 Denmark, No. 35 Serbia

• Group A2: No. 6 France, No. 11 Netherlands, No. 26 Poland, No. 27 Republic of Ireland

• Group A3: No. 1 Spain, No. 4 England, No. 17 Iceland, No. 34 Ukraine

• Group A4: No. 5 Germany, No. 13 Norway, No. 19 Austria, No. 38 Slovenia

With the 64-team national tournament bracket dropping in less than four weeks, the No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers remain the only undefeated squad in the 2025 NCAA volleyball season after back-to-back weekend losses snapped the previously unbeaten No. 4 Texas Longhorns' winning streak.

Downed in consecutive Top-10 matchups, Texas first fell to No. 6 Texas A&M in a tense five-set thriller on Friday before No. 2 Kentucky quickly handled the Longhorns in a Sunday sweep.

"We got to make sure that we are dialed in from the very first point. I thought our team fought pretty hard, but we didn't execute the level that we can," said Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott.

The weekend's volatile Top 10 results ultimately cemented Nebraska's standing as the team to beat, with the Huskers earning a unanimous No. 1 vote in the AVCA rankings for the third time this season on Monday.

Nebraska's dominance drives even deeper than the team's current 22-0 season record, with the Huskers only dropping six sets all year as they ride a 13-game sweep streak into their last eight regular-season clashes.

"I wouldn't say there's anything super unique or new that we're doing," said first-year Nebraska head coach Dani Busboom Kelly. "Putting our players in challenging situations in practice against other players has been pretty important."

How to watch Nebraska and Texas volleyball this week

Top-ranked Nebraska will next face unranked Illinois at 8 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on FS1.

Meanwhile, No. 4 Texas will look to bounce back when the Longhorns take on recently unranked Florida at 7 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on the SEC Network.

As Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball preps for its second season, the upstart league revealed newly designed jerseys for its expanded 2026 campaign on Monday — including branding for incoming teams Breeze BC and Hive BC.

In collaboration with sportswear giant Under Armour, the updated Unrivaled jerseys feature details like bottom hem stripes for untucked wearing, side-body detailing, and a first-ever championship patch for inaugural title-winners Rose BC.

All eight clubs will sport home and away sets, along with alternate uniforms and more elaborate spins for the popular midseason 1v1 tournament.

Unrivaled will also be revealing team rosters this week, with fans of particular teams bracing for change as the offseason league navigates both player pool adjustments and expansion.

Once again, the league's head coaches built team rosters via an internal draft, pulling from six player pods organized according to position.

Each of last year's four playoff teams — the Lunar Owls, Rose BC, the Laces, and Vinyl BC — were able to protect up to two returning players, with the two non-playoff teams (the Mist and Phantom BC) allowed to keep just one player each out of selection.

Expansion sides Breeze and Hive began the draft, choosing the first two players from the non-protected athletes available.

All eight team rosters for the 2026 Unrivaled season will drop in a live Bleacher Report YouTube broadcast at 7 PM ET on Wednesday.

How to buy the Unrivaled 2026 jerseys

Following Wednesday night's roster reveal, fans will be able to purchase a limited number of 2026 jerseys via the Unrivaled shop.