USWNT schedule 2023: Road to the World Cup

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Lynn Williams and the USWNT are gearing up for the World Cup in July. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The U.S. women’s national team is ramping up its preparation for the World Cup this summer.

The reigning World Cup champions started their year with two resounding wins against New Zealand. And then USWNT swept its three games in the SheBelieves Cup.

What do we know about the rest of the USWNT’s 2023 schedule?

FIFA has marked two more international windows on the calendar ahead of the start of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on July 20. The first, which runs from April 3-11, will bringย two matches against World Cup debutante Ireland in Austin and St. Louis. The secondย runs from July 10-18, just before the World Cup; the USWNT played a three-match Send-Off Series ahead of the 2019 tournament.

International friendlies

  • Saturday, April 8 — 2:30 p.m. ET
    • United States vs. Ireland (Q2 Stadium, Austin, Texas)
  • Tuesday, April 11 — 7:30 p.m. ET
    • United States vs. Ireland (City Park, St. Louis)

World Cup

The USWNT will play three group-stage matches at the World Cup, one against each of its opponents in Group E.

Group E includes the team the United States beat in the 2019 World Cup final, the Netherlands. Still,ย USWNT legend Julie Foudy said the USWNT landed a โ€œvery winnable group.โ€

  • Friday, July 21 — 9 p.m. ET
    • United States vs. Vietnam (Eden Park, Auckland)
  • Wednesday, July 26 — 9 p.m. ET
    • United States vs. Netherlands (Wellington Regional)
  • Tuesday, Aug. 1 — 3 a.m. ET
    • United States vs. Portugal (Eden Park, Auckland)

Should the USWNT advance from the group stage, the knockout round will start Aug. 5. The round of 16 runs from Aug. 5-8, followed by the quarterfinals from Aug. 10-12 and then the semifinals from Aug. 15-16.

The championship match is set for Aug. 20 in Sydney, with the third-place match one day earlier in Brisbane.