The 2023 SheBelieves Cup kicks off on Thursday. The friendly tournament is a key tune-up for the U.S. women’s national team before the World Cup begins in July.

What is the team’s schedule?

• USA vs. Canada: Thursday, Feb. 16 @ 7 p.m. on HBO Max
• USA vs. Japan: Sunday, Feb. 19 @ 3:30 p.m. on TNT and HBO Max
• USA vs. Brazil: Wednesday, Feb. 22 @ 7 p.m. on TNT and HBO Max

Four of the world's top nations battle for hardware at the 2023 #SheBelievesCup, presented by @Visa 🏆

USA 🇺🇸
Canada 🇨🇦
Japan 🇯🇵
Brazil 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/3AlGhAnRTZ

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) February 9, 2023

What are the top storylines?

1. The Canadian women’s national team attempted to go on strike this weekend over budget cuts, equal pay grievances and lack of support from Canada Soccer. But Canada Soccer deemed the strike unlawful and threatened legal action, forcing the players to participate in SheBelieves Cup, which begins with Canada’s matchup against the USWNT. Given the history of support between the two teams (Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn voiced their support for Canada on Saturday), expect there to be some form of protest before or during the game.

2. With this being one of the primary tune-up tournaments before the U.S. heads to the World Cup, it’s likely that the players coach Vlatko Andonovski takes to the SheBelieves Cup will be close to the final roster, barring players returning from injury. Some players will look to cement their place on the roster, such as 20-year-old forward Trinity Rodman, while the schedule of three games over seven days will help prepare the team for the workload at the World Cup.

3. While the USWNT remains the top team in the world, their run of three straight losses against England, Spain and Germany in October showed that they’re not infallible. This year’s SheBelieves Cup field features three teams in the top 15 of the world rankings. Canada returns top talent from its 2021 Olympic-winning team, such as forward Janine Beckie, midfielder Julia Grosso and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. Brazil brings several NWSL stars, headlined by Debinha, one of the best players in the NWSL, and Marta, one of the best to ever play the game in Marta. Japan historically gives the USWNT tough games. As a result, this is one of the best tests the USWNT could face ahead of their trip down under in July.

Who are players to watch?

Mallory Swanson has started off the year with a bang, scoring twice in the team’s opener against New Zealand and again in the second friendly of their international trip in January. It was the type of performance the team needed in the first game, as they struggled to score against a depleted New Zealand team.

Lynn Williams has had a successful return to the pitch, scoring a goal against New Zealand mere minutes after subbing into her first game since last February. The 29-year-old forward had spent almost all of the past year recovering from a hamstring injury.

“[Williams’] road to recovery has been pretty incredible to watch, and just to see her come in and make an impact and score a goal goes to show what a great player she is,” Swanson told The Athletic.

As Williams settles back into the USWNT, look for her to continue to contribute. With 15 goals and 11 assists through 49 career international appearances, Williams can find a groove no matter where she is on the pitch.

Elsewhere on the field, Taylor Kornieck will continue to adapt to the six position in the midfield, an experiment by Andonovski that has received mixed reactions. Given Kornieck’s 6-foot-1 height and abilities, Wave head coach Casey Stoney has said that playing her as an isolated six would mean “taking away her strengths,” but she’s interested to see how it plays out.

“I’m sure Vlatko will give her that information and give her the best chance to be successful,” Stoney said. “I’m interested to see how she gets on in there. She’s so coachable, and she wants to do well, so I’m sure she’ll go in there and be successful.”

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

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The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

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Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

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Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."