The U.S. women’s national team roster for the 2023 Women’s World Cup unveiled on Wednesday is markedly different from the one that took home the top prize in 2019.

While just two members of the 2019 squad have retired — Carli Lloyd and Ashlyn Harris — only nine players from that team will be competing at this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

Here’s a look at where the 23 members of the 2019 World Cup-winning team are now.

Injured USWNT players

Injuries have been a major theme in the lead-up to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and multiple members of the 2019 U.S. team are missing for that reason. The latest to join the injury list: USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn. The two-time World Cup champion has been dealing with an ankle injury and confirmed on Friday that there was “too much variability” in her return to play timeline to be named to the squad.

Other 2019 World Cup champions who are out with injury? Sam Mewis, Mallory Swanson, and Abby Dahlkemper. Tobin Press missed the end of the 2022 NWSL season with an injury and is not currently signed with a club team, while Christen Press is still rehabbing after she tore her ACL in June 2022.

Still playing, but not with the USWNT

Four members of the 2019 World Cup-winning team are still playing in the NWSL, but haven’t been called up to the U.S. national team in over a year. Allie Long (last cap: November 2019) and Ali Krieger (last cap: January 2021) are teammates for Gotham FC, with Krieger planning to retire at the end of the season. Two-time World Cup champion Morgan Gautrat (last cap: February 2022) joined the Kansas City Current ahead of the NWSL season, while Jessica McDonald (last cap: March 2020) plays for Racing Louisville. McDonald announced in May that she will miss the entire 2023 NWSL season while pregnant with her second child. The 35-year-old will serve as a studio analyst for Optus Sport during the World Cup this summer.

Missed the cut

Defender Tierna Davidson and goalkeeper A.D. Franch were in the running for the 2023 roster after appearing in recent USWNT camps but just missed Wednesday’s cut. Davidson made her return to competitive soccer this season after tearing her ACL in March 2022, but the 24-year-old did not make the cut after representing the U.S. in 2019. Likely based on recent NWSL form, Andonovski named Aubrey Kingsbury as the third-string goalkeeper over Franch.

USWNT champs making their World Cup return

That brings us to the returners from 2019. Kelley O’Hara, Lindsey Horan, Alex Morgan, Alyssa Naeher, Crystal Dunn and Megan Rapinoe will all make their World Cup return in Australia and New Zealand. Rapinoe, Morgan and O’Hara each competed at three previous World Cups (2011, 2015, 2019), with Naeher joining in to win back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2019.

Rose Lavelle’s role with the USWNT has only grown since she scored in the 2019 World Cup final. Upon suffering a knee injury in April, her status became less certain, but Andonovski had enough faith in her progress to name her to the 2023 roster. On Wednesday, the coach said Lavelle’s injury is “not a worry for us.”

Until recently, most people didn’t expect two-time World Cup champion Julie Ertz to factor into the 2023 squad. The midfielder suffered an MCL strain in the lead-up to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and took time off after the Games to rehab. She then sat out the 2022 NWSL season while pregnant with her first child, giving birth to son Madden last August. In February, U.S. head coach Vlatko Andonovski said the team was “probably not going to be able to count on [her] in the World Cup.” But Ertz made her USWNT return for the team’s final training camp and friendlies in April, signed with Angel City FC and was officially named to her third World Cup roster on Wednesday.

Defender Emily Sonnett was considered on the bubble in the lead-up to the roster reveal, but the veteran earned a spot on the U.S. depth chart due in part to injuries on the backline and versatility on the frontline.

The WNBA is taking a weekend road trip, as the No. 2 Atlanta Dream and No. 8 Seattle Storm head across the border to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the league's first-ever in-season Canada Game on Friday night.

The game features a rematch of Atlanta's 85-75 win over the Storm on Wednesday, with the win propelling the Dream up the WNBA standings — and threatening to drop Seattle out of postseason contention entirely.

"Time is running out, and the team knows it," Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn said earlier this week. "I didn't want to put so much pressure on them, but they know the situation, and they understand the urgency."

While Friday marks the first regular-season WNBA matchup played outside the US, the league has previously staged two preseason games in Canada, tipping off in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024 — both in front of sold-out crowds.

Toronto's 2023 exhibition appeared to serve as a trial run for expansion, with the league awarding the Canadian city its first franchise — the 2026-incoming Toronto Tempo — earlier this year.

While plans for a formal move to Vancouver hasn't yet surfaced, the WNBA's explosive popularity and rapid growth outlook provide plenty of room for new markets to enter the conversation.

How to watch the 2025 WNBA Canada Game

The No. 8 Seattle Storm and No. 2 Atlanta Dream will square off inside Vancouver's Rogers Arena at 10 PM ET on Friday night.

Live coverage of the WNBA Canada Game clash will air on ION.

Coming off a series of strategic transactions, the No. 10 Washington Mystics will forge ahead on Friday night, taking on the short-staffed No. 6 Indiana Fever with a chance to play spoiler as they reshape their 2025 expectations from below the postseason cutoff line.

"There's just so many different success stories with this group," Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson said following Washington's 88-83 loss to the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday.

The Mystics have lost five of their last six games, and will take the court on Friday without injured new addition Jacy Sheldon and starting center Shakira Austin.

While Washington exceeded this year's early-season projections — skyrocketing above the playoff line behind leading scorer Brittney Sykes and the dynamic rookie duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron — the now-fading Mystics chose to shift gears at the trade deadline, sending Sykes to the No. 8 Seattle Storm and shipping second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards off to the No. 13 Connecticut Sun.

With their natural 2026 draft pick secured, Washington has a shot at adding a top first-round prospect should they play out the rest of the regular season at the bottom of the WNBA standings — in other words, by strategically tanking the final weeks of 2025 play.

On the other hand, the injury-laden Indiana enters Friday's action eyeing a win after falling to the No. 11 Dallas Wings by just one point on Tuesday.

How to watch the Washington Mystics vs. Indiana Fever on Friday

The No. 10 Mystics will take on the No. 6 Fever in Indianapolis at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on ION.

A top-table battle headlines the NWSL this weekend, as the No. 1 Kansas City Current hosts the No. 2 Orlando Pride for a possible postseason rehearsal on Saturday.

Led by Golden Boot frontrunner Temwa Chawinga, the Current enter the weekend with a full 12-point lead over the rest of the league, as reigning NWSL Shield and Championship winners Orlando push to make a statement.

"We are resilient. That is part of our identity. We never give up and we are always playing to win, and we always believe in ourselves," Pride defender Kylie Nadaner said following last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Racing Louisville.

More than just a clash between the top two teams in the NWSL standings, history shows very little love lost between these perennial heavy-hitters.

Last season, Orlando snapped KC's NWSL-record 17-game unbeaten streak on the Current's home turf, then took Kansas City down again in the pair's 2024 semifinal playoff match.

"We will remember the way they acted after the cameras were off," Current forward Michelle Cooper posted to social media after their July 2024 loss.

Kansas City has already issued some regular-season revenge on their way up the table this year, defeating the Pride 1-0 back in May.

How to watch Kansas City vs. Orlando this NWSL weekend

The No. 1 Current will kick off against the No. 2 Pride at 4 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on CBS.

NBA 2K is going all in on the WNBA, with the popular video game expanding its MyTEAM mode this week to allow athletes from both leagues to star on the same team when the 2K26 edition drops next month.

"MyTEAM is where competition meets a basketball fan's wildest imagination," explained Visual Concepts VP of NBA development Erick Boenisch. "By integrating the WNBA into one of our most popular modes, we're not only giving players the opportunity to customize their all-time dream rosters but shining a spotlight on some of the game's most iconic hoopers. We're looking forward to giving our players a new and deeper way to engage with the WNBA."

"Players can now mix and match current superstars and legends from both leagues, and compete with more dream lineup combinations than ever before," NBA 2K said in Thursday's release.

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"Pair Paige Bueckers with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, throw a lob from Sheryl Swoopes to Shaquille O'Neal, or run a pick-and-roll with Angel Reese and Carmelo Anthony," the franchise continued.

NBA 2K has ramped up its WNBA integration significantly since the league's debut in the 2K20 edition, expanding from Play Now and Season modes to the upcoming 2K26 version's virtual press conferences, pre-draft interviews, social media refreshes, and Top-10 player ratings.

How to buy the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26

With Chicago Sky sophomore Angel Reese playing cover star, the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26 will be sold exclusively in physical form at GameStop, dropping along with the other versions of the popular video game on September 5th.

Fans can purchase the WNBA version through the gaming retailer's presale now.