The Soccer Tournament is adding a women’s field after debuting this summer, and Heather O’Reilly has even bigger plans for the players she wants to recruit to her team competing in the event.

The 7-on-7, winner-take-all event debuted in June with a grand prize of $1 million. Former U.S. women’s national team star O’Reilly entered an all-women team in the tournament, which was otherwise made up of all men.

Now, the event is introducing a women’s field thanks to the help of O’Reilly’s squad, which included former national team players, was coached by Mia Hamm and drew widespread support. The 2024 women’s tournament will award a separate $1 million prize to the winner in an effort to ensure equal pay.

“We were blown away last year [summer 2023] by the reception that Heather O’Reilly’s U.S. Women team got down in North Carolina,” Jon Mugar, the founder and CEO of The Tournaments, told ESPN. “There were a lot of people there cheering them on specifically and getting to know Heather throughout the process. We quickly got to talking about, ‘Hey, what would this look like if we were to break out a women’s bracket with a separate and equal million-dollar prize?'”

Even if the tournament hadn’t added a women’s bracket, O’Reilly and her team would have returned to competition. But now, more women will have the chance to play as part of an eight-team field, smaller than the men’s 48-team field.

“I’m thrilled to take part again in it this year, and I think it’s a huge statement that TST and the organizers have committed to equal prize money,” O’Reilly told ESPN. “The statement that it makes and the feeling around equality, I think is super special.”

O’Reilly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion with the USWNT, says she’s going to be calling up some old U.S. teammates who recently retired. The tournament will return to Cary, N.C. and take place June 5-10.

“I’m a competitor and I like our chances,” O’Reilly said. “I’m definitely going to be calling a lot of the household names that everybody can imagine that just retired, like Ali Krieger, Julie Ertz, Carli Lloyd. I can promise that we’ll get some big names there. We’re four hours away from a million-dollar prize.”

Heather O’Reilly is calling out the Spanish federation for some of Spain’s best players not being at the World Cup.

After Spain won its first-ever World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over England on Sunday, O’Reilly wrote on social media that one day she hopes to “know the whole story” behind Spain’s internal conflict. A group of 15 players boycotted the national team last year, and just three returned for the World Cup, over a dispute with the Spanish federation and head coach Jorge Vilda.

“Not to be a downer on day of celebration, but I have been working on holding multiple feeling at the same time and allowing space emotional growth and security,” the former USWNT star wrote. “To that end. Let me express some things that I think are bulls—t. …

“F–king sad that some of the best players in Spain are not there. I hope one day we know the whole story as it is hard to comment or speculate on limited information. But it’s a bummer, and must have been bad.”

Fucking sad that some of the best players in Spain are not there. I hope one day we know the whole story as it is hard to comment or speculate on limited information. But it’s a bummer, and must have been bad.

— Heather O'Reilly (@HeatherOReilly) August 20, 2023

O’Reilly also called out FIFA president Gianni Infantino for his comments about how women need to convince men to invest in women’s sports.

“I have been involved in some [FIFA] programs lately and they are doing some very positive things. There are wonderful people there that care about the game deeply,” she wrote. “But how is a Gianni going to tell a group of women to “pick the right battles and convince us” dear f–ing god.”

Heather O’Reilly knows the U.S. women’s national team needs to make some changes in order to succeed at the 2023 World Cup. But will head coach Vlatko Andonovski make those changes? The World Cup champion turned Fox Sports analyst isn’t so sure.

The USWNT advanced to the Round of 16 by the grace of a goalpost, which preserved a scoreless draw with Portugal to close out the group stage. The defending champions will face Sweden, and they’ll do so without Rose Lavelle, who must sit after picking up two yellow cards in the past two games.

Andonovski has faced his fair share of criticism for USWNT’s poor performance relative to its usual World Cup results. And for O’Reilly, who won three Olympic gold medals and a World Cup during her 14-year career with the team, those results will not come without tactical changes.

“We would all be naive if we thought we could win this World Cup with the way that we look right now,” O’Reilly said after Tuesday’s draw with Portugal. “So there needs to be changes. And there needs to be big changes. Whether or not Vlatko Andonovski is going to make the changes, well, that’s another story.”

What are the changes O’Reilly suggests? For one, move Julie Ertz back to the midfield, which has sorely missed her absence as she spent the group stage at center-back. In her place, start Alana Cook on the backline.

“I want to see Julie Ertz in the midfield, OK?” O’Reilly said. “We don’t have Rose Lavelle. This is exactly what happened in 2015. Lauren Cheney got a yellow card, that forced Carli Lloyd up the field, and we all know what happened. Maybe Rose Lavelle getting yanked because of the yellow card situation is the exact catalyst that we need to spice it up, to have a new look.”

If, by some miracle, Andonovski does decide to switch up his formation in any way, shape or form, O’Reilly promises to go cage diving with sharks, per a bet she made with her fellow Fox Sports analysts.

“I think we could take this conversation two different ways: what would I do, and what do I think Vlatko Andonovski (is going to do),” she said when asked about whether or not Crystal Dunn should shift from the defense to the midfield.

“Because there’s no way that Vlatko Andonovski is going to change his defensive shape at this point,” she continued. “I would be shocked… I will shark dive if Vlatko Andonovski changes his backline for this game — shape or personnel… He ain’t doing it.”

When asked about her suggestion to shift Ertz back to the midfield in the absence of Lavelle, with Alana Cook as Ertz’s replacement center-back, she conceded the point.

“Well, we’ve got to make some change in the midfield, so that’s a decent bet,” she said. “So I guess I’d be swimming with the fishes.”

Ertz could play the role of “an enforcer” in the midfield — and the USWNT might not have any other choice, without Lavelle in the mix. The team needs something – anything, really – to spark some life.

“It’s a trade-off,” O’Reilly said. “[Ertz in the midfield] is going to be an enforcer. She’s going to make things happen. She might even get on the end of a cross. You have to. The chips are all in.

“There’s no way we are going to win the World Cup in the state that we are right now. I really do think Vlatko Andonovski knows that. I think he’s happy about a couple things, not conceding any goals, but he’s not an idiot. He’s got four more games to plod through.”

The U.S. women’s national team is advancing to the Round of 16 at the World Cup, but the tournament has hardly gone smoothly so far: Head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s team went 1-0-2 in Group E, only narrowly avoiding defeat Tuesday against Portugal with a 0-0 draw.

The team’s uneven performance has led some fans and experts to panic. But Heather O’Reilly, a former USWNT midfielder turned Fox Sports analyst, sees a lot of similarities to the 2015 team that won the World Cup after starting slow in the group stage.

"This team needs us to get behind them... They're going to take care of business with the next opponent and they have this crazy self belief that they're going to move on."@HeatherOReilly, @stuholden and @karinaleblanc share some positives after the USWNT's draw vs Portugal ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hkq5TIGIR6

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 1, 2023

“There was so much chatter. Are we going out early? Does this team have it?” O’Reilly said. “That doesn’t help. That doesn’t help the players, That doesn’t help the staff. That doesn’t help the football. We need to get behind the team.”

Former USWNT captain Carli Lloyd, also a Fox Sports analyst and a hero of the 2015 team, has been among the harshest critics of the team’s performance this World Cup.

“There’s been a shift within this team, within the federation, within the culture, the mentality,” Lloyd said after the Portugal match. “The importance and meaning of winning has changed. What has come from winning has become more important.”

O’Reilly, however, was quick to point that the team was hardly dominant in the group stage in 2015: The USWNT beat Australia, 3-1, in its first match, but then played Sweden to a 0-0 draw and escaped with a 1-0 win against Nigeria.

“Our backs were against the wall,” said O’Reilly, who played on that team alongside Lloyd. “We fought back. A couple tactical changes were made. Carli Lloyd made history.”

O’Reilly acknowledged that Andonovski needs to make some changes – she suggested moving Julie Ertz back to midfield from center-back – but believes the USWNT has what it takes to once again right the ship.

“They’ve only given up one goal in three games. They’re a very defensive-minded group. Vlatko Andonovski, he’s a conservative coach, so we have to embrace that,” she said. “This team, they don’t even care who they’re playing. They don’t care if it’s Sweden… They’re going to take care of business with the next opponent, and they have this crazy self-belief they’re going to move on.”

Heather O’Reilly isn’t hanging up the cleats just yet.

The former U.S. women’s national team star is joining the North Carolina Courage’s USL W League team as a player for the summer, the team announced Thursday.

Renames team to u-39s https://t.co/DMmOmp0zms

— Heather O'Reilly (@HeatherOReilly) May 19, 2023

The 38-year-old has been working with the team as a player-coach in order to get in shape for her second straight appearance in Soccer Aid, an annual charity event that aims to raise money for UNICEF.

Last year’s appearance kicked off her unretirement, paving the way for her to join Ireland’s Shelbourne FC for the club’s Champions League stand. She played in just two games, scoring a game-winner against ZNK Pomurje.

“Last year inspired a Champions League comeback. Who knows what this performance will inspire?” O’Reilly recently told the Mirror. “I’m at that point in my life that I’ve done it career-wise.”

There’s not much else the USWNT legend – a three-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup winner – could do to cement herself as one of the greats. But she isn’t playing for any other reason than that she just loves the game and wants to give back.

“A lot of opportunities come up now that are just icing on the cake,” she said. “And I feel a responsibility not just to represent myself but to represent women and to be a source of inspiration.

“And maybe [me being in SoccerAid] draws more people to be interested in the women’s game and if so, that’s great. I love this game, and I think I can still play and knock it. … I feel very fortunate to play in this event, that I still have my heart in this incredible sport and that my body still mostly cooperates. But at the end of the day, it’s about the kids and raising money for them. If I’m able to do that with my platform, that’s what it’s all about.”

A group of former U.S. women’s national team stars are set to compete in a new tournament this summer with a $1 million prize.

The Soccer Tournament is a winner-take-all 7-on-7 competition that will feature a number of stars from both the men’s and women’s national teams. In a format similar to the World Cup, 32 teams will compete in eight groups of four. Each team will play three group matches in June, before 16 teams advance into single-elimination knockout rounds to determine the winner.

Alongside USMNT stars and international teams in the field, Mia Hamm, Carla Overbeck and Michelle Akers will coach an all-women team called US Women.

The team was organized by U.S. World Cup champion Heather O’Reilly, who will play alongside former USWNT players Cat Whitehill, Lori Chalupny and Lori Lindsay. A number of other players are set to be revealed in the coming weeks.

TBT Enterprises, which has run a basketball iteration of the tournament for nearly a decade, will put on the tournament after expanding into soccer last year.

“Right away, without knowing much about it, I got a team slot without really putting much thought into who was going to be on my team,” O’Reilly said. “I just knew that I wanted a team and I wanted a chance to win and a chance to be part of it.”

The US Women Team was organized by longtime national team player Heather O'Reilly, who will also play in The Soccer Tournament.

More: https://t.co/rou1JVtdrJ pic.twitter.com/1BGyJ2xY2L

— espnW (@espnW) April 27, 2023

At first, O’Reilly said she considered holding tryouts for the team but soon decided to see about linking up USWNT greats. O’Reilly then sent out an email to her former teammates, who jumped at the opportunity.

“It was just essentially blasting out an email and explaining [TST],” O’Reilly said. “First of all, I had to say, ‘Please just read to the bottom and don’t think this is one of my crazy ideas. This is a real thing.’ I usually have some crazy idea, so a lot of people sometimes are unsure of how serious to take something that I’m suggesting.”

Between the coaching staff and roster of players, the US Women team will feature a combined seven World Cup titles, three Olympic gold medals and over 600 national team appearances.

The US Women will be the lone all-women’s team in the tournament, though other rosters are expected to feature women alongside men.

Former U.S. women’s national team members Heather O’Reilly and Lori Lindsey will join forces on a new women’s soccer show.

“Played In,” which will debut Monday on SiriusXM, will follow the NWSL season and the road to the 2023 World Cup. The weekly show will air at 7 p.m. ET each Monday on soccer channel SiriusXM FC.

The debut episode will preview the upcoming NWSL season, which kicks of on March 25.

“First of all, I am excited to be working with Lori again,” O’Reilly said.  “We were teammates on the US Women’s National Team for years and had approximately one million laughs together on trips and at the World Cup.

“I’m also thrilled to help bring women’s soccer to the masses with ‘Played In.’ The women’s game is growing at an unprecedented rate globally, and it is important that listeners are kept in the conversation on SiriusXM, a platform with such a large reach.”

O’Reilly made 231 appearances for the USWNT from 2002-16, with 47 goals and 55 assists in her international career. She helped the team to three Olympic gold medals and the 2015 World Cup championship. The midfielder also played six NWSL seasons, for the North Carolina Courage and the now-defunct Boston Breakers and FC Kansas City.

After the USWNT lost a third consecutive match in November, O’Reilly made waves when she slammed the team’s effort in the defeat.

Her co-host and former USWNT teammate Lindsey made 31 appearances for the national team. She played on the 2011 World Cup squad and served as an alternate for the 2012 Olympic gold medal-winning team.

USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonvski doesn’t agree with recent comments made by former greats Heather O’Reilly and Carli Lloyd following the team’s loss to Germany.

The 2-1 loss was the team’s third straight, the first time they’ve lost three consecutive games since 1993. Both Lloyd and O’Reilly took to Twitter to criticize the team’s performance, citing the team’s mentality.

On Saturday, Andonovski called the two “legends” but said that he doesn’t agree with the sentiments they expressed.

“I consider both of them my friends and they’re entitled to an opinion,” he said. “But at the same time, I would tend to disagree with the mentality piece that they’re talking about. I see these players on a daily basis, and I see what they do every day, and I see how they step on the field and everything that they put in.

“So I believe in this group of players. And I believe that they’re moving in the right direction.”

Much has been made of the team’s three-game skid, particularly with less than a year until the World Cup. Andonovski said Saturday that the scheduling was intentional and that he’s taking responsibility for ensuring that the team is prepared for next summer’s tournament.

The team enters the World Cup as defending champions and will be looking for their fifth World Cup title.

“We want to develop the players. We want to win games. And sometimes all of them don’t line up,” he continued. “Sometimes it takes a little bit of time.”