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Julie Foudy: USWNT is in ‘rebuild’ ahead of 2023 World Cup

Andi Sullivan, Kristie Mewis, Rose Lavelle and Mallory Pugh enter Red Bull Arena before the USWNT’s match against Germany on Nov. 13. (Erin Chang/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The men’s World Cup in Qatar brought attention to the progress the U.S. women’s national team has made off the pitch in the form of its equal pay deal. But on the pitch, its roster is dealing with growing pains, U.S. soccer legend Julie Foudy tells Just Women’s Sports.

As the men’s national team made its World Cup run, the USWNT made headlines, as for the first time under their new CBAs, the teams are sharing their FIFA prize money equally. The USMNT advanced to the knockout round, which put both squads in line to receive $5.85 million each — but for Foudy, the change is about more than the bottom line.

“The U.S. Soccer logo and mantra has always been ‘one nation, one team,’ right? But now it really feels like that,” Foudy says. “They always did support each other, but it just feels very different now.

“It feels the way it should be, and I’m glad we finally got to that because that’s really how it should be. We should all be rowing in the same boat together.”

Yet as attention turns from the USMNT and the 2022 tournament to the USWNT and the 2023 World Cup, there has been an uptick in concern about the women’s readiness.

For the first time since 1993, the team lost three games in a row, falling to England, Spain and Germany late this year. While the U.S. managed to avoid a fourth straight loss, ending their 2022 schedule with a win over Germany, questions remain.

Foudy sees the losses as part of the process for a developing roster.

“You’re playing against three of the best teams in the world who could easily win this next World Cup. And that’s what you want to see at that level,” she said. “And they’re still so young. I mean, that’s the thing we often forget when people start to panic about what is happening with this team.

“This is a rebuild. That’s going to take some time.”

Foudy pointed to forwards Mallory Pugh and Sophia Smith as bright spots for the squad.

“The power of those two young gunners is incredible to see,” she said, noting that their ability to open up space for Alex Morgan in the No. 9 spot makes it hard for teams to handle the USWNT attack.

“The challenge, of course, is that you can’t just rely on those two to be carrying the team, which is what a lot of that looked like in those four games,” she added.

Still, the USWNT great sees potential in the front five, including Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan. Catarina Macario should also make her return from an ACL tear in early 2023.

While the team has dealt with a plethora of injuries, there has been “too much discussion” about the team’s missing players from both the media and U.S. Soccer staff, Foudy said.

“Guess what? That’s part of soccer,” she said. “Yes, the U.S. has a ton of injuries right now. But that’s part of it. It’s the next person up.”

Other national teams have players missing, Foudy noted. Spain’s Alexia Putellas is sidelined with a torn ACL, while England’s Beth Mead recently tore her ACL and could miss next summer’s World Cup.

“It happens for every team, every country. It is not just with this national team,” Foudy said. “And so do they miss Macario? Yes. Do they miss maybe a [Christen] Press if she was able to go? Yes. Tobin Heath is injured. I mean, Sam Mewis? Julie Ertz?

“The reality is, they may not have them [next summer]. And so you, you just deal with the hand you’re dealt.”

The USWNT must rely on its depth as they move into 2023 and continue to prepare for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

“When I hear anything coming from some of the staff at U.S. Soccer, like, enough,” Foudy said. “We know about the people who are injured. Let’s focus on what you have.”

Another World Cup discussion, though, has been fun for Foudy: The debate over whether the beautiful game should be called football or soccer.

Foudy, alongside Brandi Chastain and Mia Hamm, participated in a Frito-Lay ad campaign about the debate, which gave her the chance to work with legendary director Michael Bay.

“He was amazing and, of course, hysterical,” Foudy said.

While she came in knowing the script for the commercial, she and Chastain were allowed to riff off of one another at the direction of Bay.

“That’s the beauty of Michael, too, is you can kind of pivot while he’s [directing],” she added. “He’s seen things and he’s reacting to stuff. He was great.”

The campaign was headlined by David Beckham and Peyton Manning, two of the best in their respective sports. Also joining the star-studded cast were Javier “Chicarito” Hernández and Tim Howard.

“It was just so fun to see it come together,” Foudy said. “When you’re hearing about where their shoots were, how they were doing and to watch the different iterations of it.”

Working alongside Chastain was not new to Foudy — after all, they were teammates for the entirety of their national team careers. The two-time World Cup winner admits that whenever the two hang out for long periods of time, “trouble ensues.”

“In a good way, good dribble,” she assured. “It was really fun.”

The commercial, which has run throughout the men’s World Cup, elicits “healthy debate,” which Foudy loves.

“The thing I hear from people who’ve watched it, and so many people have responded to it, is they just love it, right?” she said. “They love that it’s fun, it’s bringing people together, they’re debating it in a healthy way. The world needs a lot more healthy debate, in a way. Which is essentially what the World Cup does, which is what the commercial does.”

US Swimming Icon Ledecky Wins 22nd Title at World Aquatics Championships

US star Katie Ledecky celebrates her 1500-meter freestyle gold-medal victory at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships.
Ledecky won her 22nd world title with her 1500-meter freestyle victory on Tuesday. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

US swimming icon Katie Ledecky is back on top, earning her 22nd world title with a gold medal-winning 1,500-meter freestyle performance at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships on Tuesday.

Finishing with a time of 15:26.44, Ledecky now owns 25 of the top 26 times in the event's history and holds six World Aquatics Championships titles at that distance.

"Each one has meaning, and I love every race that I've had at Worlds over the years," the 28-year-old swimming star told broadcasters following her Tuesday victory.

That 22nd title brought Ledecky's combined Worlds total to an overall 28 medals, lifting the star to second on the all-time most decorated list where she trails only retired US men's star Michael Phelps's 33 podium finishes.

Earlier in the week, the Team USA standout took bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, coming in third behind China's silver-medalist Li Bingjie and Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh, who won the race with a time of 3:56.26.

Gold medals have been hard to come by for Team USA at this year's World Championships.

Other than Ledecky's win and the 100-meter butterfly title snagged by Gretchen Walsh on Monday, the US women have struggled to claim gold medals as they push to recover from the acute gastroenteritis that hit several team members at their pre-meet training camp in Thailand.

That stomach bug inhibited multiple US swimmers from traveling with the team to the Singapore meet, and saw contenders like 100-meter butterfly Olympic gold medalist Torri Huske pull out of initial heats.

"We're taking it a day at a time," said Team USA head coach Greg Meehan about the impact of the illness. "Obviously, this is not how we thought the first few days of this competition would go. But I'm really proud of our team."

How to watch Ledecky at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships

The 2025 World Aquatics Championships runs through Sunday, and US star Ledecky has two events left to swim at the meet.

On Thursday, she'll compete in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay, before facing another showdown with rival McIntosh in the 800-meter freestyle on Saturday.

Preliminary heats kick off the night before at 10 PM ET, with finals seeing staggered starts beginning at 7 AM ET.

Live coverage of the meet airs on Peacock.

FOX Sports Women’s Euro Gamble Pays Off with Record U.S. Viewership

Fans watch the 2025 Euro final in the back garden of a pub in England.
FOX saw record viewership numbers throughout the 2025 Euro. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 made a splash across the pond, drawing an average of 458,000 US viewers per match across FOX platforms to mark a 97% viewership increase over the 2022 edition — making this year's tournament the most-watched English-language Women's Euro on record.

Building off the 2025 competition's previously reported record-breaking numbers, Sunday's grand finale between defending champs England and 2023 World Cup winners Spain averaged 1.35 million US viewers — a 53% increase in viewership over the last Women's Euro championship match.

Even more, the broadcast ultimately peaked at 1.92 million fans tuning in, making it the most-watched English-language Women's Euro Final on record.

The historic viewership is a major win for broadcaster FOX, who secured the women's tournament's first-ever US media deal back in May.

Initially committing to live coverage of 20 of the tournament's matches, record returns motivated the broadcast giant to quickly pivot and air all 31 matches live as part of its FOX Sports Summer of Soccer campaign.

"More and more people are tuning in to watch soccer in the US," FOX Sports commentator and UWSNT vet Carli Lloyd told The Athletic. "There's just been an incredible amount of soccer on display, which has been fantastic for the sport."

Washington Spirit Star Trinity Rodman Preps for Long-Awaited NWSL Return

Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman dribbles the ball during an April 2025 NWSL match.
Rodman hasn't featured for the Washington Spirit since April. (EM Dash/Imagn Images)

As the NWSL preps for this weekend's return from an extended summer break, No. 4 Washington Spirit star forward Trinity Rodman is also hoping to re-take the pitch for the first time since April.

Rodman is currently back training with the team, rejoining her club after undergoing extended treatment overseas for chronic back issues.

"I'd never really dealt with something like that," Rodman admitted after an open practice earlier this week. "So, for me, mentally, it was very difficult."

"[I was] trying to function through pain, and kind of gaslight myself to thinking it was fine every day, when it wasn't," she said. "I can now kind of openly say, I was in pain all the time."

Rodman also admits that stepping away was, though difficult, the right call to make for her healing.

"Obviously, it sucks being away from the team and being away from soccer in general," she added. "But I got to work on things that I wouldn't have gotten to work on if I was in the team environment all the time, so I think that was a positive."

Rodman's availability fluctuated after she earned an Olympic gold medal with the USWNT in Paris last summer, with the soccer superstar featuring in just four Spirit games this season — and none since stepping away in April.

Now functioning pain-free, Rodman's next on-pitch challenge is balancing her competitive intensity with her newly found health.

"It's really understanding my body and acknowledging [when] it's in pain," she explained. "And not pushing through things that I shouldn't."

Rodman eyes new contract amid NWSL return

On top of navigating her return to play, Rodman is also actively negotiating with the Washington Spirit for a contract renewal.

Her current deal expires at the end of 2025, and with interest in the US standout reportedly mounting from overseas clubs, the 23-year-old could eventually field multiple offers.

Considering her lack of minutes so far this season, the star called the assumed interest "a weird situation."

"I'm trying not to stress about it or put too much pressure on it," she said of the ongoing talks. "At the end of the day, I'm worried about health first.... Everything else can come next."

Top-Ranked Minnesota and New York Face Off in 1st WNBA Finals Rematch

Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty standout Breanna Stewart eye a rebound during the 2024 WNBA Finals.
The Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty will play each other four times over the next three weeks. (David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

Wednesday's WNBA bill puts a heavyweight battle in the spotlight, as 2024 finalists and 2025 league leaders Minnesota will host reigning champion No. 2 New York in their first face-off of the season — with the Liberty hoping to rattle both the Lynx and the standings.

"I think common sense would say that those two teams probably should have played earlier in the season," Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve told media this week, referencing the apparent scheduling idiosyncrasies that delayed the championship rematch.

"It doesn't feel like a Finals rematch anymore, honestly," Lynx forward Napheesa Collier echoed. "It's a new year for us. And it's been so long, it's almost August, so it's just the two top teams going against each other."

Both squads enter the clash on uncharacteristic skids, as Minnesota and New York look to avenge recent losses while other WNBA teams jockey for positioning during the league's Wednesday night slate:

  • No. 3 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 6 Indiana Fever, 7 PM ET (ESPN3): The Fever must continue to contend without injured star guard Caitlin Clark, as Indiana faces a newly healthy Mercury side striving to steal back the No. 2 spot with a win.
  • No. 5 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 11 Dallas Wings, 8 PM ET (ESPN3): After a disappointing Tuesday upset loss, the will Dream close out a back-to-back against a bolstered Dallas squad fresh off a big victory over New York.
  • No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 1 Minnesota Lynx, 8 PM ET (ESPN): With a four-game lead in the standings, the Lynx aren't in danger of giving up their perch at the top, but a strong performance from the Liberty could provide a much-needed boost to the ailing title-holders.

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