Injuries and extended absences have taken a toll on the U.S. women’s national team as the reigning world champions prepare for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

As head coach Vlatko Andonovski continues to evaluate players before naming a final roster next summer, we take a look at recent USWNT mainstays on the outside looking in and where they stand in the run-up to the biggest tournament in women’s soccer. Next up: Tobin Heath.

Position: Forward
Total caps: 181
Most recent USWNT appearance: Oct. 26, 2021 vs. South Korea (Friendly)

What is her track record with the USWNT?

The 34-year-old made her first appearance with the senior national team in January 2008. Later that year, at 20 years old, she earned a spot on the Olympic roster and helped the team to a gold medal.

Since then, she has won another Olympic gold medal and two World Cups with the USWNT, and she was voted the U.S. Women’s Soccer Player of the Year in 2016. She started six of seven matches at the 2019 World Cup, where the USWNT defended its title.

What is keeping her off the roster?

Heath has struggled with injuries throughout this year.

The forward ended her stint with Arsenal of the Women’s Super League several matches before the end of the season due to a hamstring injury. Muscle ailments limited her to appearances in 18 of 33 matches. She never played a full 90 minutes, and she scored just three goals for the Gunners.

“We haven’t been able to quite get her over [the injuries] well enough to complete 90 minutes yet,” Arsenal coach Jonas Eidevall said before Heath’s departure. “It wasn’t part of the plan when we brought her in, and I would have loved to see her play 90 minutes more often in this team because she is a great player with really great qualities.”

After nursing her hamstring back to health, Heath joined NWSL club OL Reign in July. She appeared in five matches before being sidelined with injury again in August. She underwent season-ending knee surgery in September.

“Although this wasn’t an easy decision, we know this was the right decision,” OL Reign coach Laura Harvey said.

When will she be back?

The timeline for Heath’s return to the pitch after her knee surgery remains unknown. Also up in the air? Her future with the USWNT.

As Andonovski pointed out in explaining forward Christen Press’ absence from the roster this summer, “it’s not easy to be a forward in the United States right now.” Younger players, including Mallory Pugh, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, have started to make their name in the crowded position group, which could leave Heath on the outside looking in.

What other players are missing from the USWNT roster?

• Where is… Julie Ertz?
• Where is… Catarina Macario?
• Where is… Sam Mewis?
• Where is… Christen Press?
• Where is… Lynn Williams?

Incoming PWHL teams Seattle and Vancouver are one step closer to their 2025/26 season debuts, as Monday's first-ever expansion draft capped a busy trade window to bring each new franchise's roster to 12 players.

Seasoned veterans and young prospects alike found themselves on the move last week, with notable names like former Boston Fleet captain Hilary Knight and New York Sirens vet Alex Carpenter bound for Seattle while Toronto Sceptres standout Sarah Nurse will head to Vancouver.

Each of the six founding PWHL teams could only protect three players ahead of the league's aggressive expansion process, with most front offices opting to prioritize speed and parity.

Team Canada's 2022 Olympic gold medalist Ashton Bell of the 2025 Walter Cup runners-up Ottawa Charge went first in Monday's PWHL expansion draft, with brought each original team's roster losses up to four total players.

Five of last year's six first-round entry draft picks are now en route to either Seattle or Vancouver, with only No. 1 overall selectee Sarah Fillier remaining with her original New York team.

"Selfishly, I'm very excited," Seattle GM Meghan Turner said after Monday's final selection. "I think it's a great roster that we've built so far."

Both Seattle and Vancouver will see their rosters nearly double to the league's 23-athlete tally later this month, when the expansion teams will join the founding six teams in snagging talent from the PWHL's June 24th entry draft.

The PWHL's expansion process incentivizes new teams to hit the ice ready to compete, though its impact on the league's existing clubs will likely not be clear until the puck drops on the 2025/26 season.

The US Women have done it again, with the 7v7 squad claiming The Soccer Tournament's (TST) $1 million prize for a second straight year on Monday.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist and 2015 World Cup champ Heather O'Reilly notched the game-winning assist in the annual tournament's championship match, with University of North Carolina (UNC) rising junior Evelyn Shores slotting the ball home to secure the 3-0 win over Bumpy Pitch FC.

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This year's title-winning team featured several retired USWNT legends, including O'Reilly, Ali Krieger, Allie Long, and Carli Lloyd. Joining the former national team stars were ex-NWSL standouts like Mana Shim, plus six NCAA up-and-comers out of reigning national champion UNC.

"They've been great this entire week, just getting us in the team, making us feel comfortable," Shores said of her more experienced teammates. "It was such a team effort. This has been so fun all around — I'm just so glad I could help us win it."

The US Women also scored multiple individual tournament awards, with Bella Devey snagging MVP honors ahead of her freshman season with UNC this fall.

Meanwhile, NWSL alum Lindsey Harris's brick-wall goalkeeping earned her the competition's Golden Glove.

Devey, Lloyd, and Shim were all named to the 2025 TST Best Seven lineup, which also honored US Women head coach Kendall Fletcher.

TST presents the opportunity for soccer's past, present, and future to convene on the pitch — and compete for one of the biggest purses in the women's game.

Texas softball made program history on Friday, winning the 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) to claim a first-ever national championship in their eighth trip to Oklahoma City.

The No. 6-seed Longhorns completed the best-of-three championship series with a dominant 10-4 victory over No. 12-seed Texas Tech, setting a program wins record with 56 on the season.

"This is why I came to Texas," said grad student first baseman Joely Mitchell following the championship win. "This is everything I dreamed of as a kid."

Anchored by star sophomore pitcher Teagan Kavan — who took home the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award after not allowing a single earned run in the nearly 32 WCWS innings she threw — Texas's title is the SEC's first in 10 years. The Longhorns now join only Florida and Alabama in the conference's elite NCAA softball champions club.

The Longhorn bats led the charge on Friday, plating five runs in the first inning — the most allowed in a single inning by Red Raiders superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady in her three-season NCAA career.

While that initial push ended up being enough to seal the win, senior third baseman Mia Scott put an exclamation mark on the victory by blasting a fourth-inning grand slam, notably doing so with a torn ACL.

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2025 WCWS sets attendance, viewership records

The Longhorns' historic title run wasn't just a victory for Texas, however, as the 2025 WCWS claimed additional wins far beyond the Lone Star State.

With 119,778 fans packing into Oklahoma City's Devon Park across the nine-day competition, the 2025 tournament broke the WCWS attendance record.

The record-shattering didn't end there, as an average of 2.1 million viewers tuned into Thursday's championship series clash, making it the most-watched WCWS finals Game 2 in history — and the fifth most-watched NCAA softball game ever on ESPN platforms.

The rising value of college softball is also impacting players' bank accounts, with rising senior Canady reportedly inking a second seven-figure NIL deal to remain with Texas Tech prior to Friday's decisive Game 3.

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"I've been around a lot of softball players, I've never been around a better teammate and a better person," Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco said about Canady following Friday's game. "She's an unbelievable talent. I believe she's the top player in college softball.... Her standards for everything is excellence."

The attendance, viewership, and NIL wins aren't just boosts for collegiate softball. The sport's rise is also fueling a new professional venture, with former NCAA stars launching pro league AUSL on Saturday — strategically timed to capitalize on the momentum of a historic 2025 WCWS.

This weekend's NWSL action saw Gotham FC's woes continue, with the Bats falling further from the playoff line in the 2025 standings after a Saturday loss to the Kansas City Current.

Despite the return of star midfielder Rose Lavelle, who made her 2025 season debut in the match's 74th minute, the 2023 NWSL champions fell 2-1 in a Current win that controversially saw two Gotham goals called back by VAR.

Although they recently lifted the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Bats' three straight NWSL losses have them now sitting in 10th place on the the table, while Kansas City saw their lead in the league balloon to five points following this weekend's action.

That extended lead came in part due to then-No. 2 San Diego's first loss in six games, with the Wave dropping to No. 4 this week after stumbling 2-1 to Seattle on Friday night — a victory that launched the Reign into fifth place.

"I just think there's belief," Seattle head coach Laura Harvey said after the match. "I think we would have been disappointed if we'd have come away without a win."

San Diego's loss also allowed the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit to leapfrog the Wave into Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, on the NWSL table.

Weekend wins similarly fueled their jumps, with the Pride eking out a last-gasp 1-0 victory over the No. 12 Houston Dash on Saturday before the Spirit earned just their second home win of the season by downing the No. 11 North Carolina Courage 3-1 on Sunday.

2024 semifinalists Kansas City, Orlando, and Washington have now all regained their spots in the 2025 season's Top 3.