The 2023 World Cup is fast approaching, with just six months to go until the tournament kicks off in Australia and New Zealand.

The U.S. women’s national team has spent the last six months already ramping up its preparation. And former USWNT stars have not been shy in offering their thoughts on the current roster, including Mia Hamm, Carli Lloyd and more.

Just Women’s Sports rounds up what former USWNT World Cup champions have said about the 2023 squad, which will continue to ratchet up its intensity level this month with a trip to New Zealand to face the Football Ferns.

Julie Foudy

The USWNT lost three games in a row in October and November before rebounding with a win against Germany to close out the year. While the losing streak sounded alarm bells, Foudy saw them as just 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 told Just Women’s Sports in December. “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 — who played with the USWNT from 1988 until 2004 and won the 1991 and 1999 World Cups with the squad — pointed to forwards Mallory Pugh and Sophia Smith as bright spots. And while she acknowledged the team’s many injuries, she said there had been “too much discussion” about the missing players.

“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.”

Even with the injuries, Foudy likes the USWNT’s chances in Group E, which also includes the Netherlands, Vietnam and a winner from the intercontinental playoff.

“It’s a very winnable group,” Foudy said on CBS Sports’ “Attacking Third” podcast in November. “I think with the expanded field of 32 teams, you have a pretty clear delineation of those top two teams in the groups. I think it’s a good group. It’s a good matchup.”

Mia Hamm

Two young stars in particular have stood out to Hamm in the USWNT’s World Cup warm-ups, she told Bleacher Report in December: 24-year-old Mallory Pugh Swanson and 23-year-old Catarina Macario.

Pugh was snubbed from the U.S. Olympic roster in 2021 but since then has undergone a career renaissance.

“When I see her play, the joy on her face is what excites me about her future,” said Hamm, who played for the USWNT from 1987-2004. “I’m really excited to watch her play next summer.”

Macario is nearing her return from an ACL injury she suffered in June, and Hamm praised her “savvy and understanding.”

Carli Lloyd

Not all the discussion of the current iteration of the USWNT has been positive. After the team fell 2-1 to Germany in November for its third loss in a row, Lloyd called out the team on Twitter.

“The winning culture and mentality that has carried on from generation to generation within the USWNT has been fizzling away,” she wrote. “I said it when I retired. I saw it slipping away. Players have to embody that. That’s been our DNA since the ’80s, but not so much anymore.”

Lloyd spent 17 years on the national team before her retirement in 2021, and she played an integral role in the 2015 and 2019 World Cup runs. But the 40-year-old believes the 2023 World Cup will be “the hardest one to win yet,” she said on the “Attacking Third” podcast in November.

Heather O’Reilly

The November loss to Germany also prompted O’Reilly to question the USWNT’s urgency. The three-game losing streak marked the national team’s longest since 1993.

Briana Scurry

Ahead of last summer’s World Cup qualifying tournament, the former USWNT goalkeeper talked about the growing scrutiny USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski would come under. Andonovski took the helm after the 2019 World Cup win, then led the team to the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“Vlatko’s going to be a topic of discussion, I believe, going forward with regards to his choices,” Scurry told Just Women’s Sports in June. “He’s got a lot of pressure on him, and obviously he’s got a whole year until actually coaching the World Cup tournament itself. But this is going to be an indicator of his philosophies.”

In particular, she pointed out Andonovski’s “odd” answer to a question on Christen Press.

The veteran USWNT forward did not make the qualifying roster. While her absence was not a surprise, as she had just torn her ACL while playing for Angel City FC, Andonovski said the injury did not factor into his roster decision.

“Christen Press was not on the roster even before the injury,” Andonovski said.

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

In an all-new episode of Sports Are Fun!, soccer icon Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes all things women's sports. And this week, a special guest host — writer, comedian, television host, actor, and internet personality The Kid Mero of 7PM in Brooklyn and Victory Light fame — gets in on the fun.

Of course, the crew doesn't hold back. Starting with a deep dive into UConn superstar Paige Bueckers's ongoing quest for an NCAA championship title.

"I don't know Paige well at all, but I assume getting this record — cool," O'Hara says, referencing Bueckers recently passing Huskies legend Diana Taurasi to become UConn's ninth all-time leading scorer. "But if I'm her, I want a championship."

"If I'm P Buckets, I'm like, 'Yo, listen, I've done everything, I've eclipsed DT in the record books,'" echoed Mero. "Y'all know the history of UConn women's basketball, it's crazy — it's like the Yankees of women's basketball. So to have your name as a championship winner, to have all these records, that's the complete package."

Over an action-packed 65 minutes, Sports Are Fun! also tackles how the USWNT has been performing at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, trash talk in the women's game, Connecticut denying Marina Mabrey's trade request, the NCAA cashing in on Women's March Madness, and so much more.

'Sports Are Fun!' hosts O'Hara, Diaz, and The Kid Mero embrace trash talk

Before getting into the Paige Bueckers of it all, Sports Are Fun! weighs in on Rose BC's Angel Reese trash talking Phantom BC's Sabrina Ionescu on the Unrivaled bench. And to no surprise, they're here for it.

"Another storyline is trash talking," O'Hara introduces. "Angel Reese was picked up on camera during a timeout [saying] 'Sabrina can't fucking guard.'"

"And Sabrina basically said trash talking is part of the sport — you see it in the NFL, you see in the NBA. But for some reason when it gets to the to women's sports, it's like people don't want to talk about it," continued the two-time World Cup champ. "In my opinion, I love trash talking — it's a game within the game. And I'm all for it because I think it makes it interesting."

"[Trash talk] makes it fun," Mero agreed. "Listen, gambling has has invaded every aspect of sports. You know why? Because it makes it fun. I don't give a shit who's playing in the Frito-Totito Bowl, like San Diego Tech State versus like Grady Academy of Culinary Arts. I don't care who's playing, but I know the spread is 35.5... Let's roll the dice."

"What makes sports fun?" Mero adds. "Competing."

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place. Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

Canada’s Northern Super League (NSL) is preparing for its inaugural season, with the top-flight soccer league dropping a 75-match calendar and broadcast details last week.

The league will officially kick off on April 16th, when Vancouver’s BC Place will host the NSL’s first-ever match, a clash between co-owner Christine Sinclair’s Vancouver Rise FC against the visiting Calgary Wild FC.

Then on April 19th, AFC Toronto will host the Montreal Roses in BMO Field's first-ever NSL game, bringing the pro women's soccer action futher east and arguably initiating a rivalry between two of Canada's largest cities.

The final two NSL clubs will make their debuts one week later, with Halifax Tides FC hosting Calgary on April 26th before Ottawa Rapid FC takes the pitch against Toronto on April 27th.

The NSL has been busy putting the finishing touches on its 2025 launch, with multiple Olympic medalists and ex-NWSL standouts like Canada's own Quinn, Erin McLeod, and Desiree Scott joining the budding league.

Also featuring on NSL debut rosters are US athletes Nikki Stanton and Jasmyne Spencer, as well as Iceland standout Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir — giving the brand-new pro league a chance to flex its potential at the international level.

NSL sets full 2025 calendar, snags top broadcast partners

The inaugural NSL season will see all six clubs playing 25 regular-season matches for a league total of 75 matches. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver will contend 12 of their matches at home, while Ottawa, Calgary, and Halifax scored 13 games in front of their home crowds.

At the end of regular-season play, the top four teams on the NSL table will qualify for the league's two-leg semifinals. After the home-and-away semis, the two clubs with the highest aggregate score will face-off in the league's first-ever championship match, set for November 15th.

All games will air across Canada via multiple broadcast partners, including TSN, which will broadcast 20 regular-season matches, and CBC, which will air eight. Both broadcasters will also make additional game available via their respective streaming platforms, CBC Gem and TSN+.

Rose BC is tearing up the 3×3 basketball court, stringing together a five-game winning streak to surge to second place in the Unrivaled standings.

Forward Angel Reese has led the squad, registering the league’s first-ever 20+ point, 20+ rebound game in Friday’s 72-63 win over the Lunar Owls — the first loss suffered by the top-ranked Unrivaled team thus far.

Reese continued to roll on offense, putting up 23 points and 14 rebounds to lift Rose atop Phantom BC 71-59 on Monday.

"She's finishing now, and she's also taking a lot of leadership with a Rose team that has done a really good job of getting themselves back," said Phantom BC’s Natasha Cloud after Monday’s clash. "Angel set the tone for them — I felt it tonight."

Unrivaled teams battle for first-ever league playoff spots

Rose BC's recent rise is coming at the perfect time. With less than a month to go in the debut league's regular season, the next few weeks will determine which four teams make it to Unrivaled's first-ever playoffs.

After Friday's loss to Rose BC, the first-place Lunar Owls bounced back with an 88-60 victory over the Laces on Saturday — a win that ultimately made co-founder Napheesa Collier's squad the first Unrivaled team to officially punch a postseason ticket.

"We made everyone raise their level of play, and tonight we showed why we’re still number one," said Lunar Owls guard Skylar Diggins-Smith after Saturday's win. 

Currently, Rose BC, Laces BC, and Vinyl BC are sitting above the postseason cut-off line, though the Mist and Phantom BC are each only one game behind the pack — putting every squad still well within striking distance of some inaugural season hardware.

With a locked-in group spanning some of the most talented — and competitive — basketball players in the world, expect even more late-season fireworks in the race to become Unrivaled’s first-ever champion on March 17th.

Newly minted Australian Open champion Madison Keys added the highest WTA rankings of her career to her resume on Monday, rising to No. 5 despite withdrawing from last week’s Dubai Open with a leg injury.

The first-time Grand Slam winner joins fellow US standouts No. 3 Coco Gauff and No. 4 Jessica Pegula in the Top 5 WTA rankings, marking the first time three US women have featured in that elite echelon since Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Jennifer Capriati did so in 2003.

While Emma Navarro slid in at No. 10 to give the US four of the Top 10 WTA rankings, a breakthrough title-winning run at the 2025 Dubai Open launched Mirra Andreeva into the upper tier. The 17-year-old jumped five spots to claim No. 9 and become the youngest Top 10-ranked WTA player since 2007.

The sport's top two players held steady in Monday's shakeup, with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Świątek keeping their ground.

That said, with the WTA Tour returning Stateside next week, expect more rankings movement — and perhaps a few surprise entries — as players continue to prep for the three Grand Slams remaining in the 2025 season.

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Former WTA No. 1 Venus Williams will not play at Indian Wells

Contrary to last week’s widespread reports, tennis legend Venus Williams — who first rose to No. 1 in the WTA rankings 23 years ago this week — said she will not be participating in next month's 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

"I love Indian Wells, I would love to be there," the 44-year-old US icon told the crowd during a public appearance in Denmark on Monday. "If I could have accepted it, I would have loved to be there, but I already made commitments."

"We wish Venus all the best and hope to see her back in Indian Wells in the future," said tournament director Tommy Haas in response, reversing the Open’s earlier social media announcement of Williams' wild card berth.