Breaking Down EVERY Position in the USWNT Roster Release

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins

Just Women’s Sports

Sports, Soccer

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this weeks episode, Claire breaks down every position group in the USWNT roster release for their 3 game friendly matchup against Japan. Sophia Wilson and Tierna Davidson make their returns. Can Olivia Moultrie take her success with the Thorns to the National Team in a crowded midfield. Plus finding depth at outside back. Subscribe to The Late Sub to never miss an episode. Follow Claire on Twitter/X (@scoutripley) and sign up for the Just Women’s Sports newsletter at justwomenssports.com/newsletter/ Chapters: 00:00 Intro 04:40 Forwards 09:11 Midfielders 14:38 Center Backs 17:35 Outside Backs 20:27 Goalkeepers Just Women’s Sports is the leading digital media platform dedicated exclusively to women’s sports. In a world where women’s sports have been historically underfunded and under-promoted, Just Women’s Sports exists to shine a light on all the stories, athletes and moments that define and fuel the space. Through original podcasts, premium video programming, social media, editorial content, a newsletter, and exclusive merchandise and live events, Just Women’s Sports is committed to making it both easy and fun to be a women’s sports fan. Add us on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justwomenssports/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/justwsports Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@justwomenssports?

Transcript

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0:00.0	The US Women's National Team is about to be stress tested by three different games against Japan.
0:06.5	And this week we found out the 26 player roster who Hayes hopes is going to be up to the task.
0:12.8	Hello everybody. Welcome to this week's edition of The Late Sub. I am your host Claire Watkins.
0:16.2	It is Wednesday, April 1st. And we're going to dive into the nitty-gritty of the US
0:21.4	women's national team's April friendly roster where we're seeing something solidify.
0:26.0	We're seeing still a few fringe cases get looks.
0:28.6	But this is getting closer and closer to the team that I think is going to be tasked
0:32.0	with World Cup qualifying in November.
0:34.2	And there are some exciting things about that.
0:36.1	And also maybe some sort of scary things
0:37.9	as they play their best opponent in a very, very long time in Japan. Let's dig in.
0:47.6	So just this morning, we were blessed by US and as National Team manager Emma Hayes' 26 player roster for their
0:55.3	upcoming April friendlies against recent Asian Cup champion Japan.
0:59.8	They are going to play Japan three times in the month of April, which is a little extreme,
1:05.3	but also maybe intense in a nice way for this group as they continue to try to ramp up the competition going into a summer where they're going to have some breaks, they're going to reconvene, and then obviously the main goal is to succeed in World Cup qualifying at the end of the year.
1:22.2	They're having some nice ramp up in terms of availability already.
1:25.9	I think this is exactly what the U.S. was looking for,
1:28.7	going into kind of April, moving into the summer. Sophia Wilson is back. Tierna Davidson is
1:34.7	back. Michelle Cooper is back. They all got minutes with their NWSL teams between she believes,
1:40.6	and now they're going to be at varying fitness, varying availability levels. But this is
1:44.7	good in terms of seeing some of those names that have performed really well, obviously for the U.S.
1:48.7	For some, you know, as veterans, for Cooper. I think this is good timing for her to continue to make
	...

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