Emma Hayes’ USWNT built World Cup momentum with SheBelieves title: Three takeaways | OneFootball

The US women’s national team won the SheBelieves Cup on Saturday, capping the three-game friendly tournament with a 1-0 win over Colombia. Alyssa Thompson finally broke the deadlock in a game largely dominated by the hosts.

The Chelsea winger sent an inch-perfect shot into the upper corner in the 81st minute to notch her fourth international goal.

The result delivered the US an eighth SheBelieves Cup title, reclaiming the trophy after Japan won last year’s installment. The US didn’t concede a single goal across all three games, including last weekend’s win over Argentina and a midweek victory over Canada. In total, Emma Hayes’s side haven’t conceded a goal in 804 minutes – a dominant stretch in which her team have been able to control games with increasing comfort.

Depth is here to stay

Beyond simply winning these friendlies, the latest 270-minute sample provided further evidence that this team lookprepared to challenge for the title they really want: a fifth World Cup next summer in Brazil. And, unlike the 2019 USWNT that won a second straight World Cup with a clear starting 11, this year’s group have ample options in several key areas.

Unlike the games against Argentina and Canada earlier in the tournament, Colombia’s backline worked to keep the USWNT from getting comfortable with a lead. After the match, Hayes paid tribute to her bench, a testament to the talent and depth she has cultivated and trusted over more than a year of closely evaluating her player pool.

“Sometimes you win a match in the opening 60 minutes,” Hayes said. “Tonight was one where we won from our bench. We have wanted to continue developing talent, that is something I have said since I’ve been here.”

The months of experimental lineups and forging new combinations have led to several standout areas across the pitch. Emily Fox and Trinity Rodman make for a seamless right-sided partnership up and down the flank. Naomi Girma and defensive midfielder Sam Coffey have gotten more reps together to help establish stability and structure at the base of the spine. While the pool is deep in most roles, Hayes has found plenty of attackers she trusts to unpick low-block defenses, with Alyssa Thompson starting most often at left-wing and Jaedyn Shaw, Ally Sentnor, and Emma Sears now becoming regular parts of US squads.

Those strengths have made sorting out remaining areas to be a bit less of a headache. There’s still an open competition to partner Girma at the back, with Emily Sonnett (a part of all eight SheBelieves-winning squads for the US) and Tara Rudd getting the lengthiest run-outs in this window. Avery Patterson is making herself a valuable option at both full-back spots, while Lilly Reale, Maddie Dahlien, and Gisele Thompson all saw minutes at left-back.

Goalkeeper also remains an open competition, with Claudia Dickey starting the opener and Phallon Tullis-Joyce handling the second and third matches. They weren’t tested often this window: Dickey faced just one shot on target, while Tullis-Joyce fielded only two across 180 minutes.

Cohesion in midfield

Perhaps the most encouraging development this window was greater cohesion in central midfield. Ever since Hayes took over, the engine room hasn’t quite hit a rhythm, with the team forced to progress in wide areas most often but looking most dangerous when operating in the central third.

Hayes made a big call to leave captain Lindsey Heaps on the bench against Canada and Colombia, their two sternest tests of the tournament. Claire Hutton forged a stable double-pivot with Coffey against Canada, and Lily Yohannes offered a more creative complement to Coffey on Saturday.

The past half-year has also seen the longest consecutive runout of a healthy Rose Lavelle playing in her best spot as a No 10 since Jill Ellis left the program. Few players in the world can unpick a defense like the Gotham midfielder, who remains the program’s best set-piece deliverer. Lavelle and Yohannes managed some silky interplay in the half-spaces against Colombia, offering Hayes a pair of central playmakers to help the team create more high-quality chances. That’s a dangerous evolution from any opponent’s perspective.

Open questions up top

All that’s left, seemingly, is the end product. The US managed just four goals across their three wins, and longtime concerns about the lack of depth in the striker pool remain.

A solution may be imminent. Last week saw Sophia Wilson return to action with the Portland Thorns after missing 2025 on maternity leave. Should the three-time NWSL Best XI forward, and owner of 59 caps and 24 goals with the US, rediscover her scoring touch, she’d find herself on an international side with much better service than the one she played for at the Paris Olympics.

The forward line could see even more returning headliners. Mallory Swanson has been spotted at Chicago Stars training in recent weeks after her own maternity leave, while Catarina Macario could command a spot in Hayes’ core if she finds more minutes by leaving Chelsea.

There’s no guarantee that any of these three dynamic forwards will be ready for the April window, which will see the USWNT and Japan play a trio of friendlies across the United States. They will be stern tests. Although the US beat Japan in the 2024 Olympic quarter-final, Nadeshiko Japan are one of just three teams – along with Brazil and Portugal – to defeat Hayes’s USWNT. They’re well-organized under Nils Nielsen and a favorite to win the ongoing AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Netflix will no doubt hope its first Women’s World Cup as rights holder ends with a box office clash between the US and England or Spain, but Japan are every bit as likely to challenge.

Midway through the second half on Saturday, with her team still mired in a scoreless draw, Hayes urged her team to “push the game”. The plodding possession sequences that typified the team’s fruitless run at the 2023 World Cup are increasingly few and far between. If the goals start coming at a clip befitting the team’s impressive buildup, they should be more than ready for next summer’s closeup in Brazil.

Header image: [Photograph: Adam Hunger/Getty Images]