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USWNT Roster Takeaways: Trinity Rodman Leads Young, All-NWSL Group

Emma Hayes’s 26-player roster for the upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Chile features players who play their club soccer in the U.S.

Theo Lloyd-Hughes

USWNT manager Emma Hayes’s January roster features a young group of NWSL players.
USWNT manager Emma Hayes’s January roster features a young group of NWSL players. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

New year, new roster. The first U.S. women’s national team roster of 2026 is here, and there are some surprises and curiosities.

On Thursday, USWNT manager Emma Hayes named a 26-player roster for the January training camp, which will be held at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif. Alongside that camp, there will be two friendly matches. The first will be against Paraguay on Jan. 24 at Dignity Health Sports Park. Then, on Jan. 27, the USWNT will meet Chile at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara.

“Once again, our roster presents opportunity, for the coaching staff to evaluate players and for some NWSL players we haven’t seen as much in the national team environment, as well as for some first-time call-ups, to show they can contribute in 2026, 2027 or beyond,” said Hayes.

“We’re looking forward to having a few more training days than usual in this camp as well as getting two matches to see this part of the player pool in game action and hopefully add even more depth and options for our 2026 SheBelieves Cup roster.” 

The USWNT closed out 2025 with a record of 12-3-0. Hayes is 25-3-2 since taking over as manager in May 2024.

USWNT roster: January friendlies

Position (Club; Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC; 6), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 4), Jordan Silkowitz (Bay FC; 0)

DEFENDERS (8): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC; 5/0), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash; 9/1), Izzy Rodriguez (Kansas City Current; 1/1), Tara Rudd (Washington Spirit; 9/0), Emily Sams (Orlando Pride; 7/0), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; 4/0), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave FC; 2/0), Kate Wiesner (Washington Spirit; 2/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit; 5/0), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit; 3/0), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; 11/1), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; 0/0), Lo’eau LaBonta (Kansas City Current; 4/0), Sally Menti (Seattle Reign FC; 0/0), Sam Meza (Seattle Reign FC; 2/0), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 11/5)

FORWARDS (7): Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign FC; 0/0), Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars FC; 1/0), Trinity Rodman (Unattached; 47/11), Yazmeen Ryan (Houston Dash; 15/2), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC; 12/4), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; 13/4), Reilyn Turner (Portland Thorns FC; 0/0)

Free agent Rodman returns as a leader

So far, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) offseason has been dominated by the contract saga surrounding Trinity Rodman, the Washington Spirit and the league. After initially rejecting a contract proposal for the 23-year-old due to salary cap concerns, the NWSL has created a new rule, known as the High Impact Player rule, which creates an additional $1 million to be spent on stars outside of the salary cap.

Rodman is yet to sign a new deal, but NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke, speaking this week on The Athletic’s Full Time podcast, sounded hopeful that the league, the player and the Spirit would be able to agree on terms soon.

Injuries plagued Rodman in 2025. A back injury kept her out of action between April and August. Then, in October, a knee strain meant she had to pull out of the final two USWNT rosters of last year. Rodman made just one appearance for the USWNT in 2025, a 2–0 win over Brazil, where she scored the opening goal.

Due to the experimental nature of this January roster, Rodman has the most caps (43) and goals (11) among players. The other 22 outfield players combined have 17 goals for the USWNT.

No European-based or Gotham players

As this January training camp falls outside an official FIFA competition window, Hayes has named a roster composed entirely of domestic NWSL players, except for Rodman, who is currently unattached. The NWSL regular season will not begin until March.

Players in European leagues have not been permitted to leave their clubs due to ongoing competitions and responsibilities. Thus, the USWNT will be without many stars, including captain Lindsey Heaps, who plays for OL Lyonnes, in France, as well as the trio of Naomi Girma, Catarina Macario and Alyssa Thompson, who all play for Chelsea, in England.

Similarly, NJ/NY Gotham FC will be competing in the inaugural FIFA Women’s Champion Cup from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 and cannot release players for this roster either. That rules out the likes of Rose Lavelle, Jaedyn Shaw, Emily Sonnett, Jaelin Howell and Lilly Reale.

Opportunities for young players

Due to this scheduling clash, Hayes has chosen to bring in several young, inexperienced players. There are four first-time call-ups in this January roster: Maddie Dahlien, Reilyn Turner, Riley Jackson and Sally Menti. With the addition of goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz, who will be attending her second camp, there are five uncapped players.

The average of this USWNT roster is 24.1, and the average caps per player is 6.6. These are incredibly low numbers for the USWNT and present a unique challenge and opportunity for this group.

Hayes has handed out 27 debuts since becoming the USWNT manager, and this January window makes good on the promise to deepen the pool and bring the youth teams closer to the senior squad.

Eight of the players on this roster were first called into the Hayes’s identification camp in Florida in January 2025, which was titled the “Futures” camp. Those players were: Jordyn Bugg, Gisele Thompson, Hutton, Riley Jackson, Maddie Dahlien, Joseph, Avery Patterson and Reilyn Turner.

Lo’eau LaBonta, the veteran

Of course, it’s not only the young players looking to make an impact. Kansas City Current stalwart LaBonta, at 32, is the only player on the roster over 30 and will not miss an opportunity to boost her chances of making the roster for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

LaBonta made history in 2025 by becoming the oldest player to debut for the USWNT in a 3–0 win over China. Despite her limited international appearances (4), she will bring plenty of professionalism on and off the pitch.

The midfielder is also coming off one of the greatest seasons of her career, in which she captained the Current to the top of the NWSL standings, a Shield trophy and a new league record for points (65), wins (21) and goals conceded (13). There’s still a chance the veteran could break through on the USWNT, and January could be a chance to impress.

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Theo Lloyd-Hughes
THEO LLOYD-HUGHES

Theo Lloyd-Hughes is a writer for Sports Illustrated Soccer based in the Southern United States. Originally from England, he can often be found in a press box across the NWSL or at international matches featuring the USWNT and other Concacaf nations.

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