Assessing the USWNT’s successful year — looking ahead to 2025

The US women’s national team capped 2024 with a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in The Hague. Lynn Williams scored the deciding goal and in the final match of her international career, Alyssa Naeher made six saves.

And with that, the USWNT finished the year 18-1-4. Along the way, the team reclaimed the top spot in the FIFA rankings and won a gold medal at the Olympics. Decidedly solid. But add to that the impact of new coach Emma Hayes, and the future is certainly looking bright.

It all started with uncertainty. The United States was coming off a disappointing year marked by its worst-ever finish in the Women’s World Cup. Then there was the dos-a-cero loss to Mexico in February at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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Hayes joined the USWNT officially in late May and led the team to a bit of revenge against Mexico with a 1-0 victory. But then there was a head-scratching scoreless draw with Costa Rica in the final tune-up for France.

It appeared to all come together at the Olympics. The United States rode “Triple Espresso” into the final, and Naeher helped preserve the gold medal with a one-handed save in the waning moments against Brazil. Hayes seemed to have found the magic formula.

Hayes embarks on the next cycle looking to refine it all. Next up for the United States is the traditional January camp. Hayes will run a Futures Camp at the same time to get a look at upcoming talent as the team looks to the 2027 World Cup.

Hayes has lots of things to consider as she embarks on this critical next stage. First, she has to replace Naeher. No easy task! The leading candidates seem to be Jane Campbell, Casey Murphy, Aubrey Kingsbury, and Phallon Tullis Joyce and Mandy Haught, who accompanied the team to Europe.

Hayes is looking at all her options at this point, and she acknowledges it’s going to be a process.

“I’m excited for the opportunities that come with them,” she said. “But I think we will probably have to go through a period of determining who that No. 1 will be, probably over the course of the next year. I will have to give players experiences because they don’t have them.”

While Triple Espresso — Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Mallory Swanson — forms the undisputed front line, there’s less certainty in the midfield. Along with Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle and Sam Coffey, there’s Korbin Albert, Hal Hershfelt and the intriguing addition of Lily Johannes. Catarina Macario could figure into future plans, as could Olivia Moultrie.

“I want to see the players. I don’t want to sit there and just say, ‘Oh, I’m going to put my experienced players on, develop the connections and the combinations for that now.’ I don’t get to see an Ally Sentnor, or a Hal Hershfelt or an Alyssa Thompson or a Yazmeen Ryan, etc.,” Hayes said. “I want to see where they really are at this level to know once we get into the new year and into SheBelieves, what will be our core group going forward and I owe it to the entire playing pool to look at everyone.”

Following the January camps, the USWNT will play in the 10th SheBelieves Cup, with Japan, Australia and Colombia. We may get to see Sam Kerr return from injury for Australia, while Colombia’s roster could include the dynamic Linda Caicedo. The matches will be played in Houston, San Diego and Glendale, Ariz., from Feb. 23-26.

It’s clear 2024 was about getting back on track. Next year will be about clarity.

A couple of other things popped up in the past week, too.

The nominees for U.S. Women’s Player of the year were announced and they are: Naomi Girma, Alyssa Naeher, Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson. The Young Player of the Year nominees are Trinity Armstrong, Jordyn Bugg, Kennedy Fuller, Claire Hutton and Ally Sentnor.

Jill Ellis stepped down from as president of the San Diego Wave to become chief of football for FIFA. According to the Wave’s press release: “Looking ahead, the Leichtman-Levine family, who acquired the club in October 2024, is focused on building the next chapter of the club’s history.”

Owner Lauren Leichtman issued a statement that said the new owners are “committed to building a culture of winning on and off the pitch.” She also said the team was in the final phase of hiring a new coach.

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Meanwhile, former Wave coach Casey Stoney tweeted this shortly after the announcement. It was not clear if it was connected.

Free agency in the NWSL is in full swing. As Taylor Vincent reported, the first 29 free agents were signed to their current clubs. Naeher signed a one-year deal to return to the Chicago Stars. But there’s started to be some movement, too. Gotham’s Sam Hiatt signed with the Portland Thorns. Gotham teammate Delanie Sheehan has joined the Houston Dash.

Here’s the NWSL’s handy free agent tracker.

Goal.com with a nice feature on Naomi Girma

CNN’s Ben Church profiles Lily Yohannes

ESPN did a story on how the USWNT won over the young Yohannes

Courtney Hill from the Olympic channel on the future of the USWNT

Yahoo’s Henry Bushnell says the USWNT’s next step is to evolve.

BOS Nation is running into obstacles in stadium project

Meg Linehan wrote a passionate defense of Barbra Banda and asked why the NWSL didn’t say more as a league