AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. women’s national team may have looked a little rusty, but the squad won its first match since its remarkable gold medal run at the Paris Olympics, beating Iceland 3-1 on Thursday night at Q2 Stadium.
Alyssa Thompson, who was not part of the Olympics team this summer, opened the scoring with a banger in the 39th minute. This was the 19-year-old’s 10th cap, but her first-ever international goal, and it was a thing of beauty. Then Jaedyn Shaw, also 19, scored the winning goal when she nutmegged Iceland’s goalkeeper to give the U.S. a 2-1 edge late in the second half. Sophia Smith, part of the now famous Triple Espresso front line, added a third goal for good measure.
Before the scoring frenzy in the final minutes of the match, however, the U.S. struggled to be clinical in front of goal. There were many wasted opportunities in the box, and the group probably wasn’t as cohesive as manager Emma Hayes would have liked. But there are two more opportunities in this window, as the USWNT plays Iceland again on Sunday and then faces Argentina on Wednesday.
“We haven’t played together since the Olympics,” Hayes said. “I thought we looked like a team with players at the back end of a season. I liked our short passing game, I thought we did that well. But that final pass into the final third in the first half wasn’t big enough. And I think when the spaces were there on the outside, we didn’t switch the ball quick enough, but we addressed that at halftime. It’s up to us to inject that urgency into the game. And I thought the players that came from the bench did that.”
Hayes added that the “quality in front of goal” was different in the second half after she made substitutions, which included Shaw and Smith coming off the bench and quickly changing the game.
Additionally, as promised, there were multiple debuts. Hayes was able to sub on Gotham FC forward Yazmeen Ryan in the 66th minute, as well as midfielder Hal Hershfelt, who came on in the 72nd. Hershfelt had been in previous training camps and was an alternate at the Olympics, while this was Ryan’s first call up and first cap.
Here are takeaways from the match:
Play of the game:
The U.S. wasn’t efficient enough in the box for most of the first half. That was, until the 39th minute when Thompson unleashed a rocket shot into the upper netting to put her team up 1-0 before halftime. The teenager received the ball just outside the box, took her defender straight on, cut inside, and hit an unsavable shot. It was her first international goal.
It’s been awhile since Thompson has been with the national team. She made it onto the 2023 World Cup roster, but hasn’t been with the squad for the past 10 months due to form. She’s earned her way back, though, and entered this training camp having scored five goals in her last eight NWSL matches for Angel City.
“I’ve been watching her since before the Olympics,” Hayes said of Thompson. “I know she’s committed to looking for the next level in her play. I think you see just how threatening she is. I mean, it’s not an easy goal to chop in from the left-hand side and move it into the top corner, but she’s someone who, her international career started at a very early stage, but that’s why I believe it does take time. Maybe she wasn’t ready before.
“But I could see from tonight’s performance, she offers a lot for us going forward and super pleased for her goal and performance.”
Immediately after scoring, Thompson found Smith, who she considers to be a big sister, and jumped into her arms on the sideline while the rest of the team swarmed in celebration.
“I just froze because that has been a dream of mine for so long, and I couldn’t think of a better way to score,” Thompson said. “I’ve been working on that shot for a while, too. And in club I get to those positions a lot, so being able to have those reps and stuff has been nice.”
Turning point:
Iceland equalized in the 56th minute when Selma Magnúsdóttir’s shot from distance sailed past Alyssa Naeher. But that score line would not last.
In the 84th minute, Shaw received a pinpoint pass from Casey Krueger, took on her defender with some fancy footwork, and poked the game-winning goal through Iceland’s goalkeeper’s legs to put the USWNT up 2-1. Shaw didn’t have the Olympics she envisioned, sitting on the bench the entire Games with a lower body injury. Thursday, she got some redemption in her first match back with the national team, scoring her sixth USWNT goal this calendar year.
“Every single [person] in our locker room is over the moon for Jaedyn Shaw knowing what she experienced in the summer,” Hayes said. “Her ability to create and score goals is second to none in this country.”
Hayes added that the end of the NWSL season is coming at the wrong time for Shaw, who is getting back into form after the injury that derailed her summer plans.
“But she’s a unique talent,” Hayes said. “And her feet are special in those areas. I don’t know too many players who can do what she does. I think she just needs to keep working on her game and stay healthy and keep building on what has been largely a good year for Jaedyn. And at the international level, she’s showing how prolific she is. Wonderful for us to see the depth in our roster in the highest areas, which is fantastic.”
In the 89th minute, Smith put a third goal in from the top of the box to add some cushion.
“Soph is a top player,” Hayes said. “Instantly you see when she came into the game, the way she held the ball, the way she turned the defender, the way she can peel off out wide.
“Soph is becoming the prolific striker I want her to become. And with the very few chances she got, she delivered into the bottom corner.”
Smith, who didn’t come on until the 72nd minute, has been dealing with an ankle injury since the Olympics and is building back minutes. Hayes said she will likely use Smith “sparingly” the next two games, maybe just off the bench. Usually that kind of thing would be tough for the uber-competitive forward, but she understands and admittedly even agrees with the decision.
“It’s just as important role to come off the bench and change the game,” Smith said. “And I took advantage of that.”
Key stat:
One of the key messages that Hayes has discussed this week is wanting to broaden the player pool as the USWNT looks forward to the 2027 World Cup. She called up 26 players, six of whom were uncapped, 14 of whom have fewer than 20 caps, and 21 of whom are under the age of 30.
Thompson and Shaw are both 19 and are perfect examples of what the future of this team will look like.
What’s next for the USWNT?
It’s a tight turnaround for the USWNT. The team will play Iceland again on Sunday in Nashville and then travel to Louisville where it will face Argentina on Wednesday. Hayes is expected to roll out a different lineup for each of those games, with no player playing in more than two full matches, she said earlier this week. The purpose of this is so that Hayes and her staff can get quality looks at a larger group of players with the hope of expanding the talent pool as the team turns its focus toward the 2027 World Cup.
The U.S. will also continue celebrating its Olympics success over the next several days with fans, while also toasting Kelley O’Hara’s retirement, and honoring both Mallory Swanson and Rose Lavelle for reaching 100 caps.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
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