Date: July 18, 2022Place: Estadio BBVA; Monterrey, Mexico Broadcast: Paramount+, ViX Broadcast Time: 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CTO Official start time: 10 p.m.
Starting lineup vs. Canada: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 3-Alana Cook, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 8-Sofia Huerta, 9-Mallory Pugh, 10-Lindsey Horan, 11-Sophia Smith, 13-Alex Morgan, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Andi Sullivan, 19 – Emily Fox Supporters available: 2-Ashley Sanchez, 5-Kelley O’Hara, 6-Trinity Rodman, 12-Naomi Girma, 14-Emily Sonnett, 15-Megan Rapinoe, 18-Casey Murphy, 20-Taylor Kornieck, 21-Kingbury 22- Kristie Mewis, 23-Midge Purce, 24-Sam Coffey
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW – CANADA
USWNT Starting Numbers (including this match): Sauerbrunn (207), Morgan (196), Horan (116), Naeher (83), Lavelle (78), Pugh (78), Sullivan (32), Smith (21) , Huerta (19), Fox (17), Cook (13)
The starting lineup to face Canada – which is the fifth unique starting lineup used by the USA in this Concacaf W tournament – includes two different players from the lineup that started the semifinal against Costa Rica. Naeher for Murphy in goal and Fox for Sonnett in defense. Tonight’s starting lineup includes just five players who started against Canada in the Olympic semifinal, which was the most recent meeting between the teams: Naeher, Sauerbrunn, Horan, Lavelle and Morgan.
Horan and Smith will now have started every game for the USA at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, both making their fifth straight starts. This starting lineup averages 28 years of age and 77 appearances per player, with three players – Sauerbrunn, Morgan and Horan – with over 100 appearances and three – Huerta, Fox and Cook – with fewer than 20 appearances.
Becky Sauerbrunn will captain the USA for the 36th time overall, but her first in a final as she makes her 207th international appearance for the USA. Sauerbrunn now breaks a tie with Tiffeny Milbrett for ninth on the USA all-time list, the most appearances by any player in USWNT history who has played almost exclusively as a defender.
Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher will make her second start at the Concacaf W Championship as she earns her 83rd career cap. Naeher, who kept a clean sheet against Jamaica in the second game of the U.S. group stage. as of July 7, has 48 career shutouts, which ranks third in USWNT history. Two of Naeher’s 48 career shutouts came against Canada. Naeher, who had a standout tournament in Tokyo, started the Olympic semifinal against Canada but was forced off in the 30th minute as the score was tied 0-0 with a knee injury that would sideline her for the rest of the year .
Alana Cook will make her fourth start at the Concacaf W Championship as she earns her 14th career cap for the USWNT. Cook, who is playing in her first competitive tournament with the USWNT, leads the USA in total minutes played this year with 746 minutes of action. This will be Cook’s 12th start in the USA’s last 14 games, a span dating back to the November 2021 Games in Australia.
Sofia Huerta will make her second straight and third start overall at the Concacaf W Championship as she earns her 19th cap for the USA. Huerta, who will now have seen the field in all five Concacaf W Championship games, has two assists in 2022 and has also helped set up two own goals. Seven of Huerta’s nine career starts will now come since her return to the national team in November 2021.
Forward Mallory Pugh will make her fourth Concacaf W Championship start as she earns her 78th career win. Pugh leads the U.S. with seven assists in 2022, two of which have come in this tournament, and scored her 24th international goal in a July 14 win over Costa Rica. This will be Pugh’s second time starting a final for the U.S. and her first since the 2016 Olympic Qualifier, when she started the U.S.’s 2-0 win over Canada in the championship game.
Lindsey Horan will start her fifth straight match at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship as she makes her 116th international appearance. Horan, who led the USA in scoring with six goals at the 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, has eight goals and eight assists in 18 career appearances in CONCACAF qualifying games and has two goals and two assists in seven appearances for Canada.
Sophia Smith will win her 21st cap as she makes her top team for her 11th start of 2022 and fifth consecutive start at the tournament. Smith, who is playing in her first competitive tournament with the USWNT, leads the USWNT in scoring with seven goals on the year and scored a goal in the first eight minutes of the USA’s 5-0 win over Jamaica on July 7.
After scoring a brace in the USA’s opener against Haiti, Alex Morgan will make her fourth start of the tournament as she wins her 196th cap and moves past Shannon Boxx for 13th on the USA’s all-time list. The goal against Haiti marked Morgan’s 29th career multi-goal game, third best in US history. She has now scored 21 goals in 23 career qualifying appearances for the USWNT, the third most in US history.
Midfielder Rose Lavelle will make her fourth start and fifth appearance overall in this tournament as she earns her 78th cap for the USA. Lavelle scored the USA’s third goal in a 5–0 win over Jamaica on July 7 for her third goal of the year and tallied her sixth assist of 2022 in the USA’s win over Costa Rica on July 14. Lavelle, who has two goals in four career appearances against Canada, has been directly involved in nine goals in the USA’s last eight games, scoring three goals and adding six assists.
Andy Sullivan will earn her 32nd career cap as she makes her fourth Concacaf W Championship start, her first start and first appearance for the USWNT in a final. Sullivan is third overall on the USWNT this year in total minutes played with 658 and will make her 10th start of 2022.
Defender Emily Fox returns to the USA starting lineup after missing the last two games while in COVID protocols. Fox started the USA’s games against Haiti and Jamaica and is looking to win the 17th tournament of her career. She will now have appeared in 13 of the USA’s 16 matches since the October 2021 FIFA Window and will make her 12th start in that span.
