- The U.S. Women’s National soccer team will kick off the season Thursday against Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup. The game begins at 8 p.m. EST in Houston.
- The U.S. team just won a gold medal in the 2024 Olympic games and is ranked #1 in the world by FIFA.
- Head coach Emma Hayes wants to see which of her young players will step up and take leading roles.
The U.S. Women’s National soccer team will kick off their season Thursday night, Feb. 20, against Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup. The match will be played in Houston, where the U.S. team has never lost a match.
They have also won seven of the last nine SheBelieves Cup tournaments and are ranked #1 in the world by FIFA. The program is coming off a successful run with new head coach Emma Hayes, who joined in May 2024. They won Olympic gold in Paris, beating Brazil 1-0 in the final.
What will the new season bring for the USWNT?
This year, however, presents a different challenge with a younger roster. It includes several players who have never played on this stage. Hayes would like those youngsters to show something in this tournament.
“For me, I want to arm our squad with the knowledge and the tools that are going to serve us well as we progress,” Hayes said. “There’s going to be players that are going to play in this tournament that absolutely do not know, you know, everything that’s required at the top level in its entirety. But we must have belief in them and give them the support to be able to be successful with that, so I’m very excited for that.”
What is the SheBelieves Cup?
The 2025 SheBelieves Cup features three other teams—Colombia, Australia, and Japan—that all reached at least the quarterfinals at either the last World Cup or the Olympics. Colombia is a rising force in women’s soccer. However, in 13 matches, the team has never beaten the U.S., posting an 0-11-2 record.
That said, Hayes plans to use this tournament to improve her entire program ahead of the 2027 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic games.
“We’re at a point now where we have to help bridge the gap to bring everybody to a much closer level –– from, say, Lindsay Horan, Emily Sonnett, and all the way out –– we have to keep bridging this gap,” Hayes said. “Because so often, we’re always preparing for today instead of…one year’s time, two years’ time, three years’ time, always.”
The SheBelieves Cup was created “to encourage young women and girls to reach their dreams, athletic or otherwise,” and the competition also extends to the SheBelieves Summit. Including this year, the U.S. will have hosted 15 nations over the past decade. The hosts won their fifth consecutive SheBelieves title last year.
How to watch the SheBelieves Cup
The average age of the U.S. Women’s National Team is 24.9 years old, with three teenagers on the roster. So, the future is bright, but there’s work to be done to get there starting Thursday night.
English-language coverage of the USWNT games will be broadcast on TBS, while Spanish-language coverage of the rest of the tournament will air on Universo. English coverage of the games will be streamed live on Max, and Spanish coverage will be on Peacock.