Two friendly games in April for the United States National Team of the United States were not exactly as planned, but those 180 minutes safe are valuable to the future of this team for many reasons. Manager Emma Hayes and the group were formed with a 2-1 defeat on Tuesdaywhere the United States admitted a goal of game purposes in detention time. The coaching staff chose to obtain more looks with family tactics in the two games, and with a less experienced alignment in the second friendly, the high pressure scenarios presented the lack of experience throughout the game.
The duo of matches was used as part of a longer evaluation process for Hayes and the staff in a long accumulation of the FIFA 2027 World Cup. Before the game on Tuesday, Hayes hinted at the possibility that the USWNT program was heading to Brazil next year for high team experiences before the global tournament that the country will house. After the game, the chief coach was as clear as ever: the games in 2025 will continue to be a focal point of processes instead of victories and losses.
“It has been a really good camp. We should not always measure progress by result,” said Hayes. “If I only prioritize short -term success, of course, I would not make so many changes. But I am not making decisions for the short term; I am prioritizing the progress of expanding the game group to see how these players look in a really difficult game.”
The striker Trinity Rodman made his return to the USWNT camps during the April window, a third of the 2024 Olympic gold medal attack “Triple Espresso” that also had Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson. With a longer construction towards the World Cup and other players who handle injuries, Hayes has been clear that now is the time to explore and expand the group of players.
With the additional winners of the Naomi Girma Gold Medal, tender Davidson and Rose Lavelle not available for the National Team, more players have been in and out of the camps since 2025 began, and will continue. But as each camp passes, who are the least covered players who capitalize on the opportunity of the moment?
Here are some players that I think will keep the decision making for the coaching staff after the friendlies in April:
Supply
Players who have improved markedly from the camps from January to April. Their efforts have taken more minutes or more openings and have impacted the games in which they participated. Probably candidates for future camps, and maybe they even compete for the initial positions.
Alyssa Thompson (striker): There is no doubt about it, Thompson is entering the territory of stain theft. The end “has taken another step”, in Hayes’s opinion, and has appeared in each camp throughout 2025 so far. It is a great praise for a player who is only scratching the surface of his career.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce (goalkeeper): The goalkeeper made a great declaration game during the inaugural match against Brazil. A bleached and six great salvages against a creative technical team have uploaded it in a goalkeeper pool that looks for an response in the initial paper.
Claire Hutton (midfielder): The current midfielder of Kansas City had an impressive beginning in match two and won the ball that emerged the only American goal of the game on Tuesday. In spite of the 4-2-3-1 optics presenting a double pivot, the 19-year-old operated mainly as a solo defensive midfielder in position No. 6, and had a cold head at all times.
Stable
The players who were called before the January camps and since then have obtained calls and minutes during the games in 2025. Considered part of the current group of players that the coaching staff will maintain among the lists during the rest of the year, if it is healthy.
Catarina Macario (forward): Chelsea FC player has worked from an ACL lesion and even made the 2024 Olympic list, but withdrew from Olympic containment after an outbreak in knee pain. He is playing more consistently now, for the club and the country, and his name has been on the score sheet in three of the four games that began this year.
Ally Sentnor (forward): At one time, Sentnor was a player in the depth table, but his 2024 rookie season with Reales Utah and the U20 World Cup team obtained their calls to the senior team before their “Futures Camp” debut in January. They have called it to the camps as a center of the field and as a striker and will have more calls this year.
Establish
Current players called whose performances have led more questions about their position in the group of players instead of clear indicators that they should remain part of the senior process.
Mandy McGlynn (goalkeeper): McGlynn only had three openings with the national team, but his two games in 2025 presented more questions than answers. In each of the two games, goals were admitted at the end of the game, so some difficult lessons remain as the coaching staff continues to seek solutions in the position.
Jaedyn Shaw (midfielder): Hayes has made it clear that the timeline for the evaluation of the player in the next two years will be a key preparation for the construction of the list, and some younger players could see their last year limited and arrive at the U23 Relaunch program. Shaw’s waning minutes and the slowest start of this NWSL season could be signs that you have wants the player to work to recover his trust.
Tara McKeown (defender): There is a significant amount of confidence that McKeown has accumulated with the coaching staff in his short time on the USWNT lists. Brazil presented a lot of challenges in the attack transition and McKeown had some mixed moments. With lesions along the background, it is likely that it is still part of future camps if your club’s game remains constant.
Indefinite
Alana Cook (defender) and Ashley Hatch (striker): The two players were appointed on the April list and marked their return to the national team’s camps for the first time since 2023. Their limited minutes in the two -game series finally point to where their place is among the group of players, almost the same as before, outside looking outside.
