The annual 2026 SheBelieves Cup will kick off on March 1, and U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes has named a 26-player roster ahead of the tournament. The 11th annual SheBelieves Cup is a four-team invitational featuring the United States, Argentina, Canada, and Colombia. As Hayes narrows her player pool ahead of November’s Concacaf W Championship — the region’s World Cup qualifiers — the SheBelieves Cup marks the start of qualifying preparations for the looming 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
A tournament blend of Concacaf and CONMEBOL opposition will test the Stars and Stripes with styles that they could see again during qualifiers.
“The SheBelieves Cup is a fantastic tournament which gives us the opportunity to replicate the group stage of a FIFA tournament,” said Hayes. “Three quality games in quick succession also allow us to replicate conditions that will prepare us for the World Cup qualifying campaign this fall. As always, we want to keep developing our player pool to be more and more prepared. As we gain more experience, I expect our standards to keep improving.”
The SheBelieves Cup rosters were expanded to 26 players, up from 23 in previous editions, and this year’s camps will allow coaches to name 23 players to dress for match dates. Gameday rosters can be rotated to feature any of the 26 selected players. Eleven players who were not in the January camps return to this roster, while 15 holdovers from the January roster earned a place on the SheBelieves Cup list.
While the January camps were held outside an official FIFA window, the SheBelieves Cup roster welcomes several European-based players back into the mix, including midfielder Sam Coffey, who recently transferred to Manchester City from the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.
In perhaps a symbolic turning of the page, there are no players on the roster with zero appearances. This is the first time since the 2025 SheBelieves Cup that a USWNT roster has not featured an uncapped player. Hayes has given 32 players their first caps in 32 games as manager. No other full-time USWNT manager named more than 36 different starters in their first 30 games as head coach.
2026 USWNT SheBelieves Cup roster
Players listed by position (club, caps/goals)
Goalkeepers (3): Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign FC; 7), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals; 5), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, ENG; 4)
Defenders (9): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign FC; 6/0), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG; 71/1), Naomi Girma (Chelsea FC, ENG; 50/2), Lilly Reale (Gotham FC; 6/0), Tara Rudd (Washington Spirit; 10/0), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC; 113/2), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; 5/0), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave FC; 3/0), Kate Wiesner (Washington Spirit; 3/0)
Midfielders (8): Sam Coffey (Manchester City, ENG; 42/5), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 170/38), Claire Hutton (Bay FC; 13/1), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; 1/0), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC; 116/27), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC; 13/5), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC; 31/9), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes, FRA; 13/1)
Forwards (6): Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign FC; 2/0), Jameese Joseph (Chicago Stars FC; 2/1), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit; 49/13), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville FC; 14/6), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current; 15/6), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC, ENG; 26/3)
Sophia Wilson, Catarina Macario miss out
National team veterans Sophia Wilson and Catarina Macario did not make the cut for the SheBelieves Cup roster for varying fitness reasons, with Hayes admitting on Tuesday that the pair would likely have been part of the group if they were fit enough to take part.
Wilson has not been with the national team since 2024 and spent all of 2025 on maternity leave, though she has returned to training with the Portland Thorns and expects to be fit for the start of the NWSL season in mid-March. Though Hayes and Wilson both wanted the player to take part in March’s USWNT matches, the Thorns ultimately decided Wilson was not fit enough for the opportunity this time around.
“Soph and I spoke and she’s just not ready,” Hayes said. “The return to play protocol has just not given her enough time, I think, for her to be in the place she wanted to be in so it’s right that she’s not in the squad, however much I want her to be. The reality is Portland didn’t her deem her to be.”
As for Macario, Hayes disclosed that the player is dealing with a heel injury. She did not comment on Macario’s club situation, which has been the source of some speculation in recent weeks — she has not played for Chelsea since December 10 and has since been left off the team’s UEFA Women’s Champions League roster, all while being linked to a move to the NWSL’s San Diego Wave.
“My understanding is that she has a heel injury. She’s getting closer and closer every day,” Hayes said before adding that Macario’s exact timeline to return to the pitch is unclear. “I don’t know when that’s going to be but she’s not available for selection.”
Other players like defender Avery Patterson and midfielder Croix Bethune, the latter of whom was part of a blockbuster trade to the Kansas City Current last week, were also left off because they do not have enough reps under their belts during preseason. Their absences, though, afforded opportunities to another batch of rising USWNT stars — midfielder Riley Tiernan and forward Maddie Dahlien, who earned their first caps last month, will now join a more experienced version of the U.S. team for a SheBelieves Cup that simulates a tournament setting. Forward Jameese Joseph also got the nod in large part because Wilson and Macario were unavailable.
“If Cat Macario and Sophia Wilson were available for selection, they would’ve been selected as the [No.] 9s,” Hayes said before reinforcing her longstanding project to expand the player pool. “We have to develop more nines and [Joseph] said, ‘That’s where I want to be.'”
