USA: Back on top and targeting 2027

The USWNT story has, for over two decades, been told through the FIFA Women’s World Ranking.

For 20 of the Ranking’s 21 years, it made for the most remarkable and reassuring of American reading. The team was, after all, ever-present in the top two between 2003 and 2023, and sat perched at the summit for two separate six-year stints (2008-2014 and 2017-2023).

But last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup™, and the earliest exit of the team’s history, set in motion a historic plunge, first to third and, most recently, to the unthinkable depths of fifth.

“We’ve got work to do,” Emma Hayes admitted shortly after her appointment. “The rest of the world do not fear the USA in the way they once did. And I think that’s valid.”

Fast forward a couple of months, of course, and reports of US decline have been shown to be greatly exaggerated. The four-time world champions returned from Paris 2024 having won Olympic gold for a record-extending fifth time, and have since reclaimed their familiar position as Ranking leaders.

Worryingly for the rest of the women’s game, Hayes has also vowed that she and her new-look team are “only just beginning”. “We are so excited about our potential,” the Londoner added. “We’re delighted with a gold medal, but we want so much more.”

Every interview after that 1-0 win over Brazil, it seemed, contained a reference to 2027 and a promise that USA will be, in the words of Sophia Smith, a “different team” to the side that toiled in Australia and New Zealand. There is reason for such optimism, too, with a few key factors underpinning their current resurgence.

An injection of youth
The Americans had the oldest squad at the Tokyo Olympics, and went into the World Cup still leaning on ageing icons such as Julie Ertz (31), Alex Morgan (34) and Megan Rapinoe (38). And in truth, it showed.

Hayes, by contrast, put her trust in youth, selecting a squad with an average age of 26.8 – the USWNT’s youngest since 2008 – and starting the likes of 20-year-old Korbin Albert. While the omission of Morgan made headlines at the time, there can be no question that a freshness and vibrancy was brought to the team’s play by its new generation of players.

With eight of the ten outfield starters in the gold medal match aged 26 or under, it bodes well for USA peaking in time for 2027.

A rejuvenating espresso (or three)
The attacking trio of Trinity Rodman (22), Sophia Smith (24) and Mallory Swanson (26) all fit within that bracket, and the trust Hayes placed in them was spectacularly vindicated.

While all three dazzled during the group stage, it was in the knockout matches that they truly rose to the occasion, as each contributed game-winning goals – Rodman against Japan, Smith against Germany and Swanson against Brazil – to edge the US towards gold.

They offered much more besides, too, living up to their new ‘triple espresso’ nickname with performances that provided energy in spades, and plenty of inventive interplay too.

An elite defender
While the attackers, as always, grabbed the goals and the glory, the biggest compliment of the tournament was paid to one of USA’s centre-backs.

“She’s the best defender I’ve ever seen,” Hayes said of Naomi Girma after the semi-final win over Germany. “I’ve never seen a player as good as her at the back. She’s got everything: poise, composure, she can defend, she anticipates, she leads. [She’s] unbelievable.”

Lavish praise indeed, and yet few could quibble after USA emerged from the knockout stage without conceding a goal. Though still just 24, Girma is the rock on which that sturdy new-look defence has been built, and she is living up to Hayes’ lofty billing.

An outstanding leader
It is no accident that Hayes is a serial finalist for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach award. The former Chelsea boss is proving once again that she is offers a unique blend of determination, ruthlessness, personal integrity and, yes, more than a little laughter.

“She’s brought fun, she’s brought energy and she’s brought belief,” Smith told FIFA in the wake of USA winning gold in Paris. “You feel you don’t have to be over-coached by her – she knows we know what we’re doing, and she makes us feel that way. She’s just been great.”

With Hayes at the helm, and their team back on top of the world, that American excitement for 2027 looks to be built on a solid foundation.