United States women’s national team defender and captain Becky Sauerbrunn will not be included in the team’s roster for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, according to multiple sources briefed on the decision. The sources were granted anonymity as they were not allowed to comment publicly on the USWNT roster, which is due to be announced next week, or Sauerbrunn’s exclusion.
Players were updated on their squad status on Thursday. A US soccer spokesman declined to comment.
Sauerbrunn is still recovering from a foot injury in April that kept her out of action with her NWSL club Portland Thorns for most of May. She returned as a second-half substitute in the June 3 game against OL Reign, but then did not feature in the June 11 game against Orlando Pride. Prior to that game, Sauerbrunn had been listed as questionable in the league’s availability report.
Sauerbrunn, 38, has won two World Cups with the USWNT, one in 2019 and one in 2015. She is also an Olympic gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics and a bronze medalist at the 2020 Olympics. She has made 216 appearances for the USWNT.
GO DEEPER
All previous squads of the Women’s World Cup
Separately, sources confirmed the World Cup squad status of three other players: goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, midfielder Savannah DeMelo and defender Kelley O’Hara will make the squad.
O’Hara’s addition to defense ensures the team has a veteran presence that could help replace Sauerbrunn’s presence in the dressing room. O’Hara, 34, had missed several camps from late 2022 to early 2023 as she struggled with an ongoing hip injury and returned to the USWNT environment with her call-up for April’s friendlies against Ireland.
Given USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s midfield experimentation with numerous other players, including San Diego Wave’s Taylor Kornieck, DeMelo’s addition is perhaps one of the biggest surprises to the roster. DeMelo has been solid at Racing Louisville and could bring some depth in a box-to-box role. He’s a player who works hard on both sides of the ball, can drift further if needed and is good at reading the game and creating chances.
Kingsbury is another somewhat surprising inclusion, almost certainly at the expense of AD Franch as the team’s third-best goalkeeper, given that Alyssa Naeher and Casey Murphy were tied to their respective roles for much of World Cup preparation. Kingsbury is no stranger to the USWNT senior team but has made just one appearance for the team – a goal he earned in the 9-0 win over Uzbekistan in April 2022.
TO UPDATE: On Friday night, Sauerbrunn tweeted a statement in which she said, “There’s just too much volatility in the timeline of my return to the game.”
GO DEEPER
USWNT remains at the top of the FIFA rankings ahead of the Women’s World Cup
(Photo: Brad Smith/USSF/Getty Images)