The USWNT wins fans with its stars, but keeps winning games with its depth

HARRISON, N.J. — The only unusual thing about the U.S. women’s soccer team’s latest game wasn’t on the field.

Saturday’s 1-0 win over Colombia to cap off the SheBelieves Cup was a great contest, won with a highlight-reel goal from Alyssa Thompson. But while the announced crowd of 22,385 was vibrant, it snapped a seven-game, 11-year sellout streak at the venue now called Sports Illustrated Stadium.

Was it the weather? Maybe, but those sellouts included a few at this same time of March in worse cold. Was it high ticket prices? Another maybe, and a factor far too often these days.

And was there any perception of a lack of star power on the field, relative to past eras? That also hasn’t mattered here over time, since the Americans’ fan base is so fierce. It didn’t have to in theory with this U.S. squad, featuring Trinity Rodman, Sam Coffey, Naomi Girma, Lily Yohannes, and Rose Lavelle — the last of whom plays her club soccer on the same field for Gotham FC.

But from the start, this U.S. squad was defined by who wasn’t here as much as who was. Catarina Macario is injured, Tierna Davidson is just back from a torn ACL, Sophia Wilson is just back from maternity leave, and Mallory Swanson is still on hers.

The “Triple Espresso” attacking line that electrified the Olympics hasn’t played together since they walked off the gold medal podium in August 2024. Macario hasn’t played with them in a game since two months prior to that.

» READ MORE: Alyssa Thompson’s goal earns the USWNT a 1-0 win over Colombia and a SheBelieves Cup sweep

If those absences gave the rest of the world a moment of hope, it didn’t last long. The SheBelieves Cup sweep and a few of the games before it, especially a two-game sweep of Euro 2025 semifinalist Italy in November, have served as a reminder that the Americans are still a force.

Even worse, they’ve got more young talent that’s quickly on the rise.

In defense, Tara Rudd and Penn State product Kate Wiesner have joined Girma, Davidson, and veteran Emily Sonnett on the centerback depth chart. Avery Patterson and Gisele Thompson have shown they can be Emily Fox’s understudy at right back, and both can also play left back.

By next year, the starting left back might be Lily Reale, last year’s NWSL Rooke of the Year with Gotham. Her rise came at a perfect time, since Crystal Dunn recently retired.

» READ MORE: Meet Huntingdon Valley-bred Erica Dambach, who built Penn State’s pipeline to the USWNT

The midfield has a trio of jewels. Claire Hutton is a defensive rock who can also play a sharp pass. Yohannes and Olivia Moultrie are meeting the enormous hype put upon them. And Jaedyn Shaw is still just 21, even in her fifth year as a pro.

Then comes the forward line, the part that has always scared the rest of the world. Thompson is leaving opponents in her dust on the wing for the U.S. and English power Chelsea, while striker Ally Sentnor and winger Emma Sears have muscled their way on to the depth chart in the absence of certain stars.

If manager Emma Hayes was picking a World Cup squad today, they might all make it. And every name you just read is age 25 or younger except for Rudd, who’s 26.

There are more, too, who aren’t at that level but have been well-honed by Hayes’ investment in the U.S. under-23 team: defenders Jordyn Bugg and Kennedy Wesley, and forwards Maddie Dahlien and Jameese Joseph. Voorhees’ Riley Tiernan could join them if she plays as well in the league this year as she did last year.

» READ MORE: Riley Tiernan features in a new ESPN behind-the-scenes series on NWSL players

All of this is proof of the Americans’ ultimate weapon right now. It isn’t star power, it’s depth. For all the growth of women’s soccer in the rest of the world — especially European powerhouses England and Spain — it’s still true that no nation consistently develops talent in the sport the way the United States does.

You’ve read about this before in these pages: last year, in 2024 before the Olympics, and in 2023 right after the U.S. was knocked out of the World Cup. Yes, it was true then too, and then-manager Vlatko Andonovski’s failure to use it well was part of why the Americans went home the earliest they ever have.

The foundations have felt shaky at other times, especially when the NWSL has been slow to build player development infrastructure. It still isn’t all there yet, especially given the lack of real youth academies and a homegrown player rule. But the continued success of the league’s young players with the national team brings continued encouragement to keep going.

Saturday’s game was a great example of how much the depth matters. The U.S. and Colombia went blow for blow through the first 60 minutes, until Hayes made a quadruple-swap in the attack. The newcomers broke the Cafeteras’ resistance.

» READ MORE: Matt Crocker’s call for the youth game to help U.S. Soccer draws support from Philly-area leaders

Mass subs are nothing new in friendlies, especially U.S. games. Still, it’s a big statement to send in Moultrie, Sears, Shaw, and Lindsey Heaps for Lavelle, Rodman, Sentnor, and Yohannes.

“I’m demonstrating as a coach that I trust the squad,” Hayes said afterward. “It’s not like the game needed changing, it’s not like we were losing. But I want to be able to keep offering another version of ourselves … I’m really proud of the players, and I’m proud of our system.”

The latest endorsement came from a U.S. legend who was on hand Saturday. North Jersey native Tobin Heath was celebrated before kickoff in the Americans’ first game in the Garden State since she announced her retirement last July. Four months later, she earned first-ballot induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

“I love this next generation of the team — I’m so inspired by them,” the former wizard of the wing said. “Emma highlights this more than ever: The abundance that we have to choose from is massive, and that is why we’re the best country in the world.”

» READ MORE: A look back at the heights of Tobin Heath's fame as a USWNT star

The message was clear, and it’s getting through. As next year’s World Cup draws closer, women’s soccer’s biggest empire might not be at its best right now. But the pieces are coming together, setting the stage for a three-game series against Japan next month that could be terrific.

As another group of stars once said of an empire, they’re on course to be fully operational.