USA vs. Iceland: Starting XI & Lineup Notes
Written by Black Hot Fire Network on October 25, 2024
USWNT vs. Iceland
Date: October 24, 2024
Venue: Q2 Stadium; Austin, Texas
Broadcast: TBS, Universo, Max, Peacock
Official Kickoff Time: 6:37 p.m. CT / 7:37 p.m. ET
Starting XI vs. Iceland: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 4-Naomi Girma, 5-Jenna Nighswonger, 6-Lynn Williams, 7-Alyssa Thompson, 9-Mallory Swanson, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Sam Coffey, 23-Emily Fox
Available Subs: 2-Ashley Sanchez, 3-Korbin Albert, 8-Hailie Mace, 11-Sophia Smith, 12-Emily Sams, 13-Olivia Moultrie, 15-Jaedyn Shaw, 18-Casey Murphy, 19-Hal Hershfelt, 20-Casey Krueger, 24-Yazmeen Ryan, 26-Emma Sears
Not dressing: Jane Campbell, Eva Gaetino, Alyssa Malonson
GAME NOTES| FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
- USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Horan (157), Naeher (113), Lavelle (107), Swanson (101), Sonnett (100), Williams (72), Fox (58), Smith (56), Girma (41), Coffey (25), Nighswonger (16), Thompson (10)
- Tonight’s starting lineup features 10 players from the 2024 Olympic Roster, with forward Alyssa Thompson the only non-Olympian in the XI. Six of the 11 starters — Alyssa Naeher, Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Sam Coffey, Lindsey Horan and Mallory Swanson — started in the Olympic gold medal match against Brazil while Emily Sonnett and Lynn Williams both came on as second-half substitutes.
- The starting lineup averages 72 caps per player and 27.8 years of age.
- With her start tonight, defender Emily Sonnett earns her 100th cap for the USWNT, becoming the 45th player in USWNT history to reach 100 international appearances and the fourth player to hit the century mark this year, joining Naeher, Lavelle and Swanson. Sonnett debuted for the USWNT nearly nine years ago to the day on Oct. 25, 2015, in Orlando, Fla., and played in all six matches at the 2024 Olympics, starting the group stage finale against Australia and the quarterfinal victory over Japan. A two-time Olympian, Sonnett is one of five players on this roster to have won both Olympic Gold and a World Cup. Horan, Lavelle, Naeher and Swanson are the others.
- After becoming just fourth player to captain the USWNT in an Olympic gold medal match, Lindsey Horan will captain the team as she makes her team-leading 18th start of 2024. Horan, who scored in the USA’s most recent trip to Austin in April of 2023, was one of eight players to start all six matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics and tallied two assists in the USA’s opening win over Zambia.
- After becoming the first goalkeeper to earn a shutout in a Women’s World Cup Final and an Olympic gold medal game, Alyssa Naeher returns to the field for the USWNT for her 113th cap. Naeher has nine shutouts in 15 appearances for the U.S. this year, tied for the most shutouts in a calendar year in her international career. Naeher had four shutouts at the Paris Olympics, highlighted by three consecutive clean sheets in the knockout rounds.
- Naomi Girma will earn her 41st cap for the USWNT coming off a stellar showing at the Paris 2024 Olympics where she played every minute of all six games. Girma has now played every minute of the last 10 matches for the USWNT at the World Cup and Olympics — the only field player to do so — and has guided the U.S. defense to seven clean sheets during that span.
- With just 10 caps to her name heading into the Olympics, Jenna Nighswonger will make her 16th international appearance and her ninth career start. Playing in her first world championship at any level for U.S. Soccer, Nighswonger appeared in five matches in Paris, coming off a bench as a substitute in every match except for the gold match.
- Lynn Williams will make her third start of 2024 as she earns her 72nd cap overall for the USWNT. A two-time Olympian, Williams played in all six matches of the Paris 2024 games and scored on just her fourth touch of the game in the July 28 group stage win over Germany.
- Alyssa Thompson will make her third career start as she makes her first appearance for the USWNT in over 10 months. Thompson, who will be earning her 10th cap, most recently played for the U.S. in the end-of-year victory over China PR on Dec. 5, 2023, in Frisco, Texas and made her previous two starts in the lead-up to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, starting against Ireland (April 2023) and Wales (July 2023). The 19-year-old Thompson is the youngest player in tonight’s starting lineup and is one of three teenagers on this roster along with Olivia Moultrie (19) and Jaedyn Shaw (19).
- After scoring the gold medal-winning goal in her 100th cap in Paris, Mallory Swanson returns to action for her 11th start and 13th overall appearance of 2024. Swanson led the U.S. in scoring at the Olympics with four goals and also added two assists, directly contributing to six of the USA’s 12 goals scored. Swanson is the leading scorer on this roster with 38 international goals, two of which came in the USA’s most recent meeting with Iceland in February 2022.
- Rose Lavelle will earn her 107th cap as she makes her 15th appearance and 10th start for the USWNT this year. Lavelle started all five of her appearances at the 2024 Olympics, only missing out on the gold medal match. She has three assists on the year for the U.S. – tied for fourth on the team – and heads into camp on a stellar run of form for NJ/NY Gotham FC, scoring a career-high seven regular season goals.
- After playing an important role in the midfield during the USA’s gold medal run, Sam Coffey will make her 16th start and 18th appearance of the year for the USWNT. The 2024 Olympics was the first world championship at any level for Coffey and she started five matches, only missing the quarterfinal against Japan due to yellow card accumulation. She ranks fifth on the team in total minutes played this year, logging a career-high 1,293 minutes of action.
- Emily Fox had a stellar performance in her first Olympics, starting all six matches and playing more minutes (572) than any USWNT field player other than Naomi Girma. Fox, who will be making her team-leading 19th appearance of the year, ranks third on the team with 1,383 total minutes of action in 2024, eclipsing the 1,000-minute mark for the second consecutive year.