As 23 players begin to prepare to travel to represent their country as part of the final United States Women's National Team roster, many players will be staying behind to watch the tournament from home.
With the release of the 2023 USWNT Women's World Cup roster, there are certainly incredible names going that we need to talk about. But the names that get left off these rosters are almost just as important.
With only 23 players allowed per team, head coach Vlatko Andonovski had to make some tough calls with one of the best talent pools in the world to choose from.
Here are the key players missing from the 2023 USWNT World Cup roster.
USWNT roster: Notable players missing from Women's World Cup team
Becky Sauerbrunn
Perhaps the biggest and least expected loss for the USWNT, long-time veteran player Becky Sauerbrunn announced that she would not be traveling to the World Cup this summer after rehabbing a foot injury. Usually the captain of this team, the US is going to have to face a difficult challenge in anchoring a backline without Sauerbrunn's leadership and guidance. They're surely going to be missing Sauerbrunn as she cheers them on from home.
Ashley Hatch
Andonovski appears to have chosen youthful prospects over recent breakthrough star Ashely Hatch. The forward has been on a roll for her club team the Washington Spirit, scoring six goals for the team so far this season. She's been earning consistent call-ups for the senior team and has made 19 appearances usually as a substitute for Alex Morgan or Mallory Swanson. But with the inclusion of Alyssa Thompson, it seems that Andonovski had to drop a forward for the young upstart, and Hatch didn't make the cut.
Mallory Swanson
This was supposed to be Mallory Swanson's year, and she had been leading the charge for the USWNT in their early 2023 games. With eight goals in six games in just 2023, she was the future of the frontline on this team. But unfortunately, her reason for missing out is as simple as injury. She tore her patella tendon in the friendly games against Ireland and was ruled out for this year's competition. The young frontline threats of Alyssa Thompson, Trinity Rodman, and Sophia Smith will have big shoes to fill as they look to stack up goals for this US squad down a Swanson.
Casey Krueger
Krueger was one of the many players to earn a recent call-up after returning from a long leave of absence. Krueger was returning from pregnancy and has been spending her club minutes with the Chicago Red Stars who have been suffering from a less-than-ideal season. While Krueger has shown promising play with the Red Stars despite their losses, it appears that it wasn't enough to convince Andonovski. Although her crossing ability will surely be missed, the backline didn't have the space for Krueger this year.
AD Franch
The Kansas City Current has been having a rough season this year, and one of their attempted solutions has been benching AD Franch in favor of Cassie Miller. It's highly likely that her lack of club minutes negatively impacted Franch's chance of making this roster, and she's been left off in favor of Washington Spirit keeper Aubrey Kingsbury. The third goalkeeper spot has shifted a couple of times in the last few months, with Franch only recently getting more consistent call-ups. Kingsbury was the regular third keeper, and has made a comeback to claim her spot, unfortunately leaving Franch off this final roster.
Tierna Davidson
With the loss of Sauerbrunn, there was a center-back-sized hole on this roster, one that Davidson could've filled. But the previous World Cup champion suffered an ACL tear back in March 2022 and has only recently recovered. The anchor of the Chicago backline, Davidson simply hasn't gotten back to herself. In the post-roster conference, Andonovski noted that Davidson was very close the making the roster, but it just wasn't enough to break into the tough USWNT department on defense and that she'll surely be in contention for the next major tournament.
Midge Purce
After getting a few call-ups in 2023, Purce was ultimately left off the roster. She's been dealing with a lingering hip injury with Gotham, starting off the season strong but has been in and out ever since. She's only played four matches this season but did manage to score two goals in that time. Purce was last called up to the national team for the SheBelieves tournament but missed out on the April camp against the Republic of Ireland. Unfortunately, Purce has been in and out with injury and not earning enough consistent call-ups, missing out on this year's World Cup.
There are a whole host of names that haven't been around even longer from injury: Christen Press, Catarina Macario, Abby Dahlkemper, Sam Mewis, and more. But in the end, there are only 23 spots available and with one of the deepest talent pools in the world, all the choices are hard to make.