USA vs. England: Starting XI and line-up notes

On By Littum

England v USWNT
Date: 30 November 2024
Meeting place: Wembley Stadium; London, England
Broadcast: TNT, Telemundo, Universo, Max, Peacock
Official kickoff time: 12:20 PM ET / 5:20 PM GMT

Starting XI vs. England: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 4-Naomi Girma, 6-Lynn Williams, 7-Alyssa Thompson, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 13-Emma Sears, 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Sam Coffey, 20-Casey Krueger, 23 -Emily Fox

Available subs: 2-Emily Sams, 3-Korbin Albert, 5-Jenna Nighswonger, 8-Jaedyn Shaw, 9-Ally Sentnor, 11-Lily Yohannes, 12-Tierna Davidson, 15-Alyssa Malonson, 19-Hal Hershfelt, 21-Mandy Haught, 22-Eva Gaetino, 24-Yazmeen Ryan

Not dressing: Phallon Tullis-Joyce

GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

  • USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (including this match): Horan (160), Naeher (114), Lavelle (109), Sonnett (102), Williams (74), Fox (61), Krueger (60), Girma (43), Coffey (27), Thompson (12), Sears (3)
  • Today’s lineup to face the Lionesses features seven players – Naeher, Girma, Fox, Coffey, Lavelle, Horan and Thompson – who featured in the USA’s last game at Wembley on October 7, 2022. Naeher, Girma, Fox, Lavelle and Horan started all together. that match, while Coffey and Thompson came on in the second half as substitutes. It was just Coffey’s second cap for the USWNT, and Thompson’s first.
  • Only three players in this XI – Naeher, Horan and Lavelle – played against England in the 2019 World Cup semi-final in Lyon.
  • Lindsey Horan will captain the USWNT for the 35th time in her career as she earns her 160th cap, moving into a tie with the recently retired Kelley O’Hara for 21st all-time in USWNT history. Horan, one of two American starters nominated for the 2024 FIFA Women’s Player of the Year along with Naomi Girma, will make her team-leading 20th start of the year. Horan leads the USWNT in minutes played in 2024 with 1,652 and is 56 minutes away from setting a new career high for minutes played in a calendar year (1,707 minutes played in 2021).
  • Five days after announcing that she will retire from international football at the end of this trip, Alyssa Naeher will start in goal for the USA as she makes her 17th start in 2024 and earns her 114th cap for the USWNT. Naeher, who famously saved a penalty from former England captain Steph Houghton in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, has 68 career clean sheets, nine of which have come this year. Naeher’s nine shutouts are tied for her most in any calendar year with the USWNT and one away from making her just the fourth goaltender in USWNT history to record double-digit shutouts in a year.
  • Naomi Girma makes her 17th start of the year as she wins her 43rd cap overall for the USWNT. Girma started and played 82 minutes against the Lionesses in the 2022 meeting between the teams in just her eighth cap. Two years later, she has established herself as one of the best center backs in the world and had a stellar showing at the Paris Olympics, playing all 600 minutes while leading a U.S. defense that conceded just two goals in six games . She ranks third on the team among outfielders in total minutes played this year, recording a career-high 1,457 minutes of action.
  • Lynn Williams gets her fourth start of the year as she earns her 74th cap for the USWNT. Williams, who started the USA’s Oct. 24 game against Iceland in Austin, Texas and then had a goal and an assist off the bench three days later in Nashville, has three goals and an assist in 14 games for the USA in 2024, including a goal against Germany in the group stage for the Summer Olympics.
  • Seven hundred and eighty five days after making his debut at Wembley Stadium aged 17, Alyssa Thompson earns her 12th cap as she makes her fourth career start for the USWNT and her second this year. Thompson, who scored her first international goal last month when she started against Iceland on October 24 in Austin, Texas, had a debut to remember two years ago against England. Thompson came on for Megan Rapinoe in the 84th minute in front of a packed crowd of 76,893 fans, and at 17 years and 334 days, she became the 70th teenager ever to earn a cap for the USWNT and the youngest to debut since January 2016.
  • The least experienced player in this Starting XI, Emma Sears will make her second career start as she earns just her third cap for the USWNT. The 23-year-old Sears received her first call-up to the USWNT in October and earned her first cap on Oct. 27 in Nashville, Tennessee, coming off the bench in the second half for both a goal and an assist. Sears became the fourth player in USWNT history to score and have an assist in her USWNT debut and followed it up with a 90-minute performance – and her first career start – in the USA’s October 30 win over Argentina in Louisville, Kentucky.
  • Emily Sonnett makes her eighth start and 19th appearance of the year for the USWNT as she earns her 102nd cap. This will be Sonnett’s third career start against England, making it in both 2016 and 2018, and her 19 caps in 2024 are her most in a calendar year for the USWNT. A world champion in 2019 and Olympic gold medalist in 2024, Sonnett reached the 100-cap milestone in the USA’s victory over Iceland on October 24 to become the 45th player in USWNT history to reach 100 caps.
  • Rose Lavelle, who made his international debut against England on 4 March 2017, will make his 109th cap and his 13th start of the year. Lavelle captained the United States in its most recent match in Louisville when she was honored for her 100th cap, which she earned on June 4, 2024, against Korea Republic in St. Paul, Minnesota. Lavelle started and won the 2020 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium on 1 November 2020 while playing for Manchester City.
  • Recently announced as a midfield nominee for The Best FIFA Women’s 11, Sam Coffey will make her 18th start and 20th appearance of the year for the USWNT as she makes her 27th international appearance overall. Coffey, who came on against the Lionesses just after the hour mark to earn his second cap in October 2022, has had a career year for the USWNT, recording career highs in starts (17), games (19) and total minutes played (1,409) ) and played a key role at midfield during the USA’s run to gold at Paris 2024.
  • After helping lead the Washington Spirit to a spot in the 2024 NWSL Finals in her first year with the club, Casey Krueger makes her fourth start and 18th appearance of the year as she earns her 60th cap for the USWNT. Krueger has two assists on the year for the USWNT, the most recent coming on Oct. 24 in Austin when she assisted on Jaedyn Shaw’s game-winning goal against Iceland. An Olympic gold medalist in 2024 and an Olympic bronze medalist in 2021, Krueger has been called up to every camp for the USWNT since the conclusion of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
  • The only American player to appear in every game this year, Emily Fox makes her 17th start of the year as she makes her 61st international appearance. Recently announced as a defender nominee for the 2024 The Best FIFA Women’s 11, Fox is the lone American starter currently playing her club soccer in England after signing with Arsenal FC in January 2024. Fox started all six games at the 2024 Olympics and is second on the USWNT this year among field players with 1,503 total minutes of action, eclipsing the 1,000-minute mark for the second year in a row.