Date: July 11, 2022 Venue: University Stadium; Monterrey, Mexico Broadcast: Paramount+, ViX Broadcast Time: 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CTO Official Start Time: 10 p.m.
Starting XI vs. Mexico: 18-Casey Murphy; 2-Ashley Sanchez, 4-Becky Sauerbrunn (Capt.), 5-Kelley O’Hara, 10-Lindsey Horan, 11-Sophia Smith, 12-Naomi Girma, 13-Alex Morgan, 14-Emily Sonnett, 17-Andi S , 23-Midge Purce
Supporters Available: 1-Alyssa Naeher, 3-Alana Cook, 6-Trinity Rodman, 8-Sofia Huerta, 9-Mallory Pugh, 15-Megan Rapinoe, 16-Rose Lavelle, 20-Taylor Kornieck, 21-Aubrey, 2 Kristie Kings Mewis Unavailable: Ashley Hatch, Emily Fox
GAME NOTES | FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW – MEXICO
USWNT Starting Lineup Cap Numbers (including this match): Sauerbrunn (205), Morgan (194), O’Hara (156), Horan (114), Sonnett (68), Sullivan (30), Smith (19), Purce (18), Cook (13), Sanchez (12), Girma (4)
The starting lineup against Mexico features seven different players from the lineup that started the U.S.’s July 7 game against Jamaica: Murphy for Naeher in goal, O’Hara, Sauerbrunn and Sonnett for Cook, Fox and Huerta in defense, Sullivan for Lavelle in midfield. , and Morgan and Purce in the attack in place of Hatch and Pugh.
Horan and Smith will start their third straight game at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship, while Purce and Sonnett make their first starts at the tournament.
This starting lineup averages 28 years of age and 74 caps per player, with four players – Sauerbrunn, Morgan, O’Hara and Horan – having over 100 caps and two – Murphy and Girma – with single-digit cap totals.
Five players in this starting lineup appeared in the USA’s most recent game against Mexico, a 4-0 USA win on July 5, 2021, in East Hartford, Connecticut. Horan scored the opening goal with a blistering volley in the sixth minute, while O’Hara and Sauerbrunn also started the match. Sonnett and Morgan entered as substitutes in the team’s final action before the start of the 2021 Olympics.
Defender and team captain Becky Sauerbrunn will earn her 205th cap as she captains the USA for the 34th time. This will be Sauerbrunn’s 20th career start for the USA in World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers, having played in World Cup Qualifiers in 2010, 2014 and 2018, Olympic Qualifiers in 2012, 2016 and 2020 and now in the 2022 Concacaf W Championship.
Goalkeeper Casey Murphy will make her second start at the Concacaf W Championship as she earns her sixth cap overall for the USA. Murphy has four shutouts in her previous five appearances, the first of which came on her debut against Australia on November 27, 2021, a 3-0 win over the Matildas in Sydney.
Ashley Sanchez will make back-to-back starts as she makes her sixth career start in what will be her 12th appearance overall for the USA. Sanchez tallied her third career assist in the USA’s win over Jamaica and will make her 10th appearance for the USA this year. He will now have appeared in every game for the USA since the November 2021 friendly in Australia.
Defender Kelley O’Hara returns to the starting lineup for the second time this tournament as she makes her 156th international appearance, passing Michelle Akers and Christen Press to move into 22nd place on the USWNT’s all-time list. O’Hara has been directly involved in a goal in each of her last two appearances for the U.S., scoring her third international goal in a win over Colombia on June 28 as a second-half substitute and assisting on Alex Morgan’s second goal against of Haiti in the first half. match of the Concacaf W Championship.
Lindsey Horan will make her third start at the Concacaf W Championship as she makes her 114th international appearance. Horan, who led the USA in scoring with six goals at the 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, has eight goals and eight assists in 16 career appearances in CONCACAF Qualifying games.
Sophia Smith will earn her 19th cap as she makes her first team debut in her ninth start of 2022. Smith also leads the USWNT in scoring with seven goals on the year and scored a goal in the first eight minutes of the USA’s 5-0 win over of Jamaica on July 7. Her goal in the fifth minute remains the fastest goal scored by a player in this tournament.
Twenty-two-year-old Naomi Girma will make her second consecutive start for the USA as she earns her fourth career major. Girma played the full 90 minutes in the USA’s win over Mexico and tallied her first international assist, setting up a goal from longtime friend and former Stanford teammate Sophia Smith in the fifth minute.
After scoring a brace in the USA’s opener against Haiti, Alex Morgan returns to the starting lineup for her 194th international appearance. The goal against Haiti marked Morgan’s 29th career multi-goal game, third best in US history. He has now scored 21 goals in 21 career qualifying appearances for the USWNT and enters the match against Mexico having scored in the last five consecutive Concacaf Qualifying matches he has played in, a streak dating back to the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers.
Nine of Morgan’s 117 career international goals have come against Mexico. The only nation she has scored more often is Japan (12 goals), while she also has nine career goals with Canada.
Emily Sonnett will make her first start at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship as she earns her 68th career win. This is the fourth Concacaf qualifying tournament for Sonnett, who came on at halftime in the USA’s win over Jamaica on July 7.
Andy Sullivan returns to the USA starting lineup for her 30th career start as she makes her eighth start of the year and second of the tournament. Sullivan played the full 90 minutes in the USA’s tournament-opening win over Haiti and is fifth on the USWNT this year in total minutes with 526.
Forward Midge Perce will make her third appearance and first start at the Concacaf W Championship as she earns her 18th overall for the USWNT. This will be the second start of the year for Purce, who accomplished her second goal of 2022 in the late stages of the USA’s July 4 victory against Haiti.
Twenty-one players are available for the USA for this match against Mexico, as forward Ashley Hatch is unavailable after suffering a leg muscle strain against Jamaica on July 7. Emily Fox is on the COVID protocols.
