Australia vs. USWNT – Paris 2024 Olympics – Group B
Date: July 31, 2024
Venue: Stade de Marseille; Marseille, France
Broadcast: E! Network, Universo, Peacock
Official Kickoff Time: 7 p.m. local / 1 p.m. ET
Starting XI vs. Australia: 1-Alyssa Naeher; 2-Emily Fox, 4-Naomi Girma, 5-Trinity Rodman, 7-Crystal Dunn, 9-Mallory Swanson, 10-Lindsey Horan (Capt.), 11-Sophia Smith, 14-Emily Sonnett, 16-Rose Lavelle, 17-Sam Coffey
Available Subs: 3-Korbin Albert, 6-Casey Krueger, 8-Lynn Williams, 13-Jenna Nighswonger, 18-Casey Murphy, 20-Croix Bethune, 21-Emily Sams
GAME NOTES| FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
- USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Horan (153), Dunn (152), Naeher (109), Lavelle (104), Swanson (97), Sonnett (96), Fox (54), Smith (53), Rodman (43), Girma (37), Coffey (22)
- The starting lineup to close out the group against Australia features one change from the lineup that started the first two group stage matches against Zambia and Germany, with defender Emily Sonnett getting the start in place of Tierna Davidson.
- Davidson (leg contusion) is unavailable for the match against Australia and will be replaced on today’s 18-player roster by alternate Emily Sams. Croix Bethune remains part of the matchday squad in place of Jaedyn Shaw (leg injury).
- Only four players in today’s starting lineup were a part of the bronze medal match meeting with Australia to close out the Tokyo Olympics. Dunn and Horan started that match – both playing the full 90 minutes and Horan tallying an assist – while Lavelle and Sonnett came on as second-half substitutes.
- Lindsey Horan will captain the USWNT yet again as she earns her 153rd cap and makes her 14th consecutive start. Horan has two assists this tournament – both coming against Zambia – tied with Australia’s Steph Catley and Germany’s Giulia Gwinn for the most by any player this tournament. Her three career assists at the Olympics are tied with Julie Foudy for sixth in program history.
- Alyssa Naeher will make her 109th international appearance as she makes her eighth career start at the Olympics and 19th start overall for the USWNT at a world championship. Naeher did not play in the bronze medal match in Tokyo due to injury but recorded a clean sheet – her first ever at the Olympics – in the 0-0 draw against the Matildas to close out the group stage. Naeher recorded her first career assist against Australia in April 2019, finding Mallory Swanson on a booming goal kick in Colorado.
- Emily Fox will make her 54th international appearance as she makes her fifth consecutive start for the USWNT and third of these Paris Olympics. Fox has played in all but one match for the USWNT since the start of 2023 and had a standout showing in the most recent match-up against the Matildas, earning Woman of the Match honors after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in Newcastle, Australia to close out the 2021 campaign.
- One of four Americans to play every minute so far this tournament, Naomi Girma is set to earn her 37th cap and her first-ever start with Emily Sonnett as her center back partner. Dating back to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Girma has played every minute of the last six matches for the USWNT at the World Cup and Olympics – the only field player to do so – and has gone the distance in 28 of her 36 career matches for the USWNT.
- The other USWNT players to play every minute so far at this Olympics are Alyssa Naeher, Crystal Dunn and Sam Coffey.
- Trinity Rodman will earn her 43rd cap as she makes her 33rd consecutive appearance for the USWNT, tying Christen Press for the most consecutive matches played by any U.S. player in the last five years. Rodman tallied her team-leading fourth assist of 2024 on Sophia Smith’s opening goal against Germany, which marked her first ever assist for the U.S. in a World Cup or Olympic match.
- Crystal Dunn will make her 18th consecutive start for the USWNT in World Cup or Olympic match, the longest streak by any USWNT field payer since Christie Pearce (27 consecutive starts from 2004-2012), as she earns her 152nd cap. Dunn, one of two players in today’s starting lineup to also start the bronze medal match vs. Australia last Olympics, has won a team-leading seven tackles this tournament with a 100% success rate.
- Mallory Swanson is set to make her 97th international appearance as she makes her seventh start and ninth appearance for the USWNT this year. Swanson is tied with Zambia’s Barbra Banda and France’s Marie-Antoinette for the tournament lead in scoring with three goals at Paris 2024, the most ever by a USWNT player in the team’s first two matches at an Olympics. Swanson three goals are already tied with Abby Wambach (2012) for the most ever by a USWNT player in an Olympic group stage and are tied for the fifth-most by any USWNT player at single Olympics.
- With her goal and assist against Germany, Swanson has played a hand in four of the USA’s seven goals scored so far this tournament and now has eight goal involvements (5 goals, 3 assists) in eight matches for the USWNT since returning to action from the patella injury that sidelined her from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
- Coming off a brace in the group stage win over Germany, Sophia Smith will make her 53rd international appearance as she makes her seventh consecutive start for the USWNT in a World Cup or Olympic match. Smith leads the USWNT in scoring with seven goals this year and has eight goal involvements (6 goals, 2 assists) in her last seven games for the USWNT.
- Smith now has seven career multi-goal games, two of which have come at world championship events having also scored a brace against Vietnam at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She is the fifth USWNT player with a multi-goal game at both the Olympics and World Cup, joining Carli Lloyd, Tiffeny Milbrett, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.
- Emily Sonnett will make her 96th international appearance but just her third career start for the USWNT in a World Cup or Olympic match. Sonnett made one start for the U.S. at the delayed Tokyo Olympics, that coming in the USA’s 6-1 win over New Zealand in the second group stage game, and then started in the midfield for the USWNT in the Round of 16 matchup against Sweden at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. One of seven players on this Olympic roster from the 2019 Women’s World Cup champions, Sonnett has appeared in 26 of the USA’s 32 matches since the start of 2023.
- Rose Lavelle is set to make her ninth career start at the Olympics and third of Paris 2024 as she earns her 104th cap. Lavelle is tied for third on the team with four chances created this tournament and scored against the Matilda’s in the November 2021 meeting between the teams at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
- One of four players to appear in every match for the USWNT so far this year, Sam Coffey will make her 22nd international appearance as she makes her 13th start of 2024. Coffey is playing her in first world championship for U.S. Soccer at any level and is third on the team in total minutes played this year (993).