USWNT vs. Zambia: Match Preview & Game Notes | 2024 Paris Olympics

The U.S. Women’s Olympic Soccer team kicks off the 2024 Summer Olympics on Thursday, July 25, facing off against Zambia at Stade de Nice in the south of France. The match kicks off at 3 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. local time in Nice with broadcast coverage available on USA Network, Universo and Peacock.

The USWNT heads into the Group B opener with a record of 8W-1L-3D on the year, having won two tournaments earlier this year at the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup and the 2024 SheBelieves Cup. The U.S. is one two teams to appear in every edition of the Women’s Olympic Soccer Tournament and has an overall record 27W-4L-7D at the Olympics, the most wins by any team in the history of the competition. The Americans have opened the tournament with a win in five of their seven previous trips to the Olympics, the only losses coming to Norway in 2008 and Sweden at the delayed 2021 Olympics.

Fans can also follow the action via X (formerly Twitter – @USWNT),Instagram (@USWNT), Facebook and the official U.S. Soccer App. Click here for more information on how to follow Team USA in action at the 2024 Olympics.

VETERANS AND EMERGING STARS REPRESENT USA IN FRANCE

The 18-player Olympic Roster selected by head coach Emma Hayes features eight players from the 2020 Olympic Team, 11 players from the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup squad and four players named to their first roster at a senior world championship. The roster has an average age of 27.2 – the fourth-youngest roster the USA has ever sent to the Olympics and the youngest since 2008 – and is broken down by position into two goalkeepers, six defenders, four midfielders and six forwards.

Midfielder and captain Lindsey Horan is the most-capped player on this roster with 150 international appearances as is one of seven players on this Olympic roster who also helped the USA win the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup five years ago in France along with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, defenders Tierna Davidson and Emily Sonnett, midfielder Rose Lavelle and forwards Crystal Dunn and Mallory Swanson.

On the other end of the spectrum, five players on this Olympic roster – Casey Murphy, Sam Coffey, Jaedyn Shaw, Korbin Albert and Jenna Nighswonger – have 20 caps or fewer and all but Murphy are heading to their first world championship at the senior level.

Midfielder and 2020 Olympian Catarina Macario was initially named to the Olympic roster when it was unveiled by Hayes on June 26 but was unable to prepare physically for the Olympic tournament due to consistent irritation in her right knee. On July 12, Macario was officially replaced on the 18-player roster by Lynn Williams, who was originally named to the team as an alternate. Defender Emily Sams, who earned her first USWNT call-up as a training player for this camp and is available for selection against Costa Rica, replaces Williams as one of the four alternates.

U.S. OLYMPIC WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)

GOALKEEPERS (2): 18-Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), 1-Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

DEFENDERS (6): 12-Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 2-Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), 4-Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), 6-Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), 13-Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 14-Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

MIDFIELDERS (4): 3-Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain, FRA), 17-Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), 10-Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), 16-Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

FORWARDS (6): 7-Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), 5-Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), 15-Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), 11-Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), 9-Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), 8-Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

ALTERNATES (4): 20-Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), 22-Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), 19-Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), 21-Emily Sams (Orlando Pride)

INSIDE THE SERIES: USA vs. ZAMBIA

The Olympic opener in Nice will be the first meeting all-time between the USWNT and Zambia, making the Copper Queens the 58th different opponent in U.S. Women’s National Team history. Zambia will be the sixth opponent the USWNT will face for the first time ever at a world championship, doing so most recently at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup where the USA defeated Vietnam 3-0 to open the tournament.

This will be just the USA’s 13th match ever against an African opponent, facing Nigeria nine times – four of those matches coming in world championships – and playing South Africa on four times in friendlies.

GROUP B PLAY BEGINS

The USWNT kicks off its campaign at the 2024 Summer Olympics – the eighth Olympic Games to feature women’s soccer and eighth to feature the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team — one day before the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.

After opening the tournament against Zambia in Nice, the USA will face Germany on July 28 (9 p.m. local / 3 p.m. ET). The USA will finish group play against Australia on July 31 (7 p.m. local / 1 p.m. ET) also at Stade de Marseille.

Germany and Australia will open Group B action on Thursday at Stade de Marseille (7 p.m. local / 1 p.m. ET) with the Matildas then traveling to Nice for a July 28 meeting with Zambia (7 p.m. local / 1 p.m. ET). The Group B finale on July 31 features Germany vs. Zambia in Saint-Étienne kicking off simultaneously with USA-Australia.

The top two teams from each group along with the two best third-place finishers will advance to the knockout rounds. Group A is comprised of hosts France, defending gold medalists Canada, Colombia and New Zealand while Group C features 2023 World Cup champions Spain, Brazil, Japan and Nigeria.

ALLEZ U-S-A!

This will be the USWNT’s 16th match all-time in France, but its first in the south of France, having played the majority of its matches in Paris, Lyon and in the north of the country. The U.S. has an overall record of 13W-2L-0D in its previous 15 matches played in France, seven of those wins coming during the USWNT’s run to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The two losses came in 2015 and 2019 in friendly matches against the host country.

This will be the USA’s first match in Europe since October 2022 when the Americans played away friendlies against England and Spain. The USWNT has played five matches in Europe since the completion of the 2019 World Cup, all of them friendlies – and has a record of 2W-2L-1D, including a 2-0 win over France in Le Havre in April 2021.

Stade de Nice, the site of Thursday’s match, opened in 2016 and is home to French Ligue 1 club OGC Nice. Also known as Allianz Riviera, Stade de Nice has hosted major events including the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the 2023 Rugby World Cup and also houses France’s National Sport Museum.

2024 MEDIA GUIDE

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Media Guide and the 2024 USWNT Media Guide are now available for download. The Media Guides features all the history and statistics for the USWNT, as well as full bios on technical staff and the current top players, information on the USA’s Youth Women’s National Teams and general important information on U.S. Soccer.

USA TEAM & OLYMPIC ROSTER NOTES

• Four of the players on this roster have 100+ caps, led by Lindsey Horan with 150. Crystal Dunn has 149 international appearances followed by Alyssa Naeher (106 caps) and Rose Lavelle (101).
• Jenna Nighswonger is the least capped plyer on this roster with 10 international appearances.
• Fourteen of the 22 players on this roster were born after the 1996 Olympics, the first ever Olympics to feature women’s soccer.
• Horan is the top scorer on this roster with 35 international goals, followed by forward Mallory Swanson with 34, Dunn with 25 and Lavelle with 24.
• Horan also leads the U.S. with 938 total minutes played in 2024, followed by Alyssa Naeher (840), Sam Coffey (833) and Tierna Davidson (810).
• Eleven different players have scored so far for the USWNT in 2024 – led by five goals each from Shaw and Smith, four from Horan, two goals each from Alex Morgan, Olivia Moultrie, Tierna Davidson, Mallory Swanson and Jenna Nighswonger and one each from Dunn, Lynn Williams and Lily Yohannes.
• Trinity Rodman and Rose Lavelle lead the U.S. with three assists apiece this year, follow by Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith and Midge Purce with two each. Nine other players have one assist on the year.
• Overall, 18 different players have been directly involved in a goal for the USA in 2024, led by seven goal involvements from Smith (5 goals, 2 assists) and six from Shaw (5 goals, 1 assist).

IN FOCUS: ZAMBIA | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

Current FIFA World Ranking: 64
CAF Ranking: 4
Olympic Appearances: 2nd (2020 – Group Stage)
Record vs. USA: N/A (First Meeting)
Coach: Bruce Mwape (ZAM)

ZAMBIA WOMEN’S OLYMPIC SOCCER TEAM ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB)

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Catherine Musonda (Hapoel Ra’anana AFC, ISR), 18-Ng’ambo Musole (Green Buffaloes FC)

DEFENDERS (6): 2-Diana Banda (Green Buffaloes FC), 3-Lushomo Mweemba (Green Buffaloes FC), 4-Esther Siamfuko (Green Buffaloes FC), 5-Pauline Zulu (Elite LFC), 13-Martha Tembo (BIIK Kazygurt, KAZ), 16-Esther Muching (Zanaco FC)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 6-Rhoda Chileshe (Indeni Roses FC), 7-Chisha Rachael Misozi Zulu (Hakkarigücü Spor, TUR), 8-Ochumba Oseke Lubandji (Red Arrows FC), 10-Grace Chanda (Orlando Pride, USA), 12-Avell Chitundu (ZESCO United FC), 14-Prisca Chilufya (BIIK Kazygurt, KAZ), 17-Racheal Kundananji (Bay FC, USA)

FORWARDS (3): 9-Kabange Mupopo (Green Buffaloes FC), 11-Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride, USA), 15-Hellen Nga’ndwe Chanda (BIIK Kazygurt, KAZ)

ALTERNATES (4): 19-Vast Phiri (ZESCO United FC), 20-Racheal Nachula (Zaragoza CFF, ESP), 21-Mary Wilombe (Red Arrows FC), 22-Eunice Sakala (Nkwazi Queens FC)

ZAMBIA TEAM NOTES

• Zambia comes into the 2024 Olympics after having participated in its first Women’s World Cup in 2023 and its first Olympic Women’s Soccer tournament in 2021. While Zambia did not advance out of the group stage in either tournament, both were competitions to remember for the Copper Queens.
• In 2021 in Japan, Zambia opened the tournament with an unheard of scoreline, falling 10-3 to the Netherlands as Barbra Banda burst onto the international scene with a hat trick. Zambia then played China PR to a wild 4-4 draw which saw China take the lead, Zambia equalize, China go up 3-1, Zambia roar back to take a 4-3 lead only for China to equalize on a penalty kick in the 84th minute. Banda once again scored a hat trick – one from the penalty spot – to become the first female player ever to score back-to-back hat tricks in a world championship.
• The third group match against Brazil was less rough-and-tumble as the Cooper Queens lost 1-0 to go out of the tournament.
• At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Zambia opened with back-to-back 5-0 losses to Japan and eventual champion Spain, but rallied to beat Costa, 3-1, in its final match for its first-ever World Cup victory. Banda (from the penalty spot) and Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji scored in the match.
• Zambia finished third at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, which was played in Morrocco. The Copper Queens won Group B with a 0-0 draw against Cameroon, a 1-0 win over Tunisia and a 4-1 victory over Togo. Zambia slipped past Senegal in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks (4-2) after a 1-1 draw in regulation but lost 1-0 to South Africa in the semifinal. Zambia then faced long-time power Nigeria in the third-place match and triumphed 1-0 on an own goal from the Super Falcons.
• Zambia qualified for this Olympics through the CAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Zambia got a bye in the first round, advanced through the second round without playing a match as Mali withdrew, and downed Ghana 4-3 on aggregate in the third round, winning 1-0 in Accra, Ghana and drawing 3-3 in Ndola, Zambia. Kundananji scored in the first leg and Banda had two goals in the second.
• In the fourth and final round, Zambia played rising African women’s power Morocco for a berth to France. Zambia lost 2-1 at home in Ndola as Lushomo Mweemba scored the Copper Queens goal and then remarkably rebounded to win 2-0 in Rabat in front of a huge crowd as a Banda score in the 39th minute gave Zambia a 1-0 lead after 90 minutes and tied the score on aggregate. Banda then nailed a penalty kick in 105+2nd minute to send the Copper Queens back to the Olympics.