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USWNT rebuild — U.S. Soccer faces challenge to stay elite

NBC Sports
·4 min read
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The United States Soccer Federation has been a part of some masterful projects in its time, but it will face few tasks more daunting than the rebuilding of the United States women's national team following a Round of 16 exit at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

[ MORE: Player ratings from USWNT vs Sweden ]

The country who laid the foundation for women's soccer excellence, who found a way to turn the men's team from laughingstock to competitor, and who built Major League Soccer into a respected league in near-record time now has to answer a huge question.

How does the No. 1 women's program in the history of the sport stay at or near the top?

[ MORE: USWNT vs Sweden recap, analysis, player + manager reaction ]

It will be a nearly impossible task for the currently first-ranked USWNT to remain no worse than second in the FIFA World Rankings, as it has been for 20 years, in every ranking in the future. Too many nations have invested heavily in the sport — something that the USWNT has inspired — to continuously guarantee that the entire populations in well-established "football countries" continue to live below them.

What lies ahead for USWNT before 2024 Olympics, 2027 World Cup

Ignore for a moment the larger issues plaguing the cash-first youth soccer climate in this country. It's a complex mess made more digestible by Yahoo!'s Henry Bushnell here and not likely to be fixed any time soon unless the USSF fixes a broken developmental system that is bearing fruit but nearly enough.

The first and most important step is figuring out who is going to coach the team. The federation would have to have a massive amount of faith in Vlatko Andonovski to ride with him for even next summer's Olympics, let alone another World Cup cycle. The side had never finished worse than third at a World Cup. They finished well short of that this go-round.

Whether Andonovski stays or goes, the program is going to need strong, committed leadership and a clear system and identity. It could also probably do better than hiring a coach on the recommendations of players this time around, though it must be noted that the side rarely lost under Andonovski. That said, they've rarely lost since 1994.

All that said, if the USWNT just had a poor finishing run but looked how it did Sunday in all three group games, you'd probably expect no changes. There are a lot of good pieces in this team and in the pipeline, but let's lay out the daunting list of players who do not have long, if any, futures with the USMNT:

There are over 600 combined caps between Morgan, Rapinoe, and Sauerbrunn alone. Let's be clear and note that there are plenty of examples of players who've starred well into their 30s, a fact evident by Sauerbrunn, Naeher, and Morgan continuing to thrive leading up to this tournament.

Were Mallory Swanson and Sauerbrunn healthy, the team would've returned 11 players from the 2019 World Cup winners. There were 12 holdovers from 2015 to 2019. Those figures are unlikely to be the same in 2027, even with the additions of Catarina Macario (23) and Mallory Swanson (25).

Alyssa Thompson (18), Trinity Rodman (21), Sophia Smith (22), Naomi Girma (23), Emily Fox (25), Alana Cook (26), Andi Sullivan (27), Rose Lavelle (28), and Lindsey Horan (29) all will like their chances while Savannah DeMelo (25) is at the right age but came into the tournament uncapped.

Then there's 22-year-old forward Mia Fishel, who just signed for Chelsea, and the bevy of teenage prospects headlined by new Barcelona signing Onyeka Gamero and Thompson's sister Gisele. Olivia Moultrie isn't 18 until September.

The coach, or new coach, is the most important piece of this puzzle. Putting together an Olympics roster that respects the player pool and competes for a gold while also getting meaningful experience to young players in massive for 2027.

The USWNT is unlikely to win back-to-back World Cups in the future, not because of their quality but on account of strength of the growing world around it. But a leader with respect for the past and a vision for the future while very much living in the present is critical.