Mal Pugh

The USWNT secured a spot in the Concacaf W Championship final on Thursday after defeating Costa Rica 3-0.  The winner of the Concacaf W Championship will book one of two spots in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The U.S. will play the winner of Canada vs. Jamaica in the final on Monday.

USWNT vs Costa Rica Highlights

Thursday’s semifinal was frustrating at times for the USWNT as the team couldn’t put away golden opportunities. Alex Morgan failed to score two big chances in the opening 20 minutes. 

With Women’s World Cup qualifying three weeks away, USWNT players are peaking at the right time. Alex Morgan is unstoppable, Sophia Smith and Mal Pugh are lighting up the scoreboards and Rose Lavelle is literally flying.

The 2022 Concacaf W Championship is just 26 days away, so USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski has to be close to knowing the final 23-player squad he'll name for the tournament in Mexico — which serves as qualifying for both the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympic Games.

But he's not showing his hand yet.

On Monday, Concacaf revealed the provisional rosters for the W Championship, so while the final 23 will have to be selected from this list, the provisional roster for the USWNT includes an all-encompassing 59 names.

The San Diego Wave twice came from a goal down thanks to an Alex Morgan brace, including a 90th-minute equalizer, to snatch a 2-2 draw with Kansas City on Saturday to stay atop the early NWSL standings with 13 points from seven games.

The Wave is undefeated at home (2-0), but they've been exceptionally good on the road for an expansion side (2-2-1). They just wouldn't quit on Sunday at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City.

Kristen Hamilton had given the Current the lead in the 11th-minute, but Morgan brought the Wave level from the spot in the 37th.

In September, the USWNT crushed Paraguay in back-to-back friendlies by a 17-0 aggregate score. This past week, the USWNT crushed Uzbekistan in back-to-back friendlies by an 18-1 aggregate score. While the September matches felt mostly a waste of time, the April matches felt instructive and useful, for both Vlatko Andonovski’s plans moving forward and U.S. fans trying to figure out those plans.

If you just look at the opponent, the USWNT’s April friendlies against Uzbekistan are likely to be fairly drab. Matches against the 48th-ranked team in the world in Ohio and Philadelphia, on the face of it, don’t really kindle much enthusiasm. But the April USWNT roster makes it clear: This is the final chance for some young players to earn a spot on the team at World Cup and Olympic qualifying this summer in Mexico.

We here at The18 have long touted the exploits of Catarina Macario, from her time at Stanford to the start of her pro career with Lyon to her naturalization from Brazil to join the USWNT. Finally given the keys to drive the U.S.