The ninth annual SheBelieves Cup looks a little different this year. The U.S. women’s national team will square off against Japan to open the tournament on Saturday in Atlanta, GA where a record-setting crowd for a women’s soccer friendly is expected to attend with 48,452 tickets already sold. The USWNT will host Brazil, Canada, and Japan, but will only face two of the teams as the four squads compete for the title.
Instead of the usual round-robin style tournament, the competition will begin Saturday with a semifinal round, and then conclude on Tuesday with a third-place match and final. Team USA will open the event against Japan and face either Brazil or Canada in the next round.
Saturday will mark the 40th all-time meeting between Japan and USA, and the fourth SheBelieves Cup matchup between the two sides. It’s the second most common matchup in the tournament, trailing USA-England with five meetings. The USWNT leads the all-time series against Japan a with 30W-1L-8D record, and they’re unbeaten in the last 12 meetings against Japan, including the 2012 Olympic final and the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup final.
Here’s what to know about the upcoming match:
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Viewing info
- Date: Saturday, April 6| Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
- Place: Mercedes-Benz Stadium — Atlanta, Georgia
- TV: TNT
- Stream: MAX
What they’re saying
Interim head coach Twila Kilgore on facing Japan: “We’ve seen them play a five-back against us the last time we played them. They built with three for a lot of the World Cup. Recently, they have been building with four. Something that makes them a challenge is that they do all of those things well. So as we work through what we expect, what we’ll do, our what-if scenarios — what we call it within our team — there’s a large variety of things to cover. And they’re dangerous, and all those things, but that’s exactly what we want. These are the type of challenges we love. Our team is really excited to step on the field and test some of the things that we’ve been working on against a really formidable opponent.”
Storylines
USWNT: The group is in good form after their 20204 Concacaf W Gold Cup win in March. SheBelieves Cup comes just a month later, with teams and new challenges, including some controversy around Korbin Albert’s social media interactions with anti-LGBTQ+ content across her personal accounts.
She issued an apology on Instagram after former USWNT player Megan Rapinoe criticized Albert’s activity and Rapinoe’s statement was shared by several current and former USWNT players. As far as team chemistry, captain Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan addressed the situation saying there are ongoing team discussions and that those would remain internal. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore has also emphasized the players’ sentiments.
Tactically, Kilgore and the squad will likely work on ball progression and adaptability, so look for the team to try and do more with the ball since Japan is comfortable with and without it.
Japan: Head coach Futoshi Ikeda is bringing a young core to the tournament, with 14 players on the roster from last year’s SheBelieves Cup tournament. The 23-player squad features just one player over the age of 30, 33-year-old defender Saki Kumaga, and 12 players under the age of 25, with three teenagers — defender Rion Ishikawa, midfielder Aoba Fujino and forward Maika Hamano.
The team has already qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics and is also using SheBelieves as an opportunity for Olympic evaluation with the Summer Games just four months away. American fans will be familiar with Hina Sugita who plays club soccer with Portland Thorns FC, and there are also six players in the squad playing in England.
The group will present a clinical challenge against the United States with their tactical awareness and comfortability on both sides of the ball.
Prediction
Look for this one to be a more methodical chess match as both squads try to figure each other out. Pick: USWNT 1, Japan 1, USA advance on penalties.
