The U.S. women’s national team will face Mexico and Costa Rica in two friendlies before heading to the Paris Olympics this summer, U.S. Soccer has announced. The match against Mexico, which will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the team’s 1999 Women’s World Cup victory, is set for July 13 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. The subsequent match against Costa Rica will take place at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. on July 16.
The matches will feature the finalized U.S. roster that will head to France for the Olympics. On Wednesday, the USWNT learned it will face Germany, Australia and either Zambia or Morocco in the group stage of the tournament and will play those matches in Nice and Marseille starting on July 25.
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“The fans will get the chance to show their support for the team before they head to France while also celebrating our 1999 Women’s World Cup Team,” U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone said. Cone was also a member of the 1999 World Cup squad. “This is a group of women who did so much for the sport and the impact of that team and tournament is still being felt 25 years later, especially as we bid for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. I can’t wait to see my teammates and friends.”
In May, FIFA will announce the host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, which means there’s potential for this match to be a World Cup host vs. World Cup host match-up if the U.S. and Mexico’s joint bid is successful.
The friendly at Red Bull Arena has plenty of narratives on its own.
Gotham FC plays its home matches at the stadium, and this offseason, signed free agents and USWNT stars Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Crystal Dunn and Tierna Davidson, and already had Lynn Williams, Midge Purce and Jenna Nighswonger on its roster.
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There’s also a fair amount of history between the U.S. and Mexico at Red Bull Arena, including two World Cup send-off games (both USWNT wins) in 2011 and 2019. In 2011, only 5,852 fans attended that match. By 2019, ahead of the USWNT’s World Cup title defense, that number was 26,332. In their most recent match-up, Mexico handed the U.S. a comprehensive 2-0 loss in the group stage of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup last month at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
While head coach Emma Hayes will make her debut with the national team in the June international window, with matches against South Korea already announced for Colorado and Minnesota, the test against Mexico is a timely one against the last team that managed a win over the USWNT.
(Photo: Brad Smith/Getty Images for USSF)
