For the first time since August 2024, the “Triple Espresso” frontline is back on a US women’s national team roster.
Mallory Swanson, Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman will reunite for a pair of friendlies next month against Brazil, the federation announced on Wednesday. The trio powered the USWNT to their gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, scoring 10 of the team’s 12 goals, but a combination of injuries and pregnancy layoffs meant 21 months would pass before they again appeared on the same roster.
Swanson and Wilson both announced their pregnancies last spring and did not appear for club or country in 2025. Wilson returned for the Portland Thorns in April and appeared in all three of the USWNT’s friendlies against Japan last month. Swanson, who last played for the national team in October 2024, scored off the bench for the Chicago Stars last weekend in her second game back.
“That front three haven’t been together since the Olympic gold medal match. That’s a long time, and we cannot waste a single minute. We absolutely have to put the very best players together with every opportunity that we have,” coach Emma Hayes said in a news conference on Wednesday. “It’s so important to get them into the environment to reconnect with their teammates, you cannot underestimate that, [and] to recognize that the team’s tactical developments have progressed, so we’ve got to get them back up to speed.”
While Swanson and Wilson took last year off, Rodman was also in and out of action while managing back issues and an MCL injury. The 24-year-old has appeared in all eight of the USWNT’s matches so far this year, captaining the team in a January friendly against Paraguay and recording four goal contributions.
While the trio have been program mainstays for some time – Swanson debuted in 2016, Wilson in 2020 and Rodman in 2022 – their moments together have mostly been limited to the blistering gold medal run. Eight of their 10 starts came during the Olympics, with the other two in the run-up games to the tournament.
In their absence, new talents have broken through in the program’s attacking line. Ally Sentnor, the 22-year-old Kansas City Current forward, has a team-high three goals this year, while Racing Louisville’s Emma Sears (25) has two and Chelsea’s Alyssa Thompson (21) has one.
“We have been able to develop the depth, but those three players, they’ve developed credit in the bank,” Hayes said. “We won a gold medal with these players. They are top, top players. Together, we have to start recreating their connections again and I am very excited for that.”
Hayes’s 26-player roster also sees the return of midfielders Croix Bethune and Riley Jackson and center-back Tara Rudd, all of whom were not in the squad for the April friendlies. Goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn, who made three appearances for the national team last year and has helped the Utah Royals to a surprise first-place spot in the NWSL, also returns after rehabbing a hand injury.
Among the notable absences: center-back Naomi Girma, who missed the end of Chelsea’s season with a calf injury, and midfielder Sam Coffey, who had minor knee surgery at the end of Manchester City’s campaign. Catarina Macario has yet to appear for the San Diego Wave since signing from Chelsea in March, and Hayes deferred to the club for an update on what has been listed as a heel injury.
The US will face Brazil, the hosts of next summer’s Women’s World Cup, on 6 June in São Paulo and 9 June in Fortaleza. The team traditionally take a road trip before the World Cup to play the host country in tournament venues. World Cup qualifying begins in November.
“This gives us an opportunity to really pick up some valuable lessons,” Hayes said. “I’m homing in on making sure that the vast majority of players that will be in contention for that November roster are in this [June] camp.”
Brazil are a regular opponent for the US, but matches between the teams in Brazil are less common. The two sides last played in Brazil in a friendly tournament in December 2014.
USWNT roster for Brazil friendlies
Goalkeepers: Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign, 10 caps/0 goals), Mandy McGlynn (Utah Royals, 5/0), Phallon Tullis-Joyce (Manchester United, 7/0)
Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham, 69/3), Emily Fox (Arsenal, 76/1), Avery Patterson (Houston Dash, 12/1), Lilly Reale (Gotham, 9/0), Tara Rudd (Washington Spirit, 12/0), Emily Sonnett (Gotham, 116/2), Gisele Thompson (Angel City, 10/0), Kennedy Wesley (San Diego Wave, 6/1)
Midfielders: Croix Bethune (Kansas City Current, 7/1), Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes, 176/40), Claire Hutton (Bay FC, 18/1), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage, 1/0), Rose Lavelle (Gotham, 120/29), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns, 17/5), Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham, 36/10), Lily Yohannes (OL Lyonnes, 18/1)
Forwards: Michelle Cooper (Kansas City Current, 12/1), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit, 55/13), Emma Sears (Racing Louisville, 19/6), Ally Sentnor (Kansas City Current, 21/7), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Stars, 103/38), Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC, 31/4), Sophia Wilson (Portland Thorns, 61/24)
