USWNT vs. New Zealand
Date: Oct. 29, 2025
Venue: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
Broadcast: TNT, truTV & HBO Max in English, Universo & Peacock in Spanish
Radio: Westwood One Sports and Fútbol de Primera
Official Kickoff Time: 7:07 p.m. CT / 8:07 p.m. ET
USA: 18-Claudia Dickey; 4-Jordyn Bugg, 6-Emily Sams, 7-Lily Yohannes, 12-Michelle Cooper, 15-Claire Hutton, 16-Rose Lavelle (Capt.), 19-Emma Sears, 20-Catarina Macario, 25-Lilly Reale, 26-Kennedy Wesley
Available Subs: 24-Phallon Tullis-Joyce, 2-Eva Gaetino, 5-Tara McKeown, 8-Jaedyn Shaw; 9-Ally Sentnor, 10-Lindsey Heaps, 11-Lo’eau LaBonta, 13-Olivia Moultrie, 14-Emily Sonnett, 17-Sam Coffey, 22-Yazmeen Ryan, 23-Emily Fox
Not dressing: Mandy McGlynn, Avery Patterson, Alyssa Thompson
Head coach: Emma Hayes
USWNT Starting XI Cap Numbers (Including this match): Lavelle (115), Macario (27), Sears (11), Yohannes (11), Cooper (10), Hutton (9), Sams (6), Bugg (4), Reale (4), Dickey (4), Wesley (1)
Notes:
U.S. head coach Emma Hayes will send out a Starting XI with six changes from Thursday’s Oct. 26 match vs. Portugal. The three teenagers in camp — Lily Yohannes, Jordyn Bugg and Claire Hutton — start their second consecutive match along with Seattle Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey and Gotham FC right back Lilly Reale. Center back Kennedy Wesley earns her first cap of her international career. She is the 25th player capped by Emma Hayes in her 27 matches.
The entire back line has 11 total caps heading into the match. The captain for the October 26 match – center back Emily Sonnett – had 111 heading into that game.
Tonight’s U.S. Starting XI averages 17.3 caps heading into this match, which is just a bit lower than the April 8, 2025. Starting XI vs. Brazil which averaged 17.9 caps per player. This means that tonight’s Starting XI is the least experienced team – caps-wise – that the USWNT has put on the field in the last 25 years.
Tonight’s captain, Rose Lavelle, has more caps (114) heading into this match than the rest of the 10 other starters combined (77).
The average age of tonight’s Starting XI is 23.2. Excluding Lavelle, it’s 22.5.
Three teenagers will start tonight: Lily Yohannes (18), Clarie Hutton (19) and Jordyn Bugg (19) for the second consecutive match. Emma Hayes has now started three teenagers three times – on April 8, 2025, vs. Brazil, on Oct 26, 2025, vs. Portugal and today. The last time the USWNT had three or more teenagers start a match during an event that had what was considered the best roster available was on February 9, 2000, vs. Norway. Those players were Nandi Pryce, Christie Welsh and Danielle Slaton. This is also the first time since Feb. 9, 2000, that three teenagers start in back-to-back games. Feb. 6, 2000, saw four teenagers start on what was considered the best roster available.
The USWNT started multiple teenagers in multiple matches at the 2001 Algarve Cup, but that comes with a caveat. The USA sent a very young team to that tournament because the veteran players were in pre-season for the first year of the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA). Before that 2001 Algarve Cup, the last time three teenagers started a game for the USWNT was against Italy on July 7, 2000, but that match also featured a young roster because the U.S. played 41 matches that year so then-U.S. head coach April Heinrichs gave most of the veterans off and called mostly a team U-21s mixed with a few older players. Similarly, all the players that faced Iceland on April 5, 2000, of that year in a closed-door match – seven teenagers started that one – were on the younger half of the roster as the veterans played Iceland in a promoted game three days later. Amazingly, the young players won 8-0, and the veterans tied 0-0.
MATCH HUB | FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
STARTING XI NOTES:
Claudia Dickey, 25, earns her fourth USWNT cap at the senior level. Dickey was the 29th goalkeeper in USWNT history to earn a cap when she played against Ireland on June 26, and the 11th GK in U.S. history to earn a shutout in her debut. She will be starting in back-to-back games for the first time in her WNT career.
Jordyn Bugg, 19, earns her fourth cap and third start at the senior level. She has two goals this season from center back for the Reign, the first a tremendous strike from distance in August against the NC Courage and a last-minute equalizer against the Chicago Stars on June 14 that snuck into the goal from the right wing. She’s one of three teenagers in camp, along with Lily Yohannes and Claire Hutton. All three will start for the U.S. today. Bugg is the second player born in 2006 ever called into the USWNT after Claire Hutton.
Emily Sams, 26, earns her sixth cap and fourth international start. The Orlando Pride defender earned 2024 NWSL Defensive Player of the Year and has started 23 of the Pride’s matches this season.
Lily Yohannes, 18, the youngest on the roster, Yohannes is joined by Hutton and Bugg as the only teenagers in camp. This is her sixth senior team callup, her 11th cap and, seventh start. She earned her first call-up for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup and became the youngest player to be called up for a full National Team camp since 16-year-old Sophia Smith was called up in April of 2017 for the training camp prior to matches against Russia in Texas.
Michelle Cooper, 22, earns her 10th cap and makes her sixth career start. She will be looking to make her club’s home field the site of her second career goal, with the first scored against Australia in the 2025 SheBelieves Cup. She has two assists — the first of which was May 31 vs. China PR.
Claire Hutton, 19, earns her ninth cap and seventh start, all within 2025. Hutton’s first call-up was in February of 2025, and she made her debut in the second match of her first camp. Hutton had an excellent rookie year in 2024, logging 1,827 in 24 matches for the Kansas City Current after signing via NWSL’s Under-18 Entry Mechanism on December 14, 2023. This season, she has played in 24 of the Current’s 25 matches, playing a major role in the runaway Shield winners’ success. She has two assists.
Rose Lavelle, 30, earns her 115th cap and will be looking for her 27th career goal. On June 26 vs. Ireland, she became the 25th player in U.S. history with a combined 50 career goals and assists and the 28th player to hit 25 career goals. Rose Lavelle wears the captain’s armband for the fourth time. The last time she wore it was Oct 30, 2024, in a 3-0 win over Argentina.
Emma Sears, 24, earns her 11th cap and fifth start. Sears has started 25 matches for Racing Louisville this season. The Ohio State alum has scored 10 goals and made two assists for the Kentucky NWSL side in 2025.
Cat Macario, 26, will earn her 27th career cap. Against Colombia on Feb. 20, 2025, she scored her first USWNT goal in 712 days and more recently hit double-digit goals. Her tenth came against her birth country, Brazil, in April and the 11th against China PR at the end of May.
Lilly Reale, 22, makes her fourth start in as many caps tonight. The Gotham FC rookie has made a name for herself at left back for the New Jersey side, especially as a natural left-footer. She attended the Futures Camp in January, the U-23 WNT training camp in LA in April and traveled with the U-23s to Germany during the last FIFA window, scoring the first goal in the USA’s 2-1 win over Germany in the first game. She also played for the U.S. U-23s in 2023 and has four U-23 caps and one goal.
Kennedy Wesley, 24, earns her first cap, the 25th player under Emma Hayes to make her debut in Hayes’ 27 games at the helm. Wesley has started 19 matches this season for the San Diego Wave and buried one goal from her spot on the back line.
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