Women's Soccer

NEW YORK - United States defender Naomi Girma completes her meteoric rise from national team debutant to the Women's World Cup stage next month and many are predicting she will be a key player for the four-times champions for many years.

The 23-year-old center back first played for the senior U.S. team last year and quickly settled in to earn a place in Vlatko Andonovski's World Cup squad.

NEW YORK - Nine months ago, Alyssa Thompson was playing youth soccer. In July, the 18-year-old forward will test herself against the best after being named in the four-time champions United States' squad for the Women's World Cup.

It has been a dizzying rise for Thompson, the second-youngest ever named in a U.S. World Cup squad.

Wedding bells in the USWNT! Midfielder Lindsey Horan announced she is engaged!

The Colorado native shared a series of pictures on social media where you can see her fiancé, Tyler Heaps, kneeling and popping the question in front of a breathtaking mountain backdrop. 

"My heart is, and always will be, yours," Horan captioned.

forever ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aOn7fo3zcW

Here at The18 we've been discussing strategies for staying awake to provide you with the best coverage of the Women's World Cup. The latest plan is to collectively move to Washington DC, where bars and restaurants will now be open 24 hours a day during the month-long tournament after emergency legislation was passed in the District. 

When it comes to rookies in the National Women's Soccer League, most of the discussion has centered around No. 1 overall pick Alyssa Thompson. The headlines write themselves when you're talking about an 18-year-old who's already scored some spectacular goals for Angel City and is challenging for the USWNT World Cup squad.

But what about No. 2 overall pick Michelle Cooper, the forward who won the 2022 Hermann Trophy as the nation's best college player with 19 goals and 11 assists in 22 games during her sophomore season at Duke?

United States captain and veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn will not be included in the squad for the Women's World Cup due to a foot injury she suffered in April, the Athletic reported on Friday.

Sauerbrunn is one of several injured American players to miss the tournament, which kicks off on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, after attacker Mallory Swanson went down with a knee injury in April.

Things are getting awfully serious now: the kits are revealed, the roster is close to locked and Sports Illustrated has dropped its Women's World Cup preview issue with Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle, Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman gracing the cover.

During Barcelona's recent Women's Champions League Final victory over Wolfsburg, nine Spanish players helped show why Barça are the preeminent force of the club game. It should logically follow that Spain are one of the pre-tournament favorites at this summer's World Cup, but on Monday their 30-player provisional roster was released with some big names already omitted before the squad is cut to 23.