United States coach Emma Hayes told ESPN she will call up a roster composed almost exclusively of domestic players for the team’s training camp later this month to allow European-based players to rest after a long club season.
The one exception, Hayes said, will be vice-captain and defender Naomi Girma, who returned to the USWNT earlier this month for the first time in 2025 after battling a calf injury early in the year.
“This is the first opportunity — and the only one — for them to take a break between now and the World Cup in two years,” Hayes said on Futbol W, ESPN’s weekly women’s soccer studio show. “And player welfare and rest and recovery are also important for these players.”
The USWNT will play Ireland in greater Denver, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio, in late June before a July 2 meeting with Concacaf rival Canada in Washington, D.C. Hayes’ team beat China 3-0 on May 31, and Jamaica 4-0 on June 3 in its most recent friendlies.
Hayes said the decision to rest players was a collaborative one that…
