U.S. women’s national team defender and captain Becky Sauerbrunn will not be on the team’s 2023 Women’s World Cup roster, according to multiple sources briefed on the decision. The sources were granted anonymity as they were not allowed to comment publicly on the USWNT roster, planned to be announced next week, or Sauerbrunn’s exclusion.
Players were informed of their roster status on Thursday. A U.S. Soccer spokesperson declined to comment.
Sauerbrunn is still rehabbing an April foot injury that kept her out of action for her NWSL club side, Portland Thorns, for most of May. She made a return as a second-half substitute in their June 3 game against OL Reign, then did not appear in their June 11 game against the Orlando Pride. Before that game, Sauerbrunn had been listed as questionable in the league’s availability report.
Sauerbrunn, 38, has won two previous World Cups with the USWNT, one in 2019, and one in 2015. She is also a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist. She has made 216 appearances for the USWNT.
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All the Women’s World Cup squads so far
Separately, sources confirmed the World Cup roster status of three other players: goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, midfielder Savannah DeMelo, and defender Kelley O’Hara will be on the…
