Ashley Sanchez has been recalled to the United States women’s national team for October’s friendlies against Spain, headlining a 26-player squad in which Emma Hayes has largely stuck with her established core while adding four uncapped players.
Sanchez’s return comes on the back of an MVP-caliber season with the North Carolina Courage. The attacking midfielder is the NWSL’s top scorer and has already set a league record for goals in a season by an American player, reaching 20 in 26 matches. One more goal would break Temwa Chawinga’s overall scoring record. Her most recent cap came in October 2024, in a friendly against Argentina early in Hayes’ tenure. A member of the 2023 Women’s World Cup squad, Sanchez did not get on the field that summer and has since been a peripheral figure, with positional alternatives such as Rose Lavelle, Jaedyn Shaw and Croix Bethune preferred.
Her recall may help explain the absence of Shaw, whose brace over the weekend took her to nine goals for Gotham this season. Shaw has been a regular part of the national team setup since the last World Cup, earning 17 caps in 2024 and 16 more since the start of 2025. The open question for this window and those that follow is how much of Sanchez’s club form will carry over: the Courage are built to cater to her strengths, allowing her to serve as chief facilitator as well as the team’s primary scoring threat, whereas Hayes already has plenty of players comfortable with those responsibilities.
Hayes said the camp would be about rebuilding connections after a long break. “While we are very much looking forward to playing the World Cup champions, I keep coming back to the journey that we are all on together,” she said. “This camp will be about reestablishing connections after a long break, looking at a few players who haven’t been with us this cycle, and putting on the best performances we can in front of packed stadiums.”
Also selected is Mallory Swanson, who was involved in the team’s June camp but did not see the field in two contentious friendlies against Brazil. Her last cap was her goal-scoring, gold medal-winning showing in the 2024 Olympic final. Swanson has appeared in just one of the struggling Chicago Stars’ five most recent games as she works back from injury and the birth of her daughter late last year, but earned Hayes’ faith while co-headlining the Olympic team with fellow “Triple Espresso” front-liners Trinity Rodman and Sophia Wilson, both of whom are also in this squad. Notably, the team listed Swanson among the midfielders and Sanchez among the forwards.
Naomi Girma’s return should help refine the team’s play in the defensive third and give a vital focal point in possession sequences, as she often leads the team in touches whenever available. She will, however, be lacking match fitness, having not appeared for Chelsea due to injury since early September. All eight defenders selected have made at least seven appearances for the USWNT, including young options Kennedy Wesley, Gisele Thompson and Lilly Reale, with Emily Fox, Tierna Davidson, Tara Rudd and Avery Patterson rounding out the options along the backline.
Sam Coffey offers similar stability at the base of midfield. Lindsey Heaps arrives with 178 caps to her name, having been in and out of availability since joining expansion side Denver Summit this summer, while Claire Hutton and Lily Yohannes have emerged as regular contributors since the Olympics and Rose Lavelle remains in fine form for Gotham.
Rodman, Swanson and Wilson are again the attackers in focus, but Alyssa Thompson will look to fortify her case to be Hayes’ starting left winger. The Los Angeles native played matchwinner over the weekend against Arsenal, complements Wilson and Rodman well, and moves upfield with decisiveness, showing equal willingness to bait defenders into opening space for teammates as she is to set up her own shot. Emma Sears and Michelle Cooper offer strong alternatives on the right wing.
Among the newcomers, Jordan Silkowitz could earn her first cap in goal after a strong season in which the Bay FC goalkeeper ranks second in the NWSL with 10.4 goals prevented, a metric comparing her conceded goals to post-shot expected goals faced, and leads all NWSL goalkeepers in minutes played without misplaying a cross. She will vie for minutes against two of Hayes’ most trusted options in goal, Phallon Tullis-Joyce of Manchester United and Claudia Dickey of the Seattle Reign. The sole newcomer among the midfield septet is Evelyn Shores, who primarily features for Angel City as a left back; the 21-year-old is a threat to create chances with both chipped crosses and her corner kicks, and gives Hayes a needed extra option down the left flank. Two forwards could also earn debuts: Pietra Tordin has been electric in her second season with the Portland Thorns, with seven goals and nine assists in 2,086 minutes, benefiting from the additional focus Wilson commands from opponents, while Trinity Byars, 23, arrives without a senior cap, having scored 10 goals in just over 1,000 minutes for San Diego.
The United States play their first game against Spain in Washington DC on 10 October, before a second friendly on 13 October in Philadelphia.