The U.S. women’s national team will take the second step in its three-match international window on Tuesday. The group will face Japan at Lumen Field in Seattle, and the game is already on the verge of breaking a record, with 35,000 tickets sold.
The previous record crowd for a women’s soccer game in Seattle was in 2023, when 34,130 showed up to Lumen Field for the final home club game of former USWNT and Seattle Reign player Megan Rapinoe. The elevated crowd and momentum of a 2-1 victory on Saturday in San Jose set the stage for an exciting sequel between Japan and the United States.
Head coach Emma Hayes has been clear about her intention to rotate players throughout the unique international window; there could be multiple changes for match two.
Here’s how to watch and storylines:
How to watch
- Date: Tuesday, April 14 | Time: 10 p.m. ET
- Place: Lumen Field — Seattle, Wa.
- TV: TNT, truTV
- Stream: HBO Max
USWNT’s remaining April schedule
All times U.S./Eastern
Friday, April 17
USWNT vs. Japan: Commerce City, Co. (Dick’s Sporting Goods Park) — 9 p.m. ET
Storylines for USWNT vs. Japan
Who will take control of match two: Rose Lavelle offered a glimpse of vintage midfield performance and showed why she’s such an integral part of the middle third on Saturday with a goal and an assist. So, with plans to shift around personnel, who will be the players that help the USWNT control a second consecutive game against Japan?
Maybe it’ll be Sophia Wilson off the bench, after earning a start in game one, though Hayes reiterated that there will be a less experienced group in match two.
“I think I wanted to put a lot of experience in the first game, that was the first part, so I opted for that. Also, I wanted to play, particularly in midfield, a Six and an Eight, as opposed to a double six. So getting those combinations right, and I felt that it was the right game to start Soph [Wilson], I knew she’d probably only play 60 minutes. We have to prepare ourselves for qualifying. We don’t have a lot of windows left, so we need to get some of these players playing back together again. I think it’s important,” Hayes said after the game.
“The second part is, I want to play. I want to see a different side to us in the second game with a less experienced group, and see the progress that we have made in the last 12 months. Knowing it’s not going to be the first time they’ve faced Japan, but I want to see the progress from since the last time. So I’m very excited for that one,” she said.
Japan’s adaptability is key: The Nadeshiko are current AFC Women’s Asian Cup winners. They lifted the continental championship just last month and are a top squad in the world. Despite a change in coaching, with Nils Nielsen’s contract expired and Michihisa Kano officially the interim manager, the roster is in strong form, and like the USWNT, any player rotation won’t necessarily feel like a massive shift on the pitch.
“We’re playing against a team that have been together the whole month. It showed especially in the first part of [Saturday’s] game, in terms of their connections there, but when we knew that that would happen, and I think in terms of being played in together, they were always going to have an advantage,” Hayes explained about Japan.
“I think 12 months ago, we might have drawn [that] game. I think the progress is in staying in the game and not conceding a second goal. You know, they’re creating chances. It was a pretty even game with regards to that. But, yeah, I thought we managed the last part, and it’s given me some things that I’ll sit on the plane now and watch to sort of add for our next level. But it’s the test we want, and I’m like, so happy to have it, because they’re an unbelievable team.”
Prediction
Not hard to imagine that a second consecutive game would lead to more goals, but with player rotation as part of the game plan, there might be some disconnect before there are goals. Pick: USA 2, Japan 2
