USWNT recruit Joe Biden and Taylor Swift to help reveal World Cup roster

Sports
By James

USWNT Recruits Joe and Jill Biden, Taylor Swift and Shaquille O’Neal to Help Reveal World Cup Roster…while Names Final 23 Ahead of Tournament

By Ben Nagle for Dailymail.Com

published: | Updated:

The United States has finally revealed its 23-woman squad for next month’s World Cup – with the help of some big celebrities.

The likes of Joe and Jill Biden, Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, Shaquille O’Neal and Lil Wayne were among a star-studded cast, each revealing one player who made the cut for the Australia and New Zealand tournament.

The US kicks off on July 20 and is the favorite to take home the trophy, having won the previous iteration in France in 2019.

Incredibly, 14 of the 23 women’s list are going to their first World Cup, marking a real changing of the guard and some fresh faces in the USA’s famous white.

Only goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, Kelley O’Hara, Emily Sonnett, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Crystal Dunn and Julie Ertz have previously been to the World Cup with the US, while the rest of the squad is brand new.

FULL ROSTER OF USA

keepers: Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)

Defenders: Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (North Carolina Courage), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Kelley O’Hara (NJ/NY Gotham FC) , Emily Sonnett (OL Reign)

midfielders: Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC), Julie Ertz (Angel City FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais, FRA), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)

Forward: Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Angel City FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

The USA are one of the last teams to name their squad, with coach Vlatko Andonovski submitting his name less than a month after Down Under started.

As the USWNT tries to seal the three-peat, they will face a group that includes Vietnam, the Netherlands and Portugal.

Vietnam is up first on matchday 1, with the game taking place on July 21 at 9:00 PM EST in Auckland, New Zealand, before a game with the Netherlands takes place in Wellington.

To finish off the group, the team will head back to Auckland’s Eden Park to take on Portugal, before hopefully crossing the border to Australia in the knockout stages.

More to follow.

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