Learn more about tune in options on U.S. Soccer\u2019s website.<\/a><\/p>\nHEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (USA W-L-D): 33-2-8<\/p>\n
Key Storylines Ahead of the Match<\/p>\n
WE MEET AGAIN \u2013 The match in Seattle is the second of three total friendly matches the United States Women\u2019s National Team will play against Japan this month. To start off the series, the two sides went head-to-head in San Jose on Saturday. Reign FC\u2019s own Claudia Dickey earned a start in the 2-1 win for the Stars & Stripes. The back-and-forth match featured an exciting glimpse at what the teams have to offer.<\/p>\n
USWNT veterans Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Heaps led the team to victory backed by their goals in the 9th and 48th minutes of the match, respectively. Japan pulled a goal back in the 61st minute, courtesy of Riko Ueki. Throughout the match, Dickey made five saves, including a stop from close-range on a Japan corner kick in the second half and a headed shot on the final play of the game to secure the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have a three-game window,\u00a0it’s\u00a0not all\u00a0about\u00a0feeling good about yourself.\u00a0We can play plenty of football matches where you do that. I want us to feel\u00a0stretched\u00a0and I want the whole group to experience the highest,\u00a0highest level\u00a0game.\u00a0So what a great situation we’re in to be able to put another team out tomorrow to get that exposure against one of the best sides of the world because you cannot close gaps until you identify what they are and you can’t do that when you’re comfortable, and you absolutely\u00a0can’t\u00a0do that\u00a0when\u00a0you’re\u00a0always the dominant side,\u201d said USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PNW PRIDE \u2013 Seattle is set to break another record at Lumen Field for this highly anticipated match. Previously, the attendance record for a standalone women\u2019s soccer match in Seattle was 34,130 for Megan Rapinoe\u2019s retirement celebration, but Lumen Field is ready to host 35,000+ fans as the Stars & Stripes are in town for the first time in almost nine years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0know that football is\u00a0pretty dominant\u00a0in this part, and nothing gives the team greater joy than being able to get around the country to different\u00a0places\u00a0and this was one that we were particularly excited for,\u201d said USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes.<\/p>\n
Reign FC has one player named to this roster in Claudia Dickey. Fearless in net, she has taken 2026 by storm in the few games the Reign have played this season, breaking not only the club\u2019s record for career shutouts, but the club record for career saves as well, surpassing Reign FC and USWNT legend Hope Solo.<\/p>\n
ROOTS RUN DEEP \u2013 This will be the third match the USWNT has played at Lumen Field, but the first since 2017 when the team took on Australia in the Tournament of Nations. Prior to that, the USWNT made their Lumen Field debut in October 2015 against Brazil, claiming a 1-1 draw to open their account at the stadium, which now features a newly laid grass surface ahead of the 2026 FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n
Though the team may be relatively new to Lumen Field, they are no strangers to the Emerald City. In 2002, the U.S. played two matches at T-Mobile Park, then SAFECO Field where the team scored 16 goals across the two matches.<\/p>\n
As displayed last season as the club recognized the 1985 U.S. Women\u2019s National Team, the roots of the nation\u2019s soccer excellence run deeply through Seattle, as many key players, as well as the head coach of that squad, hail from Washington.<\/p>\n
SCOUTING JAPAN \u2013 Japan entered the three-match series off a strong run in the 2026 AFC Asian Women\u2019s Cup, where they won all six matches they played en route to qualifying for the 2027 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup in Brazil. Across those six matches, Japan conceded just one goal and scored 29. 14 different players scored for the nation in their dominant display.<\/p>\n
Riko Ueki, who scored Japan’s lone goal against the United States on Saturday, led the tournament in scoring six goals, while Kiko Seike added four goals and Maika Hamano and Hinata Miyzawa scored three apiece.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you play a team like Japan that has clarity and methodology, along with the ability to pull you apart because their rotations, their opposite movements, their attention to detail, technically and tactically, is so superior that you get stretched in a way that\u00a0on\u00a0a physical level, it might show that\u00a0you’re\u00a0having to\u00a0maybe do\u00a0a little bit more\u00a0high-speed\u00a0work because\u00a0you’re\u00a0getting pushed,\u201d shared Hayes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at this level, if you\u00a0don’t\u00a0take your chances,\u00a0that’s\u00a0the difference between winning and losing.\u00a0But also,\u00a0you’re\u00a0going to expect them to create chances, so\u00a0you’re\u00a0going to have to defend your goal well enough.\u00a0I\u00a0think this\u00a0is exactly what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After nearly a decade away, the United States Women\u2019s National Team returns to Seattle to take on Japan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-584184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}