The NWSL Goalkeepers Pushing For a Women’s World Cup Spot
The 2023 Women’s World Cup is just under two months away, with the opening match on July 20. As the tournament draws near, the anticipation over the announcement of the United States Women’s National Team’s roster grows. One position that has some question marks is the goalkeeper spot. The USWNT will take three goalkeepers to Australia/New Zealand, but who will those three be? We look at which keepers might be packing their bags to help the USWNT win their fifth Women’s World Cup and who might be appearing for other nations.
Alyssa Naeher
Alyssa Naeher is the starting goalkeeper for the national team. She earned her first cap for the senior national team in 2014 and has since gone on to make 90 appearances for the U.S. She’s been part of two Women’s World Cup winning teams and was the starter at the 2019 World Cup. In 2015 she took over as the starter and has earned 53 clean sheets since then.
Naeher has had a difficult season so far for the Chicago Red Stars though conceding 22 goals and only recording one clean sheet. However, her ticket to the World Cup is pretty locked in, barring any injuries.
Casey Murphy
After Naeher, there has been a question mark as to who the second string keeper is, but recently it looks like it’s Casey Murphy’s job to lose.
Murphy has made 14 appearances for the USWNT, with ten being clean sheets. She earned her first call-up in 2018 but wouldn’t make her first appearance until November 2021. She’s seen more playing time as the World Cup draws near to get her international experience, making it seem like she’ll take the second spot behind Naeher.
So far for the North Carolina Courage, Murphy has started all nine regular season games making 28 saves and keeping four clean sheets.
Adrianna Franch
Although Naeher, Murphy, and AD Franch seemed to be the golden trio within the past few international windows, Franch might be falling out of favor for the USWNT. She does have the World Cup experience in her favor, but her recent club form hasn’t been good.
Franch has been around the national team since 2013 but didn’t start receiving consistent call-ups until 2018. She earned her first appearance in 2019 and has made ten caps and three clean sheets.
At the club level, French has struggled for the Kansas City Current. She’s made just four regular-season appearances and conceded 11 goals in that span.
Aubrey Kingsbury
That third goalkeeper spot is the most intriguing. Kingsbury is someone that has been making a case for herself through club play. For the Washington Spirit, she’s conceded seven goals while making 22 saves. She’s also earned three clean sheets.
She was first called into the national team in 2019 but hasn’t been given a fair shot to prove she could start for the USWNT. She’s earned just one cap, which came in 2022, but that was a clean sheet.
If Vlatko Andonovski is looking at club play to make his decision, then Kingsbury deserves a spot on the plane to the World Cup.
Long Shots
Again, there are only three Women’s World Cup goalkeeper slots on the USWNT. And those seem to be going to our first three above. But the NWSL boasts some serious talent that could just be enough to steal one of those roster spots.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Bella Bixby are two more players in amazing form. Bixby’s average goals conceded rate was .96 during last season, and she’s already had four clean sheets this year along with a goal of her own. Tullis-Joyce is only in her second year as starting goalkeeper for the OL Reign. She’s the only keeper with a lower goals conceded rate than Bixby and was called up to the USWNT W Concacaf provisional squad in June 2022. However, even though there’s no denying the talent of these two, their likelihood of making the team is pretty low.
Kailen Sheridan
Outside of our USWNT Women’s World Cup goalkeeper prospects, there are other NWSL keepers that could be heading down under. Kailen Sheridan of the San Diego Wave will most definitely earn a call-up from Canada. She is now Canada’s starting keeper after Stephanie Labbé retired in 2022. Plus, Sheridan has managed four clean sheets this season in the NWSL.
Featured image via Getty Images
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