The “Women’s Football Tournament,” as the competition at the Olympics is officially known, will see the USWNT and 11 other nations battle it out for a place on the medals stand.
The event kicks off with a round-robin group stage on July 21. Eight teams qualify for the single-elimination knockout rounds which start with the quarterfinals through to the final on Aug. 6 in Tokyo (Aug. 5 in the USA due to the time difference).
MORE: Complete 2021 women’s Olympic soccer schedule
USA Olympic women’s soccer roster
Below is the 22-player U.S. women’s national team Olympic roster.
On June 30 the final Olympic rosters were officially expanded to formally include the four alternates as part of the main player roster. The International Olympic Committee allowed this one-time exception for the four alternates to be available for selection ahead of every match, providing teams increased flexibility given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on competitive match schedules, training and travel around the world. Prior to that decision, the alternates were only available as a permanent replacement in case of an injury to someone on the 18-player roster.
Who coaches the USWNT?
The individual responsible for selecting the squad is head coach Vlatko Andonovski (above), who is leading the USWNT in his first major international competition.
He was hired as USWNT coach in October 2019 and in his first 21 matches at the helm the team has compiled an impressive 20-0-1 mark, setting a record for best start for a head coach in USWNT history.
Andonovski, who has been praised by the players for his staff’s level of detailed match preparation, joined the U.S. team after successful coaching stints at two NWSL clubs: Kansas City and OL Reign.
USWNT at the Olympics
The U.S. women reached the gold-medal match in every Olympics tournament except for the 2016 edition in London, where the USWNT was stunned by Sweden in a quarterfinal penalty-kick shootout.
Since women’s soccer was first introduced as an Olympic competition in 1996, the USA has won a total of four of the five finals it has played, losing only to Norway in 2000 on a sudden-death goal in extra time.
USWNT 2021 Olympics Schedule
The USWNT is ranked No. 1 in the world and at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics it will compete against three other teams in the group stage: Sweden (No. 5 in the world), Australia (No. 9) and New Zealand (No. 22).
There are a total of three groups in the women’s soccer tournament. The top two teams automatically advance to the quarterfinals along with the two best third-place finishers.
