Seventh Annual SheBelieves Cup Heading to California, Texas
U.S. Women's National Team to play three other foes in Carson and Frisco
Posted On: January 5, 2022 By :U.S. Soccer’s seventh annual SheBelieves Cup will see the women’s national team playing games against the Czech Republic, Iceland and New Zealand in a four-team tournament that will start in Carson, California and conclude in Frisco, Texas.
The event will start February 17 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson with Iceland playing New Zealand before the U.S. plays the Czech Republic at 8 p.m. local time on ESPN. The second doubleheader on February 20 at DHSP will have the U.S. play New Zealand at noon local time on ABC before the Czech Republic plays Iceland. On February 23 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, the U.S. play will Iceland at 8 p.m. local time after New Zealand takes on the Czech Republic.
This year’s tournament also marks the first time the SheBelieves Cup has had matches on the West Coast. While the entirety of last year’s Cup was held in Orlando, Florida, this year’s tournament will be staged in two cities with strict COVID protocols in place during the organization of the event.
This year’s SheBelieves Cup will serve as the start to a year in which the U.S. will attempt to qualify for both the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and the 2024 Olympic Games in France. The eight-team Concacaf W Championship will run from July 9–24 and will produce four qualifiers for Australia/New Zealand ‘23 and one automatic qualifier to the next Olympic Games.
“These will be the first matches of what will be a really important year and as focus on World Cup qualifying, the SheBelieves Cup will be extremely valuable for the continued development of the team,” said U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “As a coaching staff, when we are integrating newer players, we need as many games as possible and all three of our opponents are very hard to play against. They will all be highly motivated to have the chance to play in this great tournament, so we’re not only looking forward to competitive matches, but also playing in front of fans.”
The winner of the tournament will be determined by total points (three for a win, one for a tie), with the first tiebreaker being goal difference, followed by most total goals scored, then head-to-head result and Fair Play ranking if necessary. The SheBelieves Cup is part of U.S. Soccer’s initiative to inspire and empower women and girls to achieve their goals in sport and beyond.
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