The United States Women’s National Team beat China 3-0 on Saturday in a friendly match in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was a confident display from the USWNT and one that should build confidence as the 2027 World Cup cycle draws nearer.
USWNT coach Emma Hayes has been vocal about the importance of these friendlies: she uses them to gauge where her players are in their development cycles, what kinds of opponents they thrive against and how they can all work together and improve. With that in mind, let’s take a look at this USWNT lineup through Hayes’s eyes. Who stood out? Why? And what can we learn from their performances?
Sam Coffey
Emma Hayes was tasked with solving endless problems when she took over the USWNT coaching job last year, but the first—and arguably the biggest—was expanding her playing pool in advance of the 2027 World Cup. Hayes had veterans (Lindsey Heaps, Crystal Dunn) and prospects (Alyssa Thompson, Lily Yohannes) at her disposal, but she started her USWNT tenure without a solid core of prime players in between.
Enter Sam Coffey. The 26-year-old midfielder has emerged as a leader of Hayes’s “mid-career” contingent and looks like someone who will be a part of the team for years. She’s a fabulous defensive midfielder, one who is equal parts composed and fiery, and there’s no one else who plays quite like her on the USWNT.
Coffey delivered a brilliant, conductor-like performance against China, and she would’ve topped this list even if she hadn’t scored. But Coffey didn’t just score: she netted a gorgeous, unexpected, first-time chip that sucked the air out of Allianz Field.
“Look, I miss plenty of them in practice,” Coffey quipped at halftime on the live TV broadcast. “It’s about time I made one.”
