Published September 29, 2026
Emma Hayes named her 26-player USWNT roster Tuesday for October’s friendlies against Spain, and reading it in full feels less like a single announcement than a checkpoint on nearly every storyline this site has tracked since August. Ashley Sanchez is back after almost two years away. Trinity Byars earns her first senior cap. Naomi Girma returns carrying a fresh knock that might keep her out entirely. Jaedyn Shaw, one of the league’s most productive midfielders this season, isn’t on the roster at all.
Sanchez’s Return Has a Number Attached to It Now
When this site first covered Ashley Sanchez’s revival back in August, she’d just set the NWSL’s single-season scoring record for an American player. By September, she’d reached 18 and sat two behind Temwa Chawinga’s all-time league mark. As of this roster announcement, she’s at 20 — tied for the outright NWSL single-season scoring record, with four matches still left to play, and the first American player in league history to top 15 goals in a season at all. Her last USWNT appearance, precisely, was Oct. 30, 2024, against Argentina — just under two full years before this call-up.
That’s not a small return. It’s the exact case this site laid out in real time: a player who hadn’t scored more than five goals in any prior NWSL season turning one campaign into a record-setting run, and doing it loudly enough that a national team staff couldn’t reasonably ignore it. Hayes has been explicit that club form drives her evaluation process. Sanchez just gave her the clearest possible example of why.
Trinity Byars Gets the Call Her August Performance Was Building Toward
Byars, uncapped entering this roster, becomes one of three first-time call-ups alongside Portland’s Pietra Tordin and Angel City’s Evelyn Shores. This site covered her breakout in August — a four-goal-involvement performance for San Diego Wave that came after a torn ACL had delayed her NWSL debut by nearly a year, following her path as the first college player to sign directly with an NWSL club once the league eliminated its draft. She’s since finished the year with 10 goals in just over 1,000 minutes, and U.S. Soccer’s own framing of this roster specifically highlighted her alongside Sanchez, Sophia Wilson and Trinity Rodman as the NWSL’s top four American goalscorers this season. That’s real company for a player who didn’t have a single senior cap a month ago.
Naomi Girma Is Back, but Not Necessarily Fit
Girma’s return alongside Sam Coffey fills two of the roster’s more anticipated slots — both missed June’s trip to Brazil due to injury, and both were central to this site’s own coverage this fall. Coffey’s return validates the recovery arc covered here after her substitute appearance for Manchester City in September. Girma’s situation is murkier: Hayes told reporters Girma picked up “a knock in training” the same day the roster was announced, one that may require a replacement before the matches are actually played. Reporting also indicates she hasn’t appeared for Chelsea since early September due to a separate injury issue — meaning her club minutes heading into this camp have been limited regardless of Tuesday’s specific knock. When healthy, Girma is typically one of the first names written into Hayes’ lineup. Whether she’s actually available for either match against Spain remains genuinely unresolved as of this roster’s announcement.
Jaedyn Shaw’s Absence Is the Roster’s Real Talking Point
Shaw has nine goals and five assists this season for a Gotham FC side that leads the NWSL, and her omission drew direct questions at Hayes’ press availability. Hayes’ answer leaned on player development rather than a specific tactical explanation: Shaw and Ally Sentnor will instead join a U-23 USWNT training camp in Atlanta next week, both still young enough — 22 and 21, respectively — to fit that developmental track. It’s a decision that reads as forward-looking roster management rather than a statement about Shaw’s current form, but it’s still a notable subtraction from a Gotham midfield this site has covered extensively this season, and it leaves Rose Lavelle as Gotham’s lone representative on the senior roster.
Lavelle’s own inclusion is worth noting on its own terms: her spot confirms the concussion recovery this site tracked through August and September has fully cleared, with no lingering restriction reflected in her selection.
The Absences That Confirm What This Site Already Reported
Several players who traveled to Brazil in June aren’t on this roster at all, and their absences line up precisely with injury reporting already covered here: Catarina Macario isn’t included, consistent with the season-ending injury this site reported in detail; Olivia Moultrie isn’t included, consistent with her August ACL tear; Emily Sonnett and Croix Bethune are also absent. None of this is a surprise given what was already known — it’s confirmation that the roster picture unfolded exactly the way the underlying injury reporting suggested it would.
What This Means for November
Both matches — Oct. 10 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., and Oct. 13 at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania — are explicitly the last evaluation window before Hayes finalizes her group for the Concacaf W Championship, which opens Nov. 27 against El Salvador in a single-elimination format with no group-stage safety net. It’s also the first meeting between the U.S. and Spain, the reigning World Cup champion and top-ranked team in the world, since 2022. A roster this unsettled at three separate positions — Girma’s fitness, Shaw’s role going forward, and whichever forward or midfielder ultimately steps in if Girma can’t play — means these two matches carry more actual selection weight than a typical October friendly window usually would.