USWNT beats Colombia 2-0 to open SheBelieves Cup

HOUSTON —The United States women's national team is off to a strong start. In its first match of 2025, the Americans opened the SheBelieves Cup with a 2-0 win over Colombia thanks to quality goals from Catarina Macario and Ally Sentnor.

Japan beat Australia 4-0 in the first match earlier Thursday evening.

With no major tournament until the 2027 World Cup, USWNT coach Emma Hayes has made it clear that at least the first half of this year will be focused on experimenting with new and young talent and broadening the player pool. She explained earlier this week that there's always risk involved when developing players and that "it won't look polished in its entirety." While the squad Hayes rolled out, including the substitutions made, was by no means a finished product, the group appeared strong, confident, technical and showed promise.

Tara McKeown made her senior team debut as a starting center back alongside Emily Sonnett, who was honored for reaching her 100th cap before the game. Gisele Thompson and Michelle Cooper also earned their respective first caps, while Sentnor and 17-year-old Lily Yohannes made their first starts.

Expect to see more rotation throughout this tournament, especially given that these players are all in different parts of their training. While European-based players are mid-season, American-based players have not played a game for a while, given the NWSL season does not begin until next month. 

Here are takeaways from the match:

Play of the game

This banger of a goal from Sentnor. In the 60th minute, the young forward found a gap in the middle of the field and then fired off a shot from outside the box that Colombian goalkeeper Katherine Tapia had no chance of saving.

 It was her first-ever USWNT