Thorns named to the USWNT World Cup Qualifying Roster

Lindsay Horan, Tobin Heath and Emily Sonnett have been selected for the 20-player roster that will compete in CONCACAF qualifying for the 2019 World Cup. All of the games will be broadcast on the FOX family of networks.

None of the names will come as a huge surprise, especially with Tobin Heath’s outstanding recent form for her country. Lindsay Horan is a first choice midfielder, while Emily Sonnett seems to have cemented her place in the fullback rotation.

What is a surprise is that Tobin Heath (138 caps) is the only player among the group who has played in World Cup qualifying before: Horan (56 caps) and Sonnett (21 caps) will be headed to their first. The USWNT will play in Group A of the tournament, to be held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, home of the North Carolina Courage.

The United States plays Mexico on Oct. 4th at 4:30 pm PST, Panama on Sept. 7th at 2 pm PST and Trinidad & Tobago on Oct. 10th at 4:30 pm PST. The semifinal matches will take place 3 pm and 6 pm PST on Oct. 14th, and the championship will be at 6 pm PST on Oct. 17th with the third-place match at 3 pm PST. All of the knockout stages will be held at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

AD Franch was named to the initial 35-player provisional roster, but did not make the final cut in favor of Ashlyn Harris and Alyssa Naeher. Franch will travel with the team as a training player. Meghan Klingenberg, Midge Purce and Emily Menges, none of whom made the initial camp, seem to be more or less on the outside looking in at this point.

The Canadian WNT has yet to release their final roster, but it’s a safe assumption that Christine Sinclair is going to be in attendance. Canada plays their group games in Group B, held at H-E-B Park in Edinburg, Texas.

Christine Sinclair.