da dobrowin： The Angel City sensation is heading to her first major tournament, with team-mate Julie Ertz also in after her shock international return in April

da aposte e ganhe： There are always surprises when a nation names its World Cup roster – and that was no different on Wednesday, when Vlatko Andonovski named the 23 players that will represent the U.S. women's national team, the reigning world champion, in Australia and New Zealand this summer.

Sadly, injuries in recent months to several key players meant it was already known that a few big names were not going to be on this list. But, as the old saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens, and several players have been presented with huge opportunities on the biggest stage.

GOAL breaks down the winners and losers from the USWNT roster announcement…

GettyWINNER: Alyssa Thompson

What an insane 12 months it has been for Alyssa Thompson. Last summer, ahead of the Under-20 Women's World Cup, she told GOAL she had her eye on a call-up to the senior national team. Since then, she's not only done that, she's also made the 2023 Women's World Cup roster.

Still only 18 years old, Thompson has been on the fringes of the squad since making her debut against England at Wembley last October. But then an injury to Mallory Swanson in April saw her called-up as a replacement mid-camp and probably forced Andonovski to take an even closer look at her than he already was.

Thompson is absolutely here on her own merit though. Her coach spoke in March about how she would absolutely "make a case" to be on this roster and she has. The forward might be young and raw but that's not a bad thing. She's already shown in her first few months in the NWSL for Angel City that she is ready to impact games, and she could be the USWNT's joker in the pack this summer.

AdvertisementGettyLOSER: Tierna Davidson

One of the most surprising omissions on this roster has to be that of Tierna Davidson. When Becky Sauerbrunn announced that she would miss the World Cup through injury last week, it felt like it increased Davidson's chances of making the roster, in order to add depth and experience to the back line.

But despite returning from her own ACL injury back in March, and playing plenty of meaningful minutes since, the Chicago Red Stars defender hasn't made the cut. There is a lot of competition in that area of the squad, but Davidson, who was the USWNT's best player at its underwhelming Olympic Games in 2021, will be massively disappointed to be left out.

WINNER: Rose Lavelle

There has been cause for concern around Rose Lavelle in recent months. She has not featured for club or country since picking up an injury during the April international break, and OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey fears that she won't play in the NWSL again before the World Cup.

That she was included on the roster on Wednesday was a positive sign, then. To be without Lavelle and Catarina Macario, another playmaking midfielder who misses out due to injury, could've seriously limited the creativity in the central areas of this team.

Now, it's about making sure Lavelle is back to full fitness properly – especially for that second group game, against the Netherlands.

GettyLOSER: Adrianna Franch

Another unexpected omission on this roster is certainly Adrianna Franch, who had been included by Andonovski in each of the last four camps. The 32-year-old was part of the team that lifted the World Cup trophy four years ago, but has recently found herself on the bench for her club, the Kansas City Current.

That appears to have had an impact on her international career as Andonovski has chosen to alter his goalkeeper group for the first time since October by instead selecting Aubrey Kingsbury, the Washington Spirit shot-stopper whose sole appearance for the USWNT came in a 9-0 win over Uzbekistan in April 2022.