‘NWSL is the most competitive league in the world’ - Lori Lindsey on the USWNT, the arrival of Denver Summit and Boston Legacy in NWSL and 2026 contenders

GOAL: Who is one youngster on the current USWNT squad that you've seen in recent games, you know, maybe against Chile and Paraguay - that excites you about the future?

LINDSEY: Oh, my goodness, well, first of all, I love this question because I can name so many…but the most recent games, since they didn't include all of the European players, I'm going to go with Claire Hutton. I just feel like, obviously, we've seen her with Kansas City. We know how good she has been the last couple of seasons with them, but I think this past year, she has just been tremendous in terms of showing her growth and maturity as a young player. 

I think she showed even more maturity with her ability to lead the team, her composure in the midfield, what she's going to bring, and I think we're just going to continue to see her continue to just strive as a young player and really a mainstay. 

And then okay, Ayo Oke as well. I was thoroughly impressed with her. I'm really excited to see what she's going to do in this first year with Denver and the NWSL as well. So I want to give her a shout-out.

GOAL: Do you think the NWSL is the No. 1 league in the world?

LINDSEY: I enjoy this conversation because I think the thing is that everybody is striving to make the sport better, provide opportunities. And I think without asking, like answering specifically, your question right away is yes, Trinity [Rodman] and Lindsey Heaps staying and coming back to the NWSL is massive. I mean, Trin is one of the most recognizable women's athletes in general…Her ability just to connect with fans is unmatched. And then obviously, Lindsey Heaps, being a longtime captain center to our women's national team and longtime Lyon player, to come back to Denver playing in her hometown is huge, right?

So I think it just shows that this is what we've been striving for, which is opportunity. So that's why I always felt like the conversation is not totally complete, to just be like, ‘okay, a lot of our national team players are going overseas.’ We've wanted that. That is the whole point for striving for for equity, for better opportunities, for growth, and to be able to have those players choose where they want to go at different times in their career, because it makes sense for them or not, is beyond, like, what most of us previous players would have wanted and hoped for, for this generation. 

So I think it's not a complete, complete conversation, unless you add that in. I think the NWSL is the most competitive league in the world, and I think it's constantly asking itself, how do we continue to improve? Obviously, we have Denver and Boston coming in that's making more opportunities and bringing more space for players. And, yeah, I mean that full stop.

GOAL: What are your early thoughts on Denver Summit and Boston Legacy?

LINDSEY: I think when you just look at expansion teams in general, it could just be challenging to come in and put a team together, and not necessarily on short notice, but yes, also in short order, to be able to implement, as a coach and as like an entire organization, what you want to do.

And we've obviously seen that with San Diego, has some success early on, and then dipped a bit, right? And then some more success this past season. Angel City and Bay FC, they kind of generally have not succeeded in a way that they would want to on the field, I would say, right? So I think it's just challenging to be able to implement all those things and ask for all these different players to come together and be on the same page in a short amount of time in an extremely competitive league where it's not very forgiving. 

I really like the team that Denver is putting together. And also, Boston, but again, it just really comes down to how these relationships form, and what kind of work can you get done in the preseason? Because I think what you hear from a lot of these coaches, coaches of expansion teams, is there's not a ton of time, and then you're asked to be hit the ground running, and so you kind of have to pick out what areas are we going to really focus on tactically first, and then slowly but surely work through some other areas as the season goes on.

GOAL: Do you think the NWSL needs to keep expanding?

LINDSEY: Well, I'm biased because I live in Philly. And obviously, we have Atlanta coming in, too, which is exciting. I think it is just about a gradual increase. There is such a demand, and that is what we want! We want opportunities for the players, and there are a lot of markets that seem to be interested. But, also, you want to be able to keep some of that continuity of competition, the competitiveness that we continuously speak about. 

So when it comes to adding more teams, I just would imagine it's just more about making sure that we're not expanding too quickly, and we're just allowing for, still, the competition, but also having some of that unpredictability within the league as well.

GOAL: Who do you think is going to win the 2026 NWSL Championship?

LINDSEY: I'm always curious about Kansas City.

Two years ago, they would have been, and I know that they were very disappointed to not be able to get to the final and play in front of their fans at their home stadium, and then double-disappointed this past season to not be able to make it to the championship when, yeah, almost everyone had predicted them winning. So I'll be curious about Vlatko moving to the front office and then Chris Armas coming in [as manager]. 

I'm going to be really curious just to see how they continue to evolve without a ton of overhaul with their team. I’ll also be very interested in Gotham. Lastly, Washington lost in the championship the last two years and could be something different this year.

GOAL: How important is the SheBelieves Cup for setting the tone for the national team and then the qualifiers at the end of the year?

LINDSEY: I think the biggest thing with this tournament is that the games come in quick succession. It's going to be the first time Emma Hayes has had this team since the Olympics where there's something that really matters - They want to bring home the trophy. This is a year where the games now really start to matter. I would imagine a complete squad for Emma.

I think this is going to be huge, yes, in the sense that they're going to play Canada, they're going to play Argentina, and they're going to play Colombia, all very different opponents.  It's just going to be an aggressive test, but also the pressure of having meaningful games now, to use the same word, creates pressure in a way that I don't think this team has had since, again, Emma had an Olympics two summers ago. I think we'll start to see some of these pairings that maybe she's really starting to look to say, ‘okay, you know we had a Triple Espresso at the 2024 Olympics, right?’ What are the pairings up top in the midfield? Who are some of the players that she's really relying on in important moments?

GOAL: Who on the USWNT do you want to see step up?

LINDSEY: I think the main three that we have seen so far are Mandy McGlynn, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and Claudia Dickey, and all three are exceptional. Obviously, all three are very young in terms of playing time and experience, but all of them have a huge ceiling. So I'm really curious. This is when it matters most. Who's going to step up and like, claim that [keeper spot]? And that's something that Emma has talked about as well. So I think mostly I'll be curious to see who in that position is like, ‘yep, I want the starting role.’

GOAL: Who on the USWNT has exceeded your expectations?

LINDSEY: One thing that I think that Emma has done an exceptional job with, and you've really kind of heard it echoed from the players and just from the camp, is that she has an exceptional quality to be able to bring out the best. So when I think about players exceeding maybe expectations, that's a tough one, because I do feel like there are a lot of players that are playing at a high level. They're making the decision for Emma so challenging, yeah, and now it's about the consistency.

But I would say here that I thought Olivia Moultrie had an excellent second half of last season. And I think she is in a really interesting position in terms of she can play up top in the wide position, or she can play in the midfield. I think that only helps. And I'll just be curious to see how that kind of evolves and how she fits in the Emma system. I will also say, and I'm just going off this last camp, I really like what Croix Bethune has played in these last two games. But I wouldn't say that they exceeded expectations. I just think everyone's stepping up.