PORTLAND, Ore. — Two Portland Thorns players were among those selected to play for the U.S. at the FIFA Women's World Cup in July.
Thorns FC midfielder Crystal Dunn and forward Sophia Smith will head to the Women's World Cup, the Thorns said in a news release on Wednesday.
The Women's World Cup kicks off on July 20 and runs to Aug. 3. It will be hosted in both Australia and New Zealand.
Dunn has played in the international women's soccer tournament once before, starting and playing in six games for 90 minutes each in 2019. As a defender for the U.S. Women's National Team, she helped record shutouts in her group stage appearances and a shutout victory over the Netherlands in the World Cup Final.
Playing for the Thorns, 30-year-old Dunn has started in all 12 matches and has made five goals and two assists this season in league play.
This will be 22-year-old Smith's first World Cup appearance at the senior level. She was named the 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and is the reigning National Women's Soccer League Most Valuable Player, with a current rank of second in the league in goals (7) and first in assists (5) in 12 games with the Thorns this season.
The Portland Thorns gave Dunn and Smith a shoutout on Twitter, writing, "BRB, gotta defend the cup."
The U.S. Women's National Team is made up of 23 players with a mix of World Cup newcomers and veterans. The U.S. is vying for an unprecedented third straight World Cup title, having won the last two (2015, 2019). The team has won four World Cups overall (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019), the most of any country. Germany has won the title twice, making it the only other country to win more than once.
Before traveling for the tournament, the national team will face Wales in San Jose, California on July 9 in an international friendly.
The U.S. will play Vietnam in an opening match that will air in the U.S. on July 21 at 6 p.m. PT.
