Mallory Swanson, Catarina Macario return for USWNT for SheBelieves Cup

The Americans, who have slipped to a program-low No. 4 in the FIFA ranking, will play Japan on April 6 in Atlanta and Canada or Brazil on April 9 in Columbus, Ohio.

The ninth annual SheBelieves Cup falls one year after Swanson’s last national team appearance — an April 8, 2023, friendly against Ireland. A dynamic winger in the best form of her career, Swanson tore a patella tendon and was ruled out of the World Cup last summer.

Her return to the national team this spring was expected after she was invited to training camp as a nonroster player before the recently completed Concacaf W Gold Cup. Swanson, 25, has started the Chicago Red Stars’ first two NWSL matches.

Macario’s last appearance for the national team came in April 2022. She was a rising star for the United States and French club Olympique Lyonnais, but in June 2022, she tore an ACL. Complications in her rehab and issues with her other knee stalled her comeback.

Now with English club Chelsea — which is led by incoming U.S. coach Emma Hayes — Macario returned to action March 3, scoring six minutes into her appearance against Leicester City. She scored again a week later in the FA Cup against Everton and, since her return, has totaled 103 minutes in five matches across three competitions.

Macario, 24, has recorded eight goals and two assists in 17 national team appearances and will help compensate for the loss of Mia Fishel, her U.S. and Chelsea teammate, who tore an ACL in U.S. camp this winter.

While Swanson and Macario are returning to the mix, two young players from abroad will enter it: Paris Saint-Germain defender Eva Gaetino, 21, and Ajax Amsterdam’s Lily Yohannes, a 16-year-old midfielder from Springfield, Va., who moved with her family to the Netherlands six years ago.

Yohannes has posted four goals in 16 Dutch league matches and started nine UEFA Champions League games this season.

She becomes the youngest player to be called up for a full U.S. camp since 16-year-old Sophia Smith in April 2017.

The W Gold Cup, which the Americans won by defeating Brazil in the final, “provided a lot of players with needed experiences and presented us with different adversities we had to overcome together,” interim coach Twila Kilgore said in a statement. “We will take all these experiences with us into SheBelieves and beyond. Of course, we’re thrilled to welcome back Mal and Cat and continue to incorporate some less-experienced players into the mix.”

The SheBelieves Cup will be the end of Kilgore’s leading role; she will become an assistant under Hayes, who will take over the team ahead of friendlies against South Korea in June.

Nineteen players return from the W Gold Cup roster, including Smith, captain Lindsey Horan and tournament MVP Jaedyn Shaw, a 19-year-old forward.

Veteran striker Alex Morgan was recalled after initially being left off the W Gold Cup roster. She later replaced Fishel. Another W Gold Cup replacement, center back Becky Sauerbrunn, was not named to the SheBelieves squad.

Because of the Swanson and Macario call-ups, forwards Lynn Williams and Midge Purce were dropped. (Williams also has been battling a thigh injury.) Midfielder Rose Lavelle is not available because of a leg injury.

Notes: The U.S. Soccer Federation said more than 37,000 tickets have been sold for the Atlanta match. The largest crowds for home games outside the World Cup and Olympics are 49,504 in August 2019 vs. Portugal in Philadelphia and 44,028 in August 2015 vs. Costa Rica in Pittsburgh.

Goalkeepers: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars).

Defenders: Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave), Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Eva Gaetino (Paris Saint-Germain), Naomi Girma (San Diego), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC).

Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyonnais), Olivia Moultrie (Portland), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC), Lily Yohannes (Ajax).

Forwards: Catarina Macario (Chelsea), Alex Morgan (San Diego), Trinity Rodman (Washington), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego), Sophia Smith (Portland), Mallory Swanson (Chicago).