Ex-USWNT star Alyssa Naeher opens up on USA soccer’s GK plan: ‘Fun to see different goalkeepers come through’

The U.S. women’s national team currently personify a transition period as head coach Emma Hayes introduces a young group of players to the fold, hoping to give each of them as many opportunities to impress – and collecting as much information for the coaching staff – on the long road to the 2027 Women’s World Cup. Every spot on the roster and in the lineup is up for grabs at this stage of the USWNT’s World Cup preparations, but in no position is that more true than in goal.

Hayes is working with an inexperienced group of players during the October international break, which concludes with Wednesday’s friendly against New Zealand, many of whom will eventually have to compete with the previous starters in their positions before the coaching staff makes their selections. The head coach is essentially starting from scratch in the goalkeeper position, though – longtime shot-stopper Alyssa Naeher retired from the international game at the end of 2024, the search for her successor serving as one of the main storylines as Hayes rebuilds the USWNT in her tactical vision. Five players have started at least one game since the Olympics but Hayes has whittled her list down to the top three contenders for the job, each of them in this month’s camp – Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Claudia Dickey and Mandy McGlynn.

“At this moment in time, the three that are here are the three that are most likely to keep going in that direction,” Hayes said on Tuesday, “but there’s no certainties or definites, just that these are the three that we think are in the places they should be.”

The trio are essentially in the midst of live auditions for the job to replace Naeher in time for next year’s World Cup qualification tournament, with Hayes offering no specific timeline on when she will lock in her selection. The goalkeeper auditions cycled through Connecticut on Sunday, Naeher watching on as the USWNT notched a 3-1 win over Portugal. The two-time World Cup winner was in her home state for a pre-match ceremony celebrating her international career, enjoying her newfound role as an onlooker.

“I’m always going to miss it, you know?,” she said before Sunday’s win. “It’s something that was a huge part of my life. It was such a fun chapter. I’m always going to miss it but I was ready. It’s fun to watch the girls play, though.”

Naeher leaves big shoes to fill but she has taken well to her role as a supportive veteran, never placing undue pressure on the goalkeepers in camp or the team as a whole, true to form for a player who handed the next generation two-plus years to make their case.

“it’s been really fun to see different goalkeepers come through,” she said, “and it’s going to be fun and exciting for the next year or so before the World Cup.”

‘Consistency’ needed to win starting spot

Naeher left the USWNT as an undisputed member of its history, with Hayes frequently crediting her impressive shot-stopping ability as the reason the team won gold at the Paris Olympics last year. She has unique insight on what it takes to win the job as the U.S.’ starting goalkeeper – she was a longtime backup to Hope Solo and did not start her first game at a major tournament until the 2019 World Cup at the age of 31. Naeher was a late bloomer by definition but her career is an example in seizing opportunity when it finally comes.

“Consistency,” she said as the standout feature needed for one of the USWNT’s current goalkeepers to earn the starting role. “I think to be able to find the type of goalkeeper you want to be, find your strengths and kind of play to them. Obviously, it kind of depends on how the coach wants to play and style and how they can best fit.”

Naeher only worked with Hayes for a few months before her international retirement, but she described the head coach as an ideal fit for not only the task of recruiting new talent but training them to embrace the USWNT’s winning culture.

“She’s just a winner,” Naeher said about Hayes. “I think that’s the biggest thing about her. She’s fun to play for. She’s definitely a players’ coach and she’s in it with you but she just has this drive to win and you can see that from her in every conversation, on the field, off the field and she’s just a winner. She’s fun to play for. … Every little thing matters, whether it’s in training or in games and the preparation that goes into that, whether on the field or in the classroom, watching video, watching film or just getting the group together and building that chemistry but she just has that ability to get the best out of you.”

Tactically speaking, Hayes is looking for a goalkeeper who is obviously a strong shot-stopper but is also comfortable on the ball in deeper positions, a natural fit for a team that is much more likely to have possession than not. The head coach has yet to tip her hand on who could be the eventual No. 1, with Tullis-Joyce and Dickey each playing one game and McGlynn yet to see the field during this international window. The jury is still out on who Hayes will eventually select as the first choice goalkeeper since their experiences with the USWNT are varied so far. Tullis-Joyce looked shaky in the 2-1 loss to Portugal on Thursday but was one of several USWNT players who were far from their best, including a batch of veterans, while Dickey perhaps benefitted from some tactical adjustments Hayes made for Sunday’s win.

“They’ve had one game each – sometimes it’s really tough when you have just that,” Hayes said. “I think game one, we struggled in our buildup, that was clear, but as a team we struggled. It’s not about one player and in the second game, we did much better in the buildup but we have hindsight, reflections, analysis to be able to do that and we tweak things that perhaps put the goalkeeper in a better position for the second game so that’s the learning in that.”

In Tullis-Joyce, Dickey and McGlynn, Hayes has a group of goalkeepers with standout qualities. McGlynn plays for the possession-oriented Utah Royals and ranks second in the NWSL for passes attempted by a goalkeeper, while Dickey has enjoyed a standout season with the Seattle Reign. Dickey leads the NWSL for post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed with +12, a measurement of a goalkeeper’s likelihood to concede after making a save. Manchester United‘s Tullis-Joyce, meanwhile, is maybe Europe’s most impressive USWNT player – she is the only goalkeeper with two clean sheets in two UEFA Women’s Champions League games so far and has five clean sheets in a row when including qualifiers.

Hayes is not necessarily expected to make a final choice between them anytime soon, either, since she has a limited sample size to work with. None of the goalkeepers in camp currently have more than four caps, making the next year’s worth of friendlies incredibly important for the coaching staff as they get closer to locking in their decision.

“We need to just keep developing their experiences, and that’s what we are doing. The World Cup qualification is not until next year, and my job is to keep developing the group to get closer to that.”

Naeher undecided on retirement

Though Naeher retired from the international game at the end of 2024, she continued to play for the NWSL’s Chicago Stars.Her current deal with her longtime club expires at the end of the 2025 season, which will come to an end on Sunday against Angel City after the Stars missed out on a playoff spot, but is noncommittal on her future for the time being.

“I’m just going to play on Sunday and then, like I’ve done for the last eight years, make a decision at the end of the year,” Naeher said.

Be it coaching, media or another career path frequented by retired athletes, Naeher said she does not have a follow-up act lined up. She did make the most of her time off during international breaks after years of traveling and competing with the national team.

“Definitely, I’ve had some extra off days but it’s been fun [to] just get to travel a little bit, honestly just enjoy a summer in Chicago,” she said. “Chicago is a beautiful city. I never really get to enjoy the summer so that’s been fun, to just stay put for a little bit.”

The USWNT retirement ceremony, though, forced Naeher to reflect on her career and the legacy she leaves behind. Hayes said the younger USWNT players “idolized” the goalkeeper, while around 150 loved ones were in attendance at Pratt and Whitney Stadium to support Naeher, including 12 of her Stars teammates.

“I’ve been incredibly blessed to have the career that I have to be able to come back and celebrate it tonight, that people can remember the career as being a good teammate, somebody that left the game better than I started it,” she said. “It’s been really fun and I’m very blessed to have the career that I have.”