USWNT to face Netherlands after England friendly

The United States women’s national team will end its 2024 campaign with an away match on Dec. 3 against the Netherlands, in a rematch of the 2019 World Cup final.

The match will take place at ADO Den Haag Stadium in The Hague three days after the Americans, who won a fifth Olympic gold medal in women’s soccer in August, take on England at Wembley Stadium in London.

The Dutch are ranked No. 11 in the world; England is ranked second behind the United States, who reclaimed the spot from Spain following the Olympics.

“It was a fantastic summer for our team, and we’re going to take a lot of great lessons and memories from our time in France, but now we are looking forward to continuing our process,” U.S. head coach Emma Hayes said in a statement. “And in order for our team to keep learning and growing, and for the coaching staff to continue to evaluate players, we need to play the best teams possible.

“Playing matches in Europe against some of the world’s top teams will be an important part of our journey.”

The USWNT has lost only once in 18 games this year, a surprise 2-0 upset at the hands of Mexico in the Concacaf W Gold Cup in February. The team then went on to win that tournament.

The late autumn jaunt abroad will mark the USWNT’s first friendly matches outside of home territory since a pair of January 2023 games against New Zealand, in preparation for that years’ World Cup co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

The USWNT last played in Europe in October 2022, when the Americans lost 2-1 to England in Wembley and 2-0 to a second-choice Spain side in Pamplona, Spain.

The Americans last played away to the Dutch in November 2020 in the team’s first game following an eight-month pause in play due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to the November friendlies, the U.S. will host a tripleheader of home friendlies in late October, the team’s first games since winning the Olympic gold medal.

Hayes’ team will play Iceland on Oct. 24 in Austin, Texas and then again in a rematch three days later in Nashville, Tennessee, before hosting Argentina on Oct. 30 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Iceland has climbed to No. 13 in the world. Argentina is ranked No. 33.