Gotham FC players are popular with their national teams as nine members of the 2026 squad just received call-ups for international matches to be played this March.
United States women's national team coach Emma Hayes called four Gotham players – defenders Lilly Reale and Emily Sonnett, midfielders Rose Lavelle and Jaedyn Shaw – into the USWNT squad for the 2026 SheBelieves Cup, which features three matches in three different cities played inside a span of seven days.
Hudson River Blue Staff
The USWNT face Argentina on Sunday, March 1 at GEODIS Park in Nashville, then Canada on March 4 at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, before they close out SheBelieves Cup against Colombia on March 7 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey.
SheBelievesCup wraps up one week before Gotham plays their NWSL regular-season opener on March 14 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts against Boston Legacy FC. Gotham's season already began, in one form, as the club finished in 3rd Place at the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup, a two-match run of international club matches played in London at the end of January.
Gotham's USWNT contingent won't be the only ones away prior to the 2026 NWSL season kicking off. Goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany) and defender Jess Carter (England) each got called up for 2027 Women's World Cup Qualifiers to be played by their respective countries back in Europe.
Berger and Germany first play a World Cup qualifier against Slovenia at home on March 3 in Dresden, then travel to Norway for a tough away challenge on March 7. Carter and England will face Ukraine in Turkiye on March 3, then the Lionesses host Iceland on March 7 in Nottingham at City Ground, home of Nottingham Forest FC in the men's English Premier League.
To round out Gotham's international crew active during this window, three players – midfielders Sarah Schupansky and Sofia Cook, plus newly-signed forward Andrea Kitahata – made the first U-23 USWNT squad assembled this year. That trio will participate in a training camp held this February in Miami, Florida, though with no matches publicly announced featuring the U-23 USWNT during this window.
