Happy New Year! We’re in a men’s World Cup year and a Women’s World Cup qualifying year as 2026 shapes up to be one of the busiest ever on the soccer front. The United States Women’s National Team will be starting early, playing two matches during their January Camp to start the preparations for this fall’s qualifying tournament.
As we normally do around here, we offer predictions for what the USWNT can do in 2026. With a team with great expectations, we’re going to set some lofty predictions for this
team.
The USWNT will make quick and easy work of World Cup qualifying.
The Concacaf W Championship will take place in November, and it serves as qualifying for both the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. The USWNT will not have to qualify for the Olympics since LA is the host, but qualifying for the World Cup will be something they take seriously. They win the Concacaf W Championship, setting the tone that they should be the team to beat in 2027.
The USWNT will lose only once in 2026.
Emma Hayes is going to start focusing more on results in 2026, and the team will respond. Over the course of the year, they will only drop one match, with the first half of the year coming against some incredible competition.
The USWNT will beat two European teams on the road.
There’s going to be a window where the USWNT decide to take their show on the road, heading to Europe for a pair of big time friendlies against teams who have a break in World Cup qualifying. They go on the road and come back with 2 wins in their pocket.
The USWNT will score 55 goals, with one player scoring at least 10.
Someone on this team is going to go off in 2026, scoring at least 10 goals. They will help the USWNT along the way to scoring 55 goals, including a few games that will see the team score 6+ goals.
The USWNT will return to #1 in the world.
Spain is currently the #1 team in the FIFA world rankings. That will change by the end of 2026, as the United States will reclaim the #1 spot heading into the World Cup year.
Emma Hayes will play 50 different players in 2026.
Emma Hayes may be focused on results, but she’s also going to give players their chances to impress. More than 50 different players will hit the field for the USWNT in 2026, creating a robust player pool full of competition for World Cup qualifying spots.
The USWNT will defeat someone in the Top 5 of the FIFA rankings.
Some team is going to face the USWNT while they’re in the top 5 of the world rankings, and the United States is going to beat them. They may not have that many chances to face a Top 5 team, but they will take advantage of them.
There they are, our USWNT predictions for 2026. Hit the comments and give us your predictions for the team as we begin the year!
