US women to play No 1 ranked Spain in two October friendlies

The US women were last in action in a friendly against Brazil in June. Photograph: Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images The top two teams in women’s soccer will meet in a pair of friendlies this fall, with the United States hosting Spain in Washington DC on 10 October and Chester, Pennsylvania on the 13th. The meeting pits the 2024 Olympic Gold medalist United States against a Spain side that won the 2023 women’s World Cup, and will serve as a key benchmark for both sides with a matter of months to go until the 2027 women’s World Cup in Brazil. Related: Hayes describes ‘experience I will never forget’ as Brazil given eight red cards in loss to USWNT The friendlies will serve as a crucial tune-up for the US ahead of the Concacaf W Championship in late November which doubles as the World Cup qualifying process for the Concacaf region. Spain has already qualified for the 2027 tournament, having finished on top of their group in Uefa qualifying over England and thus receiving a direct berth. Spain is available to play the US in this window because of that early qualification – England and other Uefa teams will be using the October international window for playoffs. The US was last in action in June for a pair of friendlies in Brazil against the World Cup’s host nation. The US split the two games, losing 2-1 with all three goals coming in the first 15 minutes, then winning 1-0 on 9 June in a bad-tempered match in which eight red cards were issued, most after the final whistle. Spain tore their way through World Cup qualifying, finishing with five wins and one loss (a 1-0 result against England) in their group, to go with a plus-18 goal difference. The defending champions boast several of the world’s best player, including Alexia Putellas (who recently completed a move to London City Lionesses) and Aitana Bonmatí, who was named The Best women’s player by Fifa and won the Ballon d’Or in each of the past three years. This will be the second and third all-time meetings between the sides in the US, with the only previous meeting coming in the 2020 SheBelieves Cup, a 1-0 win for the US thanks to an 87th-minute goal from Julie Ertz. It will be the 18th and 19th time the US women play a game involving the No 1 and 2-ranked teams in the world, having gone undefeated in all of those previous matchups over the life of the program.