Breaking down USWNT Gold Cup roster: No Alex Morgan. Mallory Swanson begins comeback

Alex Morgan is out and Mallory Swanson is in.

Morgan was left off the United States women’s roster for the Concacaf Gold Cup as coaches use the three-week tournament to get an extended look at some younger players who haven’t spent much time with the national team. Swanson won’t play in the tournament but will train with the USWNT ahead of it, her first time back with the team since the knee injury that knocked her out of the World Cup.

The Gold Cup begins Feb. 17 and runs through March 10. The USWNT opens the group stage Feb. 20 against either Guyana or the Dominican Republic, then plays Argentina Feb. 23 and Mexico Feb. 26. All three games are in Carson, California.

The Gold Cup quarterfinals are March 2 and 3 in Los Angeles. The March 6 semifinals and the March 10 final will be in San Diego.

Swanson’s return is a boost for the U.S. women, who need to find a solution to their scoring woes before this summer’s Paris Olympics. Despite playing in just six games before getting hurt in April, Swanson led the USWNT with seven goals last year, and her absence was sorely felt in Australia and New Zealand.

The Americans scored just four goals, their fewest ever at a World Cup, as they made their earliest exit at a major international tournament.

Morgan has not scored for the USWNT since the SheBelieves Cup almost a year ago, and this is the second consecutive roster she's missed. That doesn’t necessarily mean she won’t be on the squad for Paris, however.

Interim coach Twila Kilgore, who is in charge of the team until new coach Emma Hayes finishes her season at Chelsea, has used the camps since the World Cup to get a look at younger players who might help the USWNT’s scoring chances now and be key players in the years to come. The Gold Cup is no different.

Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn are the only two players on the 23-woman roster with 100 or more appearances for the USWNT, while seven players have seven caps or less. That group includes Jaedyn Shaw, Mia Fishel, Korbin Albert and Olivia Moultrie, all of whom are 22 or younger and made their first appearances with the USWNT last fall.

Shaw scored two goals in four appearances while Fishel had one in three games.

Kilgore also called in Jenna Nighswonger, a defender who was the NWSL’s rookie of the year last season. Nighswonger, 23, made her USWNT debut in December.

Alyssa Thompson, who made the World Cup squad after being the No. 1 pick in the NWSL draft earlier that year, is absent from the Gold Cup roster because of injury. But her younger sister Gisele will, like Swanson, train with the team ahead of the tournament.

Gisele Thompson, 18, is a defender and recently signed with Angel City FC. A member of the U.S. squad for the Under-17 World Cup in 2022, this will be her first camp with the senior national team.

Here's the full Gold Cup roster:

GOALKEEPERS: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars).

DEFENDERS: Alana Cook (Seattle Reign FC), Abby Dahlkemper (San Diego Wave FC), Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NY/NJ Gotham FC)

MIDFIELDERS: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Olivia Moultrie (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC)

FORWARDS: Mia Fishel (Chelsea FC), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave FC), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC)