February 1 – The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), the US third tier professional men’s league today, is bringing in three new clubs for the 2023 season, but is losing two clubs from its 2022 roster.
Argentina qualified as one of the four Conmebol guests at the W Gold Cup with a third placed finish at the 2022 Copa America Feminina.
Having qualified thanks to winning the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, hosts USA will be looking to recover from a severely underwhelming World Cup campaign that saw them lose their place at the top of the FIFA world rankings.
What to expect
Unbeaten in the past year, Mexico enter the W Gold Cup as dark horses to lift the trophy. Ranked 30th in the FIFA world rankings, they haven’t made the list of tournament favourites but certainly have an outside shot at going all the way.
The qualified via winning League A Group A, dominating all four games versus Puerto Rico and Trinidad and Tobago, conceding just once whilst scoring 12 of their own.
The Dominican Republic qualified for the preliminary knock-out stage as winners of Group B in Concacaf Nations League B, winning five games and losing just once, scoring 24 goals in the process.
El Salvador qualified for the preliminary play-off after topping Group B of League B in the Concacaf Nations League when they won all six of their matches, with 24 goals from a number of different players.
Panama qualified for the W Gold Cup by topping their League A Nations League group ahead of Guatemala and Jamaica.
Paraguay qualified as one of the Conmebol guests for the Concacaf W Gold Cup by finishing fourth in the 2022 Copa America Feminina.
Canada qualified for the Gold Cup as CONCACAF Olympic play-off winners, making them the first team to officially join hosts USA. The Canadians have a strong a footballing pedigree having won Gold at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
Brazil qualified as 2022 Copa América Femenina winners which gave them automatic qualification to the W Gold Cup. As a result, they were seeded in pot 1 of the group stage draw alongside fellow favourites USA and Canada.
January 31 – The United States soccer federation is to introduce a more thorough vetting system for coaches and officials as part of reforms after an investigation found widespread misconduct in the top-flight women’s league (NWSL).
January 30 – The 12-team National Women’s Soccer League is in advanced discussions to expand with three new teams in Boston, Utah and the San Francisco Bay Area.
By Paul Nicholson
January 27 – Conmebol’s flagship Copa America will be played in the US in 2024 for the second time with all 10 of the South American nations and the six best Concacaf teams competing.
January 25 – The US men’s national team may have to wait longer for a new coach following the exit of sporting director Ernie Stewart at US Soccer. Earlier this week general manager Brian McBride had also departed the federation.
January 27 – It took a long time in gestation and it intends to be around for even longer. The Canadian Premier League (CPL) is marking its fifth season with a celebratory logo as it continues to build.