Last laps slated for victory tour
USWNT celebration to conclude with games in Charlotte, Chicago
The last two games of the United States women’s national team’s World Cup victory tour have been announced.
The U.S. will play Korea Republic on Oct. 3 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., before closing out the tour Oct. 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Chicago match will not only mark the end of the tour, but the end of Jill Ellis’ tenure as head coach of the USWNT. Ellis announced Tuesday she is stepping down after five years and two World Cup titles.
The U.S. will play five matches to celebrate its 2019 World Cup win. The victory tour begins Saturday when the Americans host Ireland at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. More than 32,000 tickets for the opening game had been sold as of Thursday afternoon, according to U.S. Soccer.
The U.S. will face Portugal on Aug. 29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and Sept. 3 at Allianz Field in Minnesota.
The roster for the victory tour matches will feature all 23 players from the World Cup championship team.
The lineup includes Orlando Pride players Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris. None of the victory tour matches conflicts with the Pride’s schedule, although the players could miss a Saturday, Aug. 31, home match against the Washington Spirit that falls between the Thursday, Aug. 29, match in Philadelphia and Tuesday, Sept. 3, match in Minnesota.
Tickets for the first three victory tour matches are on sale at ussoccer.com and ticketmaster.com. Tickets for the Charlotte and Chicago matches will go on sale to the public Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. and Aug. 9 at 11 a.m., respectively.
When the USWNT plays in Charlotte, it will be the team’s first match there since a pre-Olympics meeting with Iceland in April 2000. The U.S. women never have lost in Chicago, where they will play for the eighth time in history.