If they hope to defend home soil and secure a sixth-straight SheBelieves Cup crown, the task for Emma Hayes and the United States women in San Diego is simple: win.
The USWNT must come away with the victory against Japan on Wednesday night if they are to retain supremacy in this annual early-season competition.
Both sides have passed their tests against Australia and Colombia with a pair of victories each, but Japan did so in much more convincing fashion and thus hold the goal-difference tiebreaker.
Given that, a draw would see the visitors come away with the crown, which would be an embarrassing finish to a competition the U.S. has only failed to win twice since its inception in 2016 and has won annually since 2020.
The Sporting News is following the USA vs. Japan match live, providing score updates and commentary
Latest live updates | Team news and lineups | How to watch where you are | USWNT roster for SheBelieves Cup
USA vs. Japan score
| Score | Goal scorers | |
| USA | – | – |
| Japan | – | – |
Location: Snapdragon Stadium (San Diego, CA)
Starting lineups (predicted):
USA (4-3-3, right to left): Campbell (GK) — Fox, McKeown, Sonnett, Nighswonger — Heaps, Yohannes, Coffey — Macario, Sentnor, Ryan
Japan (4-3-3, right to left): GK (GK) — Yamashita (GK) — Takahashi, Koga, Minami, Kitagawa — Hasegawa, Kumagai, Nagano — Hamano, Tanaka, Fujino
USA vs. Japan live updates, highlights from 2025 SheBelieves Cup
2 hours to kickoff: Japan’s Mina Tanaka and Maika Hamano have combined for six goals between them at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, which is two less than the entire rest of the field through two matches. Tanaka scored a brace in both games so far, while Hamano scored one in each match as well.
The thing that will keep Emma Hayes up at night ahead of today’s clash is the knowledge that Tanaka can score in all kinds of different ways. She scored two right-footed efforts against Australia in the opener, one from close range (with great movement) and one from near the top of the penalty area. Then, against Colombia, she scored a header and bagged a penalty.
There’s a lot to think about when defending the Utah Royals star.
Three goals in two matches for Mina Tanaka 🤩 🇯🇵
🎥 @uswnt pic.twitter.com/e9aYmM2QOW
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) February 23, 2025
USA vs. Japan kick off time
This 2025 SheBelieves Cup match kicks off from Snapdragon Stadium on Wednesday, February 26 at 7 p.m. local time in San Diego, CA. Here’s how that time translates throughout the major time zones across North America:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| Eastern Time | Wed, Feb. 26 | 10 p.m. ET |
| Central Time | Wed, Feb. 26 | 9 p.m. ET |
| Mountain Time | Wed, Feb. 26 | 8 p.m. MT |
| Pacific Time | Wed, Feb. 26 | 7 p.m. PT |
2025 SheBelieves Cup standings
| Pos. | Team | GP | Points | W-D-L | Goal Diff. | GF-GA |
| 1. | Japan | 2 | 6 | 2-0-0 | +7 | 8-1 |
| 2. | USA | 2 | 6 | 2-0-0 | +3 | 4-1 |
| 3. | Australia | 2 | 0 | 0-0-2 | -5 | 1-6 |
| 4. | Colombia | 2 | 0 | 0-0-2 | -5 | 1-6 |
USA vs. Japan lineups, team news
The USWNT is without a number of big-name stars. Attacking regulars Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, and Trinity Rodman are once again not with the squad, as Rodman and Smith recover from nagging injuries ahead of the NWSL season and Swanson is missing for personal reasons. Meanwhile, Naomi Girma and Rose Lavelle are also absent, with Hayes preferring caution with the players in their club preseason.
Having rotated the squad heavily for the second game, changing out all 11 starters, Emma Hayes is likely to revert back to something similar to the lineup that started the tournament against Colombia.
A reminder that Lindsey Horan is now going by her married name Lindsey Heaps, while the same is true for Lynn Biyendolo, formerly Lynn Williams.
USA projected starting lineup (4-3-3): Campbell (GK) — Fox, McKeown, Sonnett, Nighswonger — Heaps, Yohannes, Coffey — Macario, Sentnor, Ryan
USA subs: Matchday squads released approx. one hour prior to kickoff
Japan head coach N. Nielsen didn’t rotate his squad nearly as much between the first two games of the competition, which almost makes it more difficult to predict how they will line up in the finale, given it would be a lot to ask these players to contest three full matches in a week’s time.
One player who was rested for the Colombia win is Yui Hasegawa, but the Manchester City midfielder is likely to reenter the lineup here.
Striker Mina Tanaka is gunning for the tournament’s top goal scorer award, with her four goals two more than anyone else. Teammate Maika Hamano is the only other player at this year’s SheBelieves Cup with multiple goals to her name.
Japan projected starting lineup (4-3-3): Yamashita (GK) — Takahashi, Koga, Minami, Kitagawa — Hasegawa, Kumagai, Nagano — Hamano, Tanaka, Fujino
Japan subs: Matchday squads released approx. one hour prior to kickoff
USA vs. Japan live stream, TV channel
- TV channel: TBS (English), Universo (Spanish)
- Streaming: Sling, Max (English), Peacock, Fubo (Spanish)
This final 2025 SheBelieves Cup match between the USA and Japan will be televised in English on TBS across the United States, which is available to stream on Sling. It can also be streamed on Turner’s dedicated streaming service Max.
Meanwhile, there is a Spanish-language broadcast of the match on Universo, which can be streamed either on NBC’s dedicated streaming platform Peacock or via Fubo, who offer a free trial for new users.
