Last time the USWNT played a January match was last year during Olympic qualifying. They defeated Panama 8-0 on January 31, 2020 in Houston.
Tonight’s match vs. Colombia will the 50th USWNT game to take place in January. Broadcast starts at 6 pm on FS1. Here are a few of the Keeper’s Notes on USWNT games in January.
• The USWNT record for January matches is 35-5-9 overall. All five losses were to top 10 teams (see list below), and the team has never lost at home in January. All but 11 of the 49 matches were played abroad. Tonight’s game will be the 12th January home game, and the first USWNT home game since March 11, 2020.
| 11-Jan-01 | China | 0-L | tourney in China |
| 23-Jan-02 | Norway | 0-1 | tourney in China |
| 26-Jan-03 | China | 0-2 | tourney in China |
| 21-Jan-11 | Sweden | 1-2 | tourney in China |
| 19-Jan-19 | France | 1-3 | friendly in France |
• The USWNT has scored a total of 159 goals in January matches, including a record-setting 14-goal performance in 2012 against Dominican Republic in Olympic qualifying (featuring 5 goals by Amy Rodriguez) and a 13-goal game two days later vs. Guatemala (featuring Sydney Leroux‘s first five international goals).
The top USWNT scorers in January are:
| Carli Lloyd | 12 |
| Amy Rodriguez | 9 |
| Kristine Lilly | 9 |
| Shannon MacMillan | 8 |
| Abby Wambach | 7 |
| Tiffeny Milbrett | 7 |
| Lindsay Tarpley | 7 |
• The first time the USWNT played in January was in 1995, facing Australia in a 2-game series in Arizona. The games were originally scheduled for LA but had to be moved at the last minute due to floods and mudslides in southern California. The Americans won both games handily, but for some reason the games were later “lost” in the US Soccer records until they were rediscovered by the Keeper in 2016.
• The following January, the USWNT played four games in Brazil to kick off preparations for the first-ever women’s Olympic soccer tournament later that year. The Brazilian trip featured the team’s second-ever red card issued to a player (Julie Foudy), the international debut of current US Soccer president Cindy Parlow and the first USWNT penalty-kick shootout victory (4-2 in the tourney final versus Brazil).
• In January 2000, the USWNT players went on strike since US Soccer did not offer a new contract following their 1999 Women’s World Cup success. So a group of younger players headed to Australia for a few friendlies, coached by interim head coach Lauren Gregg, who had been assistant coach for several years. Tony DiCicco stepped down at the end of the 1999. Gregg was the first woman to coach the USWNT; a month later, 1991 captain April Heinrichs was named the first non-interim female head coach in team history.
• Several players have earned their first senior international caps in January in addition to Cindy Parlow, including Amy LePeilbet (2004), Lauren Holiday (2008), Ali Krieger (2008), Becky Sauerbrunn (2008), Tobin Heath (2008), Mallory Pugh (2016), Meghan Klingenberg (2011), Sydney Leroux (2011), Savannah McCaskill (2018) and Tierna Davidson (2018).
• And of course lotsa first USWNT goals were scored in January in addition to Sydney Leroux’s first 5 in 2012, including Danielle Slaton (2000), Lindsey Tarpley (2004), Amy Rodriguez (2008), Lori Lindsey (2012), and Mallory Pugh (2016).
• Finally, last January Lindsey Horan netted her first senior international hat trick, in the 8-0 Olympic qualifier versus Panama.