After a summer for the ages, the U.S. Women’s National Team returns to action for the first time since winning Olympic gold, kicking off the action on Thursday, Oct. 24 in Austin, Texas in the first of two friendly matches against Iceland.

The USA and Iceland will square off at Q2 Stadium in Austin on Oct. 24 (7:30 p.m. ET/ 6:30 p.m. CT on TBS, Universo, Max and Peacock) before traveling to Nashville for an Oct. 27 meeting at GEODIS Park, in a match presented by AT&T (5:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. CT on TNT, truTV, Universo, Max and Peacock).

Following the two matches against Iceland, the USWNT will close out the international window on Oct. 30, taking on Argentina in Louisville in a match presented by Jim Beam.

Get ready for the gold medalists’ return to action with Five Things to Know about USA vs. Iceland.

USWNT BACK IN ACTION AT HOME

More than two months after defeating Brazil 1-0 in the gold medal match at the famed Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris, head coach Emma Hayes and the USWNT are back in camp and preparing to return to the pitch.

Hayes has called up 26 players for these October matches, including 18 of the 22 players from the Olympic squad. Of the eight players not with the team in France, six are uncapped including three players – Bay FC defender Alyssa Malonson, NJ/NY Gotham FC forward Yazmeen Ryan and Racing Louisville FC forward Emma Sears who earned their first call-up to the Senior National Team.

SERIES HISTORY: USA vs. ICELAND

Thursday’s matchup in Austin will be the 16th meeting all-time between the USA and Iceland and the first since squaring off in the final match of the 2022 SheBelieves Cup in Frisco, Texas. The USA prevailed 5-0 in that match behind two goals each from Catarina Macario and Mallory Swanson, along with a late goal from Kristie Mewis. Midfielder Ashley Sanchez, who returns to this U.S. roster for the first time in nearly a year, recorded the first two assists of her international in the victory over Iceland, helping the U.S. secure its third consecutive SheBelieves Cup title.

The U.S. leads the overall series with Iceland 13W-0L-2D, playing to scoreless draws in April 2000 and at the 2015 Algarve Cup. Before squaring off at the SheBelieves Cup, the previous five meetings between the U.S. and Iceland all took place at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, with the USA going 4-0-1 over that span and outscoring Iceland by an overall margin of 10-2

The U.S. has kept a clean sheet in 12 of its 15 all-time meetings with Iceland, including each of the last three head-to-head meetings between the teams.

QUALIFIED FOR EURO 2025

Ranked 13th overall in the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings, Iceland comes into these matches against the USA on the heels of qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025. Iceland qualified for the Women’s Euro, its fifth consecutive, by virtue of its second-place finish in Group 4 of qualifying League A.

Drawn into a group alongside Germany, Iceland and Poland, Iceland went 4W-1L-1D during its six qualifying matches, the lone defeat coming on the road against Germany in April. Iceland drew Austria 1-1 in late May and pulled off an impressive 3-0 victory over Germany on July 12 to secure its ticket to the Euros before closing out qualifying with a 1-0 win over Poland.

Iceland’s best showing at the Euro came in 2013 in Sweden when it advanced out of the group and reached the quarterfinal. In its most recent showing at Euro 2022 in England, Iceland failed to make it out of the group after drawing all three of its group stage games.

INSIDE THE ROSTER

Iceland head coach Thorsteinn Halldórsson has selected 23 players for the matches against the USA, putting together a roster comprised of many players from Icelands Euro qualifying campaign. Defender Glódís Viggósdóttir is by far the most experienced player on this roster with 128 international appearances and is one of the most capped player in the history of the Iceland Women’s National Team. One of 30 players named nominated for the 2024 Ballon d’Or Féminin alongside the USA’s Lindsey Horan, Alyssa Naeher, Trinity Rodman, Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson, Viggósdóttir plays her club soccer for Bayern Munich in Germany, helping the club win the Frauen-Bundesliga each of the last two seasons.

Forward Sveindís Jónsdóttir is the leading scorer on this roster with 12 goals in 40 international appearances. The 23-year-old led Iceland with three goals during the recent Euro qualifying campaign, including goals in the July victories over Germany and Poland. The 2021 Icelandic Women’s Footballer of the Year, Jónsdóttir plays for VfL Wolfsburg in Germany and helped the club win the league in 2022 and reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League Final in 2023. Her father is Icelandic father and her mother is Ghanaian.

ICELAND WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM – ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Cecilía Rúnarsdóttir (Inter Milan, ITA), 12-Fanney Birkisdóttir (Valur), 13-Telma Ívarsdóttir (Breiðablik)

DEFENDERS (8): 3-Sandra Jessen (Thor/KA), 4-Glódís Viggósdóttir (Bayern Munich, GER), 6-Ingibjörg Sigurðardóttir (Brøndby IF, DEN), 11-Natasha Anasi (Valur), 18-Guðrún Arnarsdóttir (FC Rosengard, SWE), 19-Sædís Heiðarsdóttir (Valerenga, NOR), 20-Guðný Árnadóttir (Kristianstads DFF, SWE), 21-Hafrún Halldórsdóttir (Brøndby IF, DEN)

MIDFIELDERS (8): 2-Berglind Ágústsdóttir (Valur), 7-Selma Magnúsdóttir (Rosenborg BK, NOR), 8-Ásdís Halldórsdóttir (LSK Kvinner FK, NOR), 10-Karólína Vilhjálmsdóttir (Bayer Leverkusen, GER), 15-Katla Tryggvadóttir (Kristianstads DFF, SWE), 16-Hildur Antonsdóttir (Madrid CFF, ESP), 17-Heiða Viðarsdóttir (Breiðablik), 22-Amanda Andradóttir (FC Twente, NED)

FORWARDS (4): 5-Emilía Ásgeirsdóttir (FC Nordsjælland, DEN), 9-Diljá Zomers (OH Leuven, BEL), 14-Hlín Eiríksdóttir (Kristianstads DFF, SWE), 23-Sveindís Jónsdóttir (VfL Wolfsburg, GER)

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Contrary to most other places in the world, Iceland is not very focused on “surnames” and everybody is on a first name basis. This is because there are hardly any “family names” in Iceland. Then how do you recognize each other and who belongs to whom, you ask? Well, it’s simple really. The Icelandic people are descendants from the Vikings and they kept track of people by recognizing who their father was, as in “Helgi son of Ólafur the Brave, son of Leifur the Large” (not an actual example). Thus, was born the tradition of naming children after their father’s first name. So, the way it works in Iceland is that boys are generally given first names and then their father’s first name + “son” as a “surname.” Girls on the other hand are generally given first names and then their father’s first name + “dóttir” (as in “daughter”) as a “surname.”

A hypothetical example:
Father = Ragnar Helgason
Mother = Inga Bjarnadóttir
Their son = Leifur Ragnarsson
Their daughter = Anna Ragnarsdóttir

Or, if Sophia Smith, whose father’s name is Kenny, was Icelandic, her name would be Sophia Kensdottir.

Most Icelanders can trace back their family-line to around the 13th century — Iceland was first settled in the 9th century.