Six Utah Royals FC players recently departed with their respective national teams for friendly matches, with most teams preparing for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The list includes Becky Sauerbrunn and Christen Press (USA), Desiree Scott (Canada), Rachel Corsie (Scotland), Katie Bowen (New Zealand), and Gunny Jónsdóttir (Iceland).
USA
Sauerbrunn and Press will join team USA in a friendly match on Thursday against Australia in Commerce City, Colorado. At the 2015 World Cup, the two teams opened the tournament against each other, and Press produced the game-winner to ultimately top the Matildas 3-1.
The USWNT will kick off against Australia on Thursday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (7pm MT on FS1). The USWNT will then face Belgium on Sunday at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
Canada
Scott and the Canadian National Team will take on England on Friday. This will be the first matchup since the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal where Canada fell to England 2-1. Canada looks for redemption in the friendly match before heading to the biggest stage, as it takes on Cameroon, New Zealand and the Netherlands at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in June.
Scotland
The Scottish have three games prior to heading off to France this summer for the World Cup. Corsie will captain Scotland again as it faces Chile on Friday and Brazil on Monday in the first two matches before the send-off.
New Zealand
Bowen and the Football Ferns will play two matches against Norway on Friday and Tuesday in Spain. The Football Ferns are also building towards the World Cup where it will face Canada, Cameroon, and the Netherlands in Group E.
Iceland
Iceland will face South Korea in two friendly matches on Saturday and Tuesday. Iceland finished its first tournament of 2019 at the Algarve Cup, gaining a scoreless draw against Canada and 4-1 win over Portugal. Jónsdóttir started two of her three match appearances and currently owns 59 caps with the Icelandic team.
