Sports

Emma Hayes eager to see which top prospects can prove they belong on USWNT

Published

3 weeks ago

January 20, 2026

Emma Hayes eager to see which top prospects can prove they belong on USWNT

When Emma Hayes took the reins of the women’s national soccer team in 2024, one of her first goals was to plumb the depths of the team’s talent pool. She knew what she had on the surface with veterans such as Rose Lavelle, Naomi Girma, Lindsey Heaps and Trinity Rodman. But what about the players under them? Who could step in in case of injury, absence or a lack of form?

Twenty months later, Hayes still hasn’t reached the bottom of that pool, making this month’s training camp in Carson an important one with World Cup qualifying looming in the fall.

“Some of the pool players are going to get an opportunity to shine,” she said. “Some are high-potential prospects. I think about Hal Hershfelt or Croix Bethune, players who have not had a lot of opportunity with us. I get a chance to really see where they’re at.

“My message is these players really have to take these opportunities because they will become few and far between.”

Hayes has given 27 players their senior national team debuts and has used 50 different starters in her 30 matches as coach. No other U.S. manager has named more than 36 starters over a similar span. And the number of debutantes could grow since three of the 26 women called up are still looking for their first international cap — something they could earn this month since the training camp will end with friendlies against Paraguay on Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park and Chile at UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 27.

Saturday’s matinee will include a pregame tribute to Christen Press, a two-time world champion who announced her retirement last fall.

But as valuable as the continuing auditions may be, the decision to call up a roster of young, NWSL players was made out of necessity, not design. Because the camp falls outside a FIFA window, Hayes was unable to summon European-based players such as Girma, Heaps, Alyssa Thompson, Crystal Dunn and Catarina Macario. Also unavailable were Jaedyn Shaw, Jaelin Howell, Tierna Davidson, Emily Sonnett and Lavelle, U.S. Soccer’s women’s player of the year, who will all be playing for Gotham FC in next week’s FIFA Women’s Championship Club in England.

U.S. coach Emma Hayes, center, speaks with players after an international friendly match against Italy in December.

(Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press)

“If the European-based players and the Gotham-based players were here, this would be a completely different roster,” Hayes said. “But that’s not the case.”

It’s also nothing new. The coach hasn’t had what she considers her first-choice roster since taking over the national team.

Injury kept Macario off the team that struck gold in the Paris Olympics, Hayes’ first tournament as coach, while forwards Sophia Wilson and Mallory Swanson have been on maternity leave since the Olympics. Injuries have limited Rodman, another forward, to one game over the past 18 months.

Despite that, the U.S. has lost just three of 20 games since climbing off the medal stand in Paris. So while she would prefer to start the new year with the veteran core of her 2027 World Cup roster in uniform, that didn’t happen. Instead, the 26 invited players — among them Rodman, Angel City defender Gisele Thompson and Santa Clarita’s Olivia Moultrie — average 24.1 years of age and 6.6 caps of senior-team experience.

“What I’ve learned since the Olympics is I can never, ever pick the best roster because I’m always going to be without players,” she said.

With the World Cup a year away, the tryout period will soon be ending. Hayes said she and her staff have mapped out how they’d like to see 2026 unfold, and that plan includes narrowing the potential player pool to about 35 women ahead of the SheBelieves Cup in March.

“Once we get to SheBelieves, if everyone is available to me, it will be the group that are strong candidates to be [part of World Cup qualifying],” she said. “It will be an extremely competitive roster.”

Yet it will be one that still won’t include Wilson or Swanson, who combined for seven of the team’s 12 goals in the Olympics. Wilson gave birth to a daughter in September, two months before Swanson did the same. Hayes, who had a son in the spring of 2018, doesn’t plan to rush back either player.

“I know how long it takes to recover after having a baby. That’s why I don’t like putting time frames on it,” she said. “Hormones play a big part of it. And you don’t actually realize that until you’ve had a baby.

“For some the recovery is quicker than others. Depends on your age, depends on type of birth, sleep. Loads of things.”

In the meantime, Hayes will keep dipping into the talent pool she has.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Sports

YouTube TV introduces lower-priced sports and news packages

Published

22 minutes ago

February 9, 2026

Press Room

YouTube TV introduces lower-priced sports and news packages

YouTube TV will start offering customers lower-priced channel packages, including one aimed at sports fans.

The Google-owned pay-TV service announced Monday it will roll out more than 10 plans that will be priced below a full YouTube TV subscription that offers more than 100 channels.

The introduction, which will begin over the next few weeks, is in response to growing consumer resentment over the rising cost for the service, currently available for $82.99 a month. YouTube TV was introduced in 2017 as an alternative to increasingly expensive cable and satellite services with an initial price of $35 a month.

Consumer interest is likely to be highest for the Sports Plan, available this fall. For $64.99 a month, consumers will get the four broadcast networks, which all carry the NFL, plus Fox Sports 1, the NBC Sports Network and all of the ESPN channels. New subscribers will be offered a one-year introductory rate of $54.99 a month.

YouTube will also offer a Sports + News plan, which combine the two most-watched genres in the pay TV bundle. For $71.99 a month, consumers get the sports package and news networks CNN, Fox News, MS NOW, Bloomberg, C-SPAN and Fox Business. The introductory rate is $56.99.

The new plans will aim to compete with the direct to consumer offering of ESPN, which is available in tandem with Fox One, a service combining Fox Corp’s news and sports channels. The two are being offered together for $39.99 a month.

Over the last two years, El Segundo-based DirecTV rolled out smaller packages of channels aimed at consumers who no longer want a big monthly bill for networks they don’t watch. The satellite TV service now offers smaller genre packages of channels and streaming apps that cater to a particular interest available at a lower price — designed for news junkies, sports fans, children and Spanish-language speakers.

Pay-TV providers are under pressure to provide more pricing options to consumers to keep them from cutting the cord.

At the same time, carriage negotiations with programmers are more fraught, often leading to standoffs where channels are pulled, disrupting service to customers.

Disney’s channels, including ESPN, were off of YouTube TV for nearly 15 days last fall. Separately, YouTube TV customers lost access to Univision’s Spanish-language channels for two months, which drew the attention of legislators on both sides of the political spectrum.

YouTube, which has about 10 million subscribers, is also offering an Entertainment Plan that includes the major broadcast networks and an array of cable channels including FX, Hallmark, Comedy Central, Bravo, Paramount, Food Network and HGTV at $54.99 a month and an introductory rate of $44.99.

A News + Entertainment + Family Plan — which combines, news, entertainment and children’s channels including Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, will be available for $69.99 a month and an introductory rate of $59.99.

Sports

Austrian snowboarder strips down in cold temperatures during wild celebration after winning Olympic gold

Published

12 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Press Room

Austrian snowboarder strips down in cold temperatures during wild celebration after winning Olympic gold

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Adrenaline was running high for Austrian snowboarder Benjamin Karl after winning a second straight Olympic gold medal in the men’s parallel giant slalom on Sunday.

And that adrenaline had him not feeling the cold temperatures, as he ripped off his jacket and clothes in celebration.

Karl, 40, was flexing his arms and screaming, ripping off his jacket and four layers of clothes during his celebration. He was even seen face down on the snow, which was surely cold, but he didn’t care.

Gold medalist Benjamin Karl of Team Austria reacts after winning the Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Big Final on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park on Feb. 8, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Karl was an Olympic gold medalist once again, and that’s all that mattered at the moment.

Before his medal-winning run, Karl was trailing South Korea’s Kim Sang-kyum for most of the final race, when he took full advantage of Kim’s mistake.

US TAKES GOLD IN FIGURE SKATING TEAM EVENT AT WINTER OLYMPICS

Karl crossed the finish line 0.19 seconds ahead of his South Korean opponent to win gold at Livigno Snow Park. Rounding out the podium was Bulgaria’s Tervel Zamfirov with bronze.

Gold medalist Benjamin Karl of Team Austria celebrates after crossing the finish line in first place to win the Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Big Final on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park on Feb. 8, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

The crowd at Livigno Snow Park loved every moment of Karl’s celebration, which certainly ranks atop the initial reactions to winning gold at Milano Cortina thus far.

After the celebration, Karl eventually redressed and joined Kim and Zamfirov on the podium.

As the Austrian national anthem played, Karl’s smile never faded.

Gold medalist Benjamin Karl of Team Austria celebrates after winning the Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom Big Final on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at Livigno Snow Park on Feb. 8, 2026 in Livigno, Italy. (David Ramos/Getty Images)

He also made Olympics history, becoming the first snowboarder to win four medals. He also won a bronze medal in the 2014 Sochi Olympics, while capturing silver in 2010 in Vancouver at Whistler.

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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

Sports

When and where will Super Bowl LXI be played in 2027?

Published

12 hours ago

February 9, 2026

Press Room

When and where will Super Bowl LXI be played in 2027?

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It will be hard to top the halftime show from the last Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium. That hip-hop extravaganza was headlined by Dr. Dre and featured performances Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and 50 Cent.

Maybe this time Guns N’ Roses can headline a tribute to the Sunset Strip hard rock scene?

Or if the NFL wants someone more current, how about Highland Park’s Billie Eilish or San Bernardino’s Fuerza Regida, both of whom were among Spotify’s most-streamed artists globally in 2025 (a list topped by this year’s halftime performer Bad Bunny)?