The ninth annual SheBelieves Cup, presented by Visa, will commence on April 6 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, future site of the recently announced U.S. Soccer National Training Center, U.S. Soccer announced on Thursday. The U.S. Women’s National Team will play that day at 12:30 p.m. ET at the home of Atlanta United. The second game of the doubleheader will be at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Due to the change in FIFA competition windows and the staging of the Concacaf W Gold Cup in February and March, the format of the SheBelieves Cup will change this year. While there will still be four participants, there will be four matches instead of the usual six and the teams will play semifinals (April 6), a third-place match and the championship game (April 9). The three other nations, which will all be countries that competed in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, will be announced in the new year along with the April 9 venue for the two placement matches. The format will return to three doubleheaders in 2025.
U.S. Soccer will install a grass surface for the matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which is also one of the venues for the 2024 CONMEBOL Copa América and the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This will be the USWNT’s first match at a U.S. venue for the 2026 FIFA World Cup since the host stadiums were finalized in June of 2022. The USA did play several matches at 2026 FIFA World Cup venue BBVA Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico during the 2022 Concacaf W Championship.
“These are the first U.S. Soccer-controlled matches of the Olympic year for our Women’s National Team and we’re looking forward to a big turnout at one of the best stadiums in the world,” said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. “We’re also excited to play our first match in the Atlanta area since we announced the site of our new National Training Center. From my time playing there for the Atlanta Beat, I know what the support for soccer and for our National Teams in the southeast is like and these opening games of the SheBelieves Cup in Atlanta will be a perfect way to launch our spring run to the Olympics next summer.”
The SheBelieves Cup is part of U.S. Soccer’s SheBelieves initiative to inspire and empower women and girls to achieve their goals in sport and beyond.
The matches of the 2024 SheBelieves Cup will be the first matches for the USWNT following the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup and the first of six domestic matches the U.S. Women will play before the 2024 Olympics in France.
The SheBelieves Cup was first played in 2016. The USA won the inaugural edition and France took top honors in 2017. The USA won again in 2018, and England finished first in 2019, but the USA returned to the top of the podium in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
