Harrison, NJ and Chester, PA to Host 2017 #SheBelieves Cup

#SheBelieves event in Somerset, NJ 2015 Tobin Heath & Heather O’Reilly (Photo by Double G Media)

U.S. Soccer announced today that it will be hosting the 2017 #SheBelieves Cup for the second year in a row in March. This tournament is bringing four of the FIFA world’s top five ranked women’s national soccer teams, Germany, France and England; and two of the three doubleheaders will be hosted in our area.

httpss://twitter.com/ussoccer_wnt/status/819215258455674880

“It’s fantastic to play these three teams in the first three games of the year,” U.S. head coach Jill Ellis said. “As I’ve said many times, one of our main goals is to play the best teams in the world as often as possible and we have tremendous respect for France, Germany and England, which all feature world class players at multiple positions. To hold this tournament at home is great for our fans and TV partners, but especially for our players and our coaching staff as these are the kinds of games where we get tested and can really learn a lot about ourselves.”

The first meet will be on March 1st at the Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, PA, where England will face France at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the USA against Germany at 7 p.m. ET. The teams then travel to the Red Bull Arena in Harrison NJ on March 4th, where France will face Germany at 2:15 p.m. ET, and USA will face England at 5 p.m. ET. The tournament’s last day will be on March 7th at the RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C, where Germany takes on England at 4pm ET, and the USA will face France at 7pm ET. All of the U.S. Women’s National Team games will be streamed on national television.

The #SheBelieves was a campaign movement launched by the U.S. WNT before they were heading to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. As stated on the U.S Soccer Press Release: “…#SheBelieves is a movement to inspire young girls and encourage them to accomplish their goals and dreams, athletic or otherwise.” This movement continues to grow, now for a second year, and it continues to spread its message across communities all over the nation.

2017 SheBelieves Cup Schedule

The tournament format will be the same as last year as the four teams will each participate in three doubleheader events at three different venues over a seven-day period. The match days will see England open against France on Wednesday, March 1 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. (4 p.m. ET), followed by the USA against Germany (7 p.m. ET on FS1). All the teams will then travel to New Jersey where France will face Germany on Saturday, March 4 (2:15 p.m. ET) followed by the USA taking on England (5 p.m. ET on FOX) at Red Bull Arena in Harrison. The tournament will finish on Tuesday, March 7, at the historic RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. as Germany takes on England (4 p.m. ET) and the USA faces France (7 p.m. ET on FS1).

The winner of the tournament will be based on total points (three for a win, one for a tie), with the first tie-breaker being overall goal difference, followed by most total tournament goals scored, then head-to-head result and lastly, FIFA Ranking if necessary.

Additional notes:

– The meeting with France marks the first time the teams have met since a 1-0 U.S. victory during group play at the 2016 Olympics. The meeting with England is the first since the match at last year’s SheBelieves Cup, and the match-up with Germany will pit the reigning Women’s World Cup champions against the reigning Olympic champions.

– The USA is 20-4-7 all-time against Germany and 2-0-0 against West Germany in matches played in 1988 and 1990. The most recent meeting between the teams came in last year’s SheBelieves Cup on March 9 in Boca Raton, Fla., which saw a come-from-behind victory for the USA. Anja Mittag opened the scoring in the 29thminute, but Alex Morgan pulled the USA even in the 35th minute with the U.S. Soccer Goal of the Year. Samantha Mewis scored the game-winner in the 41st minute for the 2-1 victory.

– The USA is 17-1-2 all-time against France, with the lone loss coming on Feb. 8, 2015, a 2-0 setback in Lorient, France that kicked off the 2015 schedule. The USA avenged the loss with a 2-0 victory in the championship game of the 2015 Algarve Cup in Portugal as Julie Johnston and Christen Press scored. The losing team in each of those games had a penalty kick saved as Sarah Bouhaddi denied Abby Wambach in Lorient and Hope Solo denied Amandine Henry in Faro.

– The USA played France twice in 2016, winning 1-0 each time, at the SheBelieves Cup on March 6 in Nashville, Tenn., on a goal in second half stoppage time from Alex Morgan and then won 1-0 in group play of the 2016 Olympics in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on a goal from Carli Lloyd.

– The USA is 8-3-1 all-time against England. Like its last two games against France, the USA has also beaten England by 1-0 scores in the two most recent meetings, on Feb. 13, 2015, in Milton Keynes, England with the lone goal coming from an Alex Morgan header and at the SheBelieves Cup last year in Tampa, Fla, on a brilliant goal from Crystal Dunn.

– The USA is 4-0-1 all-time at Talen Energy Stadium (formerly PPL Park). The USA played China PR in Chester, Pa., in October of 2010 (1-1 T) and in May of 2012 (4-1 W). The USA also played two World Cup qualifying matches at the venue in October of 2014, defeating Mexico (3-0) and Costa Rica (6-0). Most recently, the USA defeated Colombia 3-0 on April 10, 2016.

– The USA is 2-0-1 all-time at Red Bull Arena with the two most recent games against Korea Republic. The USA tied Korea there 0-0 in May of 2015 in the send-off match to the Women’s World Cup and famously defeated them 5-0 on June 20, 2013, as Abby Wambach scored four goals in the first half and broke Mia Hamm’s all-time international scoring record. The USA’s first game at Red Bull Arena was a 1-0 win against Mexico in June of 2011.

– The USA is 9-0-0 at RFK Stadium dating back to the first game there in 1995. The USA has played both a Women’s World Cup match (3-1 vs. Sweden in 2003) and a Women’s World Cup qualifier (6-0 vs. Haiti in 2014) at the historic venue.