February 22 – The US women’s team, undergoing a regeneration of their squad as they work out who make selection for the Olympics this summer, still have the oldest team competing at the W Gold Cup.
With an average squad age of 27 years and 250 days, the US are almost 5 years older than the tournament’s youngest team, the Dominican Republic (22 years 174 days).
The US opened their W Gold Cup campaign with a 5-0 win over the Dominican Republic. A win that saw late call-ups for Becky Sauerbrunn (38 years old, 218 caps) who captained the side, and Alex Morgan (34 years old, 217 caps and 123 goals), who came on off the bench to score a penalty in added time. Both Sauerbrunn and Morgan replaced injured players.
The US are rebuilding as they transition out an older generation who arguably have held back the next generation in terms of international opportunity. As they have faded from their all-conquering 2019 World Cup winning pomp, so have the US results against an incoming tide of more competitive European nations.
Morgan has the added distinction of being both the oldest the player to score a goal in 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup (34 years 7 months 19 days), and the oldest substitute used in the competition.
The US also had some very bright, young spots though. Olivia Moultrie (18 years, 4 months, 4 days) is so far the youngest player to score in the W Gold Cup – she in fact got two on the way to the player of the match award.
Lynn Williams (30) and Midge Purce (28) were also standouts though have previously never managed to secure lomng running starting slots in the US set-up.
In contrast, Renata Mercedes (16 years 4 months), who played 90 minutes against the US, is the youngest player in the entire W Gold Cup.
The squad with the second highest average age is Colombia (27 years, 68 days). They had a fast start to the competition demolishing Panama 6-0.
Argentina, who opened with a 0-0 draw against Mexico, had a starting line-up average age of 28 years and 110 days. The average age of the Mexico starting line-up was was 27 years 239 days, though their average squad age is 26 years, 230 days, the fourth oldest in the championship.
2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup National Teams Squad Average Age:
1) Dominican Republic (22 years 174 days)
2) Puerto Rico (23 Y 97 D)
3) Salvador (24 Y 13 D)
4) Panama (24 Y 297 D)
5) Costa Rica (25 Y 178 D)
6) Brazil (26 Y 144 D)
7) Canada (26 Y 166 D)
8) Argentina (26 Y 225 D)
9) Mexico (26 Y 230 D)
10) Paraguay (27 Y 28 D)
11) Colombia (27 Y 68 D)
12) USA (27 Y 250 D)
Source: Insideworldfootball and Mundial11.com
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