Checking up on USWNT players abroad. Plus: A last-minute uniform mix-up

With the National Women’s Soccer League preseason finally under way and the March 13 kickoff looming, U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes is keeping a close eye on her Europe-based contingent, many of whom are rounding into midseason form. Yet the brightest storyline among Americans abroad is tinged with familiar frustration: Catarina Macario, the team’s leading scorer in 2025 with eight goals in 10 appearances, has not played since December 10 and was omitted from Chelsea’s upcoming Champions League squad after a heel flare-up.

Macario, 26, finished 2025 on a tear, scoring three times in friendlies against Italy and hinting at the consistency that has eluded her since an anterior-cruciate-ligament tear in 2022. The Brazilian-born forward has never appeared in a major tournament for the United States, and both player and federation view next summer’s World Cup in Brazil as a long-awaited stage. Hayes, who left Macario off the SheBelieves Cup roster, said last week she was deferring to Chelsea’s medical staff and would have selected Macario “if she were fit.”

Off the pitch, Macario’s future is equally fluid. She reportedly rejected a contract extension at Chelsea, where her deal expires in June, and the San Diego Wave have emerged as a leading suitor should she return to the NWSL and her Southern California roots.

Elsewhere, American viewers will get a fresh window into women’s soccer this summer. ESPN will launch “Women’s Sports Sundays,” a nine-week prime-time block devoted to WNBA and NWSL matches. The series fills the void left by the network’s decision to drop “Sunday Night Baseball,” a tacit acknowledgment, as The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand notes, that women’s sports are “not a charity case” but a reliable ratings driver.

Uniform chaos briefly stole the spotlight in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. Manchester United were forced to abandon their iconic red kit five hours before kickoff against Atlético Madrid after officials ruled the visitors’ orange goalkeeper jersey clashed. United donned their black third strip instead, the second wardrobe malfunction of their European campaign. Conflicting reports over whether a yellow or orange top had been pre-approved triggered the last-minute scramble.