The SheBelieves Cup will take place in Tampa, Nashville and Boca Raton in March. (Photo Copyright Patricia Giobetti for The Equalizer)
U.S. Soccer confirmed on Tuesday that it will host England, France and Germany in March in a four-team tournament in the southeast United States, as first reported by The Equalizer.
Tampa, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and Boca Raton, Fla., will serve as hosts of the four-team tournament dubbed as the 2016 SheBelieves Cup. The complete tournament schedule is as follows:
Date Matches Stadium City Kickoff TV
Mar. 3 Germany vs. France Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Fla. 5 p.m. ET n/a
Mar. 3 USA vs. England Raymond James Stadium Tampa, Fla. 7:30 p.m. ET FS1
Mar. 6 USA vs. France Nissan Stadium Nashville, Tenn. 2 p.m. CT ESPN3
Mar. 6 Germany vs. England Nissan Stadium Nashville, Tenn. 4:30 p.m. CT n/a
Mar. 9 France vs. England FAU Stadium Boca Raton, Fla. 5 p.m. ET n/a
Mar. 9 USA vs. Germany FAU Stadium Boca Raton, Fla. 7:30 p.m. ET ESPN3
The tournament will be a round-robin format. 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.
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“When I took this job, one of my main objectives was to play the best teams in the world during our preparation periods and you can’t ask for better matches,” said U.S. coach Jill Ellis. “This is another sign of U.S. Soccer’s dedication to the women’s game to organize a tournament like this, which will bring some of the world’s best teams and players to the USA. To get the chance to play these great teams on home soil is a treat for our fans and extremely valuable in the further evolution of our team. These are the kinds of games where you get tested all over the field and can really evaluate players and learn a lot about ourselves.”
By hosting this tournament, the U.S. women will not attend the Algarve Cup for the first time since 1997.
The name of the SheBelieves Cup is based around the #SheBelieves campaign developed by U.S. players in 2015. A U.S. Soccer official confirms to The Equalizer that the plan is to host the tournament annually.
Currently, the U.S. women are ranked atop the FIFA World Rankings after winning the 2015 World Cup. Germany is second, France is third and England is fifth.
USA-Germany is a rematch of the World Cup semifinal; Germany-France is a rematch of the World Cup quarterfinal; Germany-England is a rematch of the World Cup third-place match.
Tickets for all three doubleheaders go on sale to the public Friday, Jan. 15, at 10 a.m. local time through ussoccer.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000 and at all Ticketmaster ticket centers in the local venue areas. [Note: Tickets are not sold at either Raymond James Stadium or FAU Stadium except on the day of the event.]
