A goal in each half guided the Americans to the 2-0 win



The U.S. women's national team opened their 2026 SheBelieves Cup campaign on Sunday night with a 2-0 victory over Argentina with an unexpected experimental lineup, and everyone ended the game wondering about the status of forward Trinity Rodman after she appeared to take a hard challenge and grabbed her back.

Lindsey Heaps and Jaedyn Shaw provided the goal scoring at GEODIS Park in Nashville with a performance that was both composed and a bit disjointed. The win sets up the team for a key clash against Concacaf rivals Canada on Wednesday, after the Canadians defeated Colombia 4-1, with the winner taking control of first place in the competition.

Argentina opened the game unafraid to match the USWNT and their three back, effectively counterpressing and disrupting passing lanes, but it all ended in the 19th minute. Team captain Heaps delivered the breakthrough after a ball-winning effort by Jameese Joseph and an assist by Emma Sears.

"We talked about our primary system's decision-making in the final period. The cutback cross, I don't know if it was actually meant for me, but it falls to me. But I think we're looking for a better option, not just taking a shot with a bad angle," Heaps said about her goal after the game.

"I think that's that's the most important thing. And then when you get opportunities like that, how can you capitalize on them?"

Despite the narrow lead, Argentina stole some momentum back in the lead-up to halftime, making things difficult for the USWNT to build on their opening goal. But the Stars and Stripes were able to regain some control early in the second half.

Heaps added an assist to her game when she connected with Shaw for the team's second goal. Shaw extended the lead, showcasing her attacking threats with a right footed curler from the left corner of the box. The Gotham FC player is coming off an impressive end to her 2025 season, highlighted by a surging playoff run and the 2025 NWSL Championship. The two-goal lead was enough for the USWNT to get their first win of the tournament.

"These type of games are really hard. You know, you have an aggressive team like Argentina, that makes it very, very difficult. You know, you're back to back to goal, or they're coming in hard, man for man, the amount of pressure they put on us, like they made it very, very difficult, where we had trouble finding solutions. And I think in a game like that, it's speeding up the tempo," said Heaps.

"When a foul happens, the ball goes out of place, you get the ball, get it back into play quickly, and try to catch them off. Because when we're trying to build, and we're trying to create, it's a little bit more difficult, and it's hard to find a solution."

The victory over Argentina now sets up a marquee match between two Concacaf rivals. The USWNT will face Canada on Wednesday night in Columbus. The two teams are level on three points, but after Canada's lopsided 4-1 win over Colombia, they are in first place on the SheBelieves Cup table, while the U.S. sit in second on goal differential.

"I think when you look towards Canada, you want to kind of scrap this kind of game. Because we know in a tournament, it's about winning. We just got the two to zero win. Maybe it's not the prettiest, but now we get to go face Canada, and it's a different kind of game that we have to solve," said Heaps.

The game also ended with a level of concern for Rodman, who took a hard challenge and immediately reached for her back in pain. There is no immediate update, as head coach Emma Hayes mentioned in her post-game press conference that the players were being debriefed and she had not yet met with them.

"Haven't seen her. She's in the locker room. I don't generally see the team till they've had their own debrief about an hour and a half after the game. So I can't give you one [update], don't know," Hayes said.

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