HOUSTON — Jane Campbell isn't trying to be Alyssa Naeher. But she is hoping to succeed her.
Naeher, who will go down as one of the greatest American goalkeepers of all time, announced her retirement from international soccer at the end of 2024. Her departure immediately generated a figurative and literal hole within the United States women's national team — Naeher was a 10-year veteran on the team and, while she wasn't a captain or the most vocal person, she was a leader too.
The vacancy is already one of the biggest storylines and questions surrounding the USWNT, and creates an opportunity for competition among a younger crop of goalkeepers vying to be the new regular starter. With two years before the USWNT's next major tournament — there's nothing pressing until the 2027 World Cup in Brazil and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles — coach Emma Hayes has time to make the right call.
"No one is going to fill [Naeher's] shoes, right?" Campbell told FOX Sports after shutting out Colombia 2-0 in the SheBelieves Cup. "Someone else is going to take the job and I think it's great that Emma is really, really widening the goalkeeper pool and all of us are getting a lot of chances and getting called into camps.
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"I think everyone is champing at the bit. Any chance you get is a blessing. I'm just going to put my best foot forward and be the best version of myself and I hope it's good enough."
So what is the USWNT looking for specifically in its next goalkeeper?
"Confidence. Loud. Fits in our style," captain Lindsey Heaps recently told FOX Sports. "I think Emma and our goalkeeper coaches are doing a great job of making sure that our goalkeepers know what we want from them and how we want to play and making sure that they dive deep into that.
"But ultimately, you want a goalie back there that's confident and loud and you feel comfortable with behind you, and you don't want to second guess."
Hayes is spending most of 2025 broadening the player pool and giving less experienced players more time in the USWNT environment — and that includes goalkeepers. For the better part of the last 10 years, it was a challenge to start anyone in goal other than Naeher, who finished her USWNT career with 110 starts in 113 appearances.
Among those competing is Casey Murphy, who was previously considered to be the heir apparent and served as Naeher's backup at the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and then at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She has the most caps (20) of any other player in the pool, but after participating in the January camp, the North Carolina Courage starter was not called in for the SheBelieves Cup.
Hayes only invited two goalkeepers — Campbell, who plays for the Houston Dash, and the Utah Royals' Mandy McGlynn. Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who is a regular starter for Manchester United and has nine clean sheets so far this season, was called up as a training player, meaning she practiced with the team but did not dress for matches.
Like Murphy, Claudia Dickey (Seattle Reign) and Angelina Anderson (Angel City) were part of the January roster, but not part of the last one. Hayes had her reasons. She wanted a better look at a previously injured Campbell, for example, and explained that the other aforementioned goalkeepers were "still very much a part of the plans," but she is limited to how many can be on each roster.
The February window, as well as those coming up in April, May, and June, are chances for Hayes and her staff to get to know the players better. While Hayes has had quick success in her short tenure with the USWNT, she's only been the head coach for nine months. She's still learning about her goalkeepers' decision-making skills, how they perform under pressure, and if they can make big saves. And the players are still learning exactly what she wants from them.
"I think every camp, all of us feel like we're back in lecture hall and really studying the game all over again," Campbell said. "With new faces and old faces — sometimes it's hard with new faces and I kind of consider myself a new face as well — so it's getting used to everyone and it's fun."
Campbell started the opening match of the SheBelieves Cup and went 1-1 with a win vs. Colombia and a loss in the final vs. Japan. Heaps believes she is "exactly what we need in this team" moving forward.
"I think she is a winner," Heaps said. "I think she has the perfect mentality for this position. She really hasn't been a mainstay starter on this team yet, and that's just how it's been with the program and the goalkeepers coming up. It's a really hard position to get into. Once you get those opportunities, you have to really grab them and take hold."
McGlynn went 1-0, playing the second match vs. Australia. Hayes lauded her qualities in the build up and said, "she's good with her feet, good decision maker and [can execute] under pressure. I've not seen enough of her yet to know the different measures of her presence, we're still learning about her."
"They've both got little experience in terms of games at this level, and you won't know the next steps unless we play them," Hayes added. "It's important to remember that, for a lot of years, other goalkeepers haven't been given the same playing time as Alyssa. Of course she's a world class goalkeeper, but we have to close the gap in that for both of them.
"I've been in this situation a lot of times in my career and I know that we have a plan, and it's important for us to keep developing as we are."
The NWSL season begins March 14, which means by the time Hayes calls up her next squad in April, she'll have had a better look at the group playing consistently (only Tullis-Joyce is currently in-season in Europe).
"For me, selfishly, I just want to learn every camp and see if I can keep adding layer by layer, no matter how often or not often I'm in camp," Campbell said. "All of us are trying to learn and grow our own game and see how our puzzles fit together on this team."
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
