This article is part of our World Cup series.
With the Women's 2023 World Cup around the corner, we tasked a couple of our writers to create their best starting XI of non-soccer athletes for a Team USA squad. Following research and discussion, RotoWire's Liad Lerner and Paulina Vairo filled out a lineup that includes players from WNBA, Tennis, Track and Field, Tennis, Swimming, Hockey and even an American Ninja Warrior. Formation wise, we landed on a 4-2-3-1 that we think will best highlight each player's talents. Of course, this is all for fun. Got better suggestions? Let's hear them in the comments below.
GK: A'ja Wilson: Basketball, Las Vegas Aces
First up between the sticks on our non-soccer lineup is the reigning WNBA MVP and champion A'ja Wilson. The 6-foot-4 forward led the league in blocks per game last season (1.9) and has averaged more than nine boards every year since 2021, so we think her quick reflexes and twichiness would serve her well in trying to keep a soccer ball out of the net. With her size and defensive intelligence, she could have Thibaut Courtois-level potential in goal. -Lerner
RB: Sabrina Ionescu: Basketball, New York Liberty
Who else to mend the right back position than the NCAA All-Time leader in triple-doubles in Sabrina Ionescu? She averaged about 17.4 points and 6.4 assists per game with the Liberty in 2022, which would be a good fit for the wingback position who can have the ability to run up and down the field while providing crosses into the attack. Not to mention that she was part of Team Wilson for the WNBA All-Star game while landing on the All-WNBA second team last season. -Vairo
DC: Breanna Stewart: Basketball, New York Liberty
The third basketball player in our defensive line is arguably the most imposing physical presence on the team, as Breanna Stewart would tower over even France's Wendie Renard. The two-time WNBA champion and 2018 MVP is off to a flying start on her new team in New York with almost 24 points and 11 rebounds per game while shooting above 50 percent from the field, but it's Stewart's passing ability that would particularly suit her as a center-back. She ranks third among basketball forwards in assists per game (4.0) in 2023 and would be excellent at playing out from the back on this U.S.A. team. -Lerner
CB: Serena Williams: Tennis
Undoubtedly one of the best female athletes of all time, Serena Williams would be the perfect fit for a veteran center-back. She currently holds the record for the most Grand Slam wins with 23 while also being the only female player to win a Grand Slam in singles and doubles. Williams is also a four-time Olympic gold winner, holds the most wins at the U.S Open, has won the most Grand Slam singles matches for any female, and holds 25 Guinness World Record titles. She certainly has the ability to be a Sergio Ramos-type leader. Not to mention her powerful style of play and aggression is just what is needed coming from a center back. -Vairo
LB: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone: Track and Field, U.S. Olympic team
One of the biggest breakout stars of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone would be an unstoppable force on the soccer pitch. The 23-year-old holds each of the top-three fastest finishes in 400m hurdles history (50.68 seconds being her world record time), and now has her sights set on winning gold in the non-hurdles 400m race in Paris next summer. Her combination of pace and power is virtually unmatched across the globe, and she'd be impossible to slow down once she gets a full head of steam on a lung-busting run from the left flank, like a bigger, faster and stronger Lucy Bronze. -Lerner
DMC: Katie Ledecky: Swimming, U.S. Olympic team
The greatest long-distance swimmer in history, Katie Ledecky would provide a constant source of energy and industry in defensive midfield, a la Julie Ertz or N'Golo Kante. She has four world records and seven Olympic gold medals to her name at age 26, with the 800m and 1500m freestyle being her favorite events. She's often laps ahead of her competition at the end of a 15-minute swimming race, imagine how much energy she would have in reserve while chasing down tackles and interceptions in the middle of the park. -Lerner
DMC: Simone Biles: Gymnastics, U.S. Olympic team
Biles is noted as the best gymnast in history for her many accomplishments at just 4'8. She can leap and flip to distances that are physically impossible for her height which has given her the title of the "Greatest of All-Time" among female athletes. She has won seven Olympic gold medals, including four gold during the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. Biles also holds the record for the most World Champions medals at 25, 19 of them coming as gold which is also the most ever. Her stamina and strength can often be compared to Rose Lavelle or Luka Modric, who can control the midfield with their speed and quick skills at a shorter height. -Vairo
AMR: Hilary Knight: Hockey, PWHPA
Hockey is just about the closest sport to soccer there is, and who would be better suited to shooting balls into a goal than someone who already shoots pucks into a net? How about one of the greatest players to ever shoot a puck into the net in Hilary Knight, a four-time Olympic medalist since her debut for the U.S.A. in 2007? The now-33-year-old forward has racked up 61 goals and 66 assists across her professional career in the CWHL and the NWHL, and she's tacked on another 132 points for the national team while winning three Olympic silver medals and one gold at PyeongChang in 2018. She'd be a clinical and deadly addition to this soccer lineup, slashing inside from the right wing and shooting in volume. -Lerner
AMC: Coco Gauff: Tennis
Coco Gauff has been "The next big thing" in tennis ever since she upset Venus Williams as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon 2019, and she's slowly turning that potential into surefire talent as she's made the fourth round in four of her last five grand slam tournaments. The teenager remains the youngest player in this team, but her ability to spray passes out onto the wings like she's hitting a forehand winner would provide a massive attacking boost in the creativity department, to say nothing about her stamina and work rate on the defensive side of midfield as well. -Lerner
AML: Chloe Kim: Snowboarding, U.S. Olympic team
Chloe Kim is the new superstar in snowboarding since Shawn White for the U.S. after winning the gold medal in halfpipe during the 2022 Olympic games in Beijing. She held the record for the youngest female to win gold at the Winter X Games, but that was broken earlier this year by Gaon Choi. Nevertheless, she has won seven Winter X Games medals, five of them coming as gold along with two World Champions gold medals and two Olympic gold medals. With her dynamic athleticism and young age, she can be compared to Sophia Smith, who is the up-and-coming star for the USWNT. -Vairo
ST: Jessie Graff: American Ninja Warrior
We know what you're thinking: American Ninja Warrior is more of an athletic game show than it is a professional sport, but that doesn't mean Jessie Graff isn't a phenomenal athlete in her own right. A Hollywood stunt woman by day, Graff was the first woman to ever complete Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the National Finals in ANW, and she has multiple top-five course finishes overall among men and women. The 39-year-old also has a background in gymnastics and collegiate pole vaulting, as well as martial arts as she is a black belt in Taekwondo, perhaps resembling a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic as she acrobatically hunts down balls in the penalty box. -Lerner
