If the USWNT want to prove they're back among the elite, there's no easier test than the team that just reminded everyone what elite actually looks like.
U.S. Soccer confirmed this week that the United States women's national team will host Spain — current world No. 1 and reigning World Cup champions — in a pair of October friendlies on home soil. It's exactly the kind of fixture schedule that tells you where a programme thinks it is, and where it needs to go.
The Right Opponents at the Right Time
Spain aren't just the best team in the world on paper. They won the 2023 World Cup and have held that No. 1 ranking with a style of football that genuinely changed how the women's game is discussed. Technical, relentless, tactically sophisticated. If you're serious about competing at the 2027 World Cup, you don't arrange walkovers in October — you arrange this.
It's worth noting that [Arsenal have already been paying attention to what Spain produce](//getohedz/football/arsenal-sign-ona-batlle-after-barcelona-exit), snapping up Ona Batlle after her Barcelona departure. The talent pipeline coming out of that Spanish system is real, and the USWNT are about to feel the full weight of it across two matches.
Washington D.C. is confirmed as one of the venues, which gives this a proper event feel rather than a tucked-away midweek obligation. These are matches people will actually show up for, and rightly so.
What's Actually at Stake
Let's be honest — international women's friendlies can sometimes feel like scheduling filler. Two against the world's best team, on home turf, with a World Cup cycle building in the background? That's different. That's a genuine measure.
The USWNT have been in a transitional phase since that 2023 World Cup exit, and questions about the programme's direction haven't fully gone away. Meanwhile the men's side have had their own turbulent year — we've looked at [whether Pulisic deserves blame for the USMNT's struggles](//getohedz/football/does-pulisic-deserve-blame-for-usmnt-woes) — and U.S. Soccer will be hoping the women's team gives the federation something to feel genuinely good about come autumn.
Spain, for their part, have [Lamine Yamal leading the next generation](//getohedz/football/spains-yamal-france-should-fear-us-in-semifinal) on the men's side, but it's the women who remain the programme's most decorated current product. Two games against the USWNT — away from home — is a chance to cement that reputation further. They won't be coming over to take it easy.
Our Take
This is the scheduling equivalent of putting your hand up. The USWNT are essentially saying: test us, here, in front of our own supporters, twice. We respect that. Too often these windows get wasted on opponents that tell you nothing useful.
Spain will expose any gaps ruthlessly — that's just what they do. But that's also precisely the point. You don't close a gap by avoiding the team that's ahead of you. October can't come soon enough.