Raising the Game: a USWNT podcast that questions the win-every-time assumption
Raising the Game is a weekly women's sports podcast hosted by Caitlin Tripp and Alex Tripp, and we follow the U.S. Women's National Team through every international window. Beyond match recaps, we spend real time on Emma Hayes's tactical rebuild and on a question most USWNT coverage never asks: whether America's development pipeline is still good enough to guarantee the results fans expect.
New national team coverage every window.
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What our USWNT coverage actually includes
We cover every camp: roster predictions, the SheBelieves Cup, and friendlies against top competition. But we try not to stop at the scoreline. When the USWNT played a two-game series in Brazil, we covered the eight red cards and the chaos, but we also covered Emma Hayes's postgame speech and what it revealed about the team she's building.
We also step back from the schedule entirely when a bigger question is worth asking. Our most ambitious USWNT episode wasn't about a single match at all — it was a six-country comparison of how soccer talent actually gets developed, and whether the U.S. system is still the advantage it used to be.
Emma Hayes's new era: building out of the back
We covered Emma Hayes's three-game series against Japan as a turning point. The U.S. won the series 2-1, but the most revealing moment was game two: Hayes started a younger lineup, put the captain's armband on 20-year-old Claire Hutton, and took a loss rather than bring on veterans who could have salvaged a draw. That game also drew record attendance for a standalone women's match in Seattle — over 36,000 fans at Lumen Field. We talked through why sitting in that discomfort mattered more than the result, and the tactical shift underneath it: patient possession through midfield instead of the long-ball, chase-and-win style that defined U.S. teams for years.
The Brazil trip: eight red cards and a reality check
The USWNT's two-game series in Brazil produced a split — a loss in game one, a 1-0 win in game two that came with 23 yellow cards and eight red cards, four of them straight reds. Brazil's head coach was sent off for kicking a ball off the sideline and refused to leave the field. We covered the chaos in detail, but also the parts that mattered more: Emma Hayes moving Michelle Cooper to right back mid-game to bring on Trinity Rodman, the tactical adjustments that made game two sharper than game one, and Hayes's postgame message to a visibly emotional team about valuing the process over the result.
Does pay-to-play cap the USWNT's ceiling?
This is the USWNT episode we're proudest of. After the U.S. men's pay-to-play system took heat following their World Cup exit, we asked the same question about the women: is America's club-fee model — real money, often $5,000 to $20,000 a year at a competitive level — quietly pricing out talent while other countries close the gap for free? We compared six nations side by side: the U.S.'s expensive pay-to-play pipeline, Spain's subsidized club-academy machine that produced the current world number one, Japan's school-based system, England's post-2022 investment boom that made its talent centers free, Brazil's rapid but possibly fragile build ahead of hosting the next World Cup, and Colombia's informal, word-of-mouth system that's producing disruptive talent anyway. Our shared conclusion: expecting the USWNT to just win every World Cup may not be a safe assumption anymore.
Start with these USWNT episodes
Five entry points, depending on what you're most interested in:
Does pay-to-play cap the USWNT? (Episode 28)
Our six-nation comparison of how women's soccer talent gets developed, and why we don't think it's fair to just assume the U.S. wins anymore.
The Emma Hayes masterclass vs. Japan (Episode 16)
The series where Hayes took a loss with a young lineup on purpose, and what it told us about the team she's building toward the next World Cup.
Eight red cards in Brazil (Episode 24)
A chaotic 1-0 win, a coach sent off for kicking a ball, and Emma Hayes's postgame speech about valuing process over result.
SheBelieves Cup roster preview (Episode 8)
Our roster predictions and Emma Hayes's early strategic priorities heading into the SheBelieves Cup.
USWNT gets schooled in Brazil, game one (Episode 23)
The first game of the Brazil series and what it exposed before the adjustments in game two.
Never Miss an Episode
Subscribe to Raising the Game wherever you listen.
If you'd rather read, the blog has written recaps of every show, including the USWNT episodes above.
Latest USWNT episodes
Episode 42 - Nobody on the Valkyries Can Slow Down Angel Reese
Angel Reese put up 30 points and 16 rebounds to even the WNBA Finals, the league handed out a six-player All-Rookie Team, and the USWNT came back from two down against Spain without answering the question of who actually starts.
Episode 41 - A'ja's Fifth MVP, Two Sweeps, and a Finals Nobody Predicted
A'ja Wilson won her fifth MVP, and Golden State and Atlanta swept their way into a Finals between the league's highest-revenue team and its lowest-attended one. Plus Spain exposed a real problem in the USWNT midfield.
Episode 40 - The College Sports Bill's Title IX Loophole, Angel Reese's DPOY, WNBA Semis
The Protect College Sports Act cleared the Senate with a Title IX workaround buried in its language, Angel Reese won Defensive Player of the Year, and the WNBA semifinals delivered the best basketball of the season.
Episode 37 - Team USA Sets the Standard, and the WNBA Playoff Math Gets Real
Team USA's fifth straight FIBA World Cup title, a third-quarter masterclass against France, WNBA playoff seeding math, and our USWNT roster picks for Spain.
Episode 28 - Is It Still Fair to Assume the USWNT Wins? Pay-to-Play, Global Parity, and a WNBA Roundup
Is it still fair to assume the USWNT wins? Pay-to-play, global parity, NWSL parity, and a full WNBA roundup.
The Door Part Two: Ann Meyers Drysdale, Lisa Leslie, and the Doors They Kicked Open
Six athletes, one theme: Ann Meyers Drysdale, Lisa Leslie, Venus Williams, Megan Rapinoe, Simone Biles, and Caitlin Clark renegotiate the terms.
Episode 24 - Marketing Women's Sports and the New Fan Economy
The NWSL's Summer of Soccer marketing play, PWHL draft order predictions, the WNBA MVP race, and a chaotic USWNT win over Brazil.
Episode 23 - Hilary Knight's Sign-and-Trade, Olivia Miles MVP Watch, and USWNT Gets Schooled in Brazil
Hilary Knight's dramatic PWHL sign-and-trade, Olivia Miles' MVP case as the Lynx roll to 9-2, and a tough USWNT loss to Brazil.
More USWNT episodes
- Episode 22 - Dense Week: Transfers, Transparency, and the Fever's Cracks
- Episode 16 - WNBA Season Preview, A'ja Wilson's Historic Deal, and Emma Hayes' Masterclass
- Episode 15 - The $3 Billion Moment: Women's Sports Is No Longer a Bet, It's a Buy
- Episode 14 - NCAA Championship, WNBA Free Agency, and Why Connecticut Can't Have Nice Things
- Episode 10: NWSL Season Preview, She Believes Cup, and a Whole Lot of Soccer
- Episode 9 Recap: The Olympic Effect Is Real, the CBA Might Actually Get Done, and We Have Thoughts on That Phone Call
- Episode 8 Recap: USA Olympic Hockey Gold, She Believes Cup Roster & WNBA CBA Drama
- Episode 7 Recap: USA Women's Hockey, WNBA CBA, Angel Reese Returns to Unrivaled & NWSL Roster Moves
- Episode 4 Recap: PWHL Deep Dive, Rodman’s Record Deal & USWNT’s New Era
- Episode 3 Recap: NWSL "Rodman Rule," WNBA Moratorium & 2026 Winter Olympics Preview
- Episode 2 Recap: WNBA Labor Standoff, Unrivaled’s Electric Debut, & Volleyball’s Big Business
Frequently asked questions
Is there a podcast dedicated to the USWNT?
Raising the Game isn't exclusively a USWNT podcast — we also cover the WNBA, NWSL, PWHL, and college sports — but we follow the national team through every international window: the SheBelieves Cup, friendlies, and World Cup qualifying buildup.
Do you cover Emma Hayes and the USWNT's tactical changes?
Yes. We broke down her three-game series against Japan in detail — including the decision to start a younger lineup in game two and take a loss rather than chase a result — and the broader shift toward building out of the back instead of the long-ball approach that defined U.S. teams for years.
Do you cover USWNT World Cup buildup and roster news?
Every window. That includes SheBelieves Cup roster predictions, Sophia Wilson's return from maternity leave, and the two-game series in Brazil that produced a series split, eight red cards, and a torn ACL for a Brazilian player heading into a World Cup year.
Do you cover the pipeline behind the USWNT, not just the games?
This is some of our favorite work. We did a full comparative deep dive on how six nations — the U.S., Spain, Japan, England, Brazil, and Colombia — develop women's soccer talent, and whether America's pay-to-play youth system is quietly capping the USWNT's ceiling while other federations catch up.
How often do new USWNT episodes come out?
Whenever the national team plays. Camps and windows don't happen every week, so USWNT coverage is more concentrated than our WNBA or NWSL sections, but we cover every window in depth when it happens.
Where can I listen to your USWNT podcast episodes?
Full video episodes are on YouTube. Audio is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every major podcast app. Every episode also gets a written recap on our blog.
What makes your USWNT coverage different?
We don't assume the USWNT will just win. We ask harder questions about the development pipeline underneath the results, and we give real credit to tactical decisions — like Emma Hayes accepting a loss to develop young players — that a results-only recap would miss.
How do I suggest a USWNT topic or guest?
Email us at raisingthegamepod@gmail.com or reach out on Instagram. Our pay-to-play deep dive started as exactly this kind of listener conversation.