Forward Catarina Macario could return for the United States in January, head coach Emma Hayes said on Tuesday, offering the most definitive timeline and details on her return since she was injured in December. A prospective return to the national team would give Macario time to compete for a spot on the USWNT's 2027 FIFA World Cup roster in Brazil, where she was born. Macario has not played a competitive match for club or country since December.

"Do I expect that Catarina Macario will be available for the January camp? That's my hope," Hayes told reporters on Tuesday. "Do I think she could be back sooner? 'At what cost?' would be the question. So, but she also has to respond to everything that goes well within that. She's on the grass. She's training. I think building up that tolerance is an important next step for her." The USWNT will once again hold a training camp and play a match in January, outside a FIFA window, sources told ESPN.

Macario signed with the San Diego Wave, the NWSL club in her adopted hometown, in March after a $300,000 transfer from Chelsea. The Wave agreed to an NWSL record contract worth about $8 million cumulatively guaranteed, but never gave a definitive timeline on when they expected Macario to play. Earlier in September, San Diego placed Macario on the season-ending injury list. Macario had been listed on the NWSL's weekly availability report as out with a "heel" injury every week of the season to date. On Tuesday, Hayes said that "when she made the move to San Diego, she was struggling with her Achilles, for example, resolves an Achilles issue, but her knee then flared up. So, then you've got to deal with the impact of that."

At some point earlier this year, Macario underwent "a minor procedure to address an ongoing knee issue," a club spokesperson previously told ESPN, which will ultimately keep her out for the season. On her Instagram earlier this month, Macario posted a picture of herself in crutches with her right knee wrapped and said she underwent the procedure "a few months ago." "To be completely honest, it sucks to find myself in this position again," Macario wrote at the time. "I would never have chosen to be in this position, but over the years, I've learned there is always something to be gained even from the moments we wouldn't choose for ourselves."

When healthy, Macario has been a contender for the starting center forward role for the United States. She scored three goals in two different victories over Italy at the end of 2025, the last time she appeared for the USWNT. She was a superstar in college for Stanford, twice winning the MAC Hermann Trophy as college soccer's best player. Macario left school early to turn professional with OL Lyonnes, and earned an immediate call-up to the USWNT upon obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2020. She moved to the U.S. with her family when she was 12 years old. Macario missed the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics due to complications with her knee. Hayes spoke on Tuesday about injuries to Macario, defender Emily Sonnett and midfielder Olivia Moultrie. All three are currently sidelined ahead of a pair of U.S. friendlies in October against world champions Spain, following procedures on their knees in recent months. Each faces a different timeline to return for next year's World Cup. "I mean, this is one of the hardest things always to answer to the media when players pick up injury, and we always want a straightforward answer in return to play, but it doesn't work like that," Hayes said. Macario has battled knee complications since 2022, when she tore the ACL in her left knee in the final game of the French season for Lyonnes. The injury and subsequent rehab prevented Macario from playing at the 2023 World Cup.