Chelsea defender Naomi Girma has been ruled out of the upcoming United States women's national team matches against world No. 1 Spain due to a muscle injury. U.S. Soccer said a roster replacement would be named at a later date.
"Naomi got a knock in training. So I think she will be unavailable for maybe a few weeks," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said on Wednesday. The upcoming pair of matches against Spain are scheduled for Oct. 10 (Audi Field, Washington, D.C.) and Oct. 13 (Subaru Park, Chester, Penn.).
Girma has struggled with various injuries, especially to her calves, since joining Chelsea in January 2025 from the San Diego Wave in the first $1 million transfer in women's soccer history. She has not played yet this season for Chelsea in the Women's Super League. Girma last played for the United States in April before sustaining another setback with a calf injury that caused her to miss the rest of Chelsea's season and the USWNT's June friendlies against Brazil.
Spain is the reigning World Cup champion, and the United States is the reigning Olympic champion. The USWNT has played 17 matches featuring the world's top two teams and has not lost (11-0-6) in any of them.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing