USA vs. South Korea live score, result, updates, stats from second USWNT friendly after win on Emma Hayes debut

After an emphatic start to Emma Hayes’ tenure as USWNT head coach on the weekend, the squad heads up to Minnesota to contest a second international friendly against the South Korea women on Tuesday evening.

Braces from both Mallory Swanson and Tierna Davidson led the U.S. to a 4-0 victory back on Saturday in Colorado, an emphatic start to the Hayes era. It was a comprehensive victory that saw the United States dominate in every phase of the game from start to finish.

Hayes remains insistent that one strong 90-minute showing doesn’t indicate a full grasp of her philosophies, which will only come with more time together.

With the USWNT barreling toward the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics, turning Saturday’s standalone result into consistent performances will be critical in translating this early success into a run of results that bleed into the upcoming tournament in Paris.

The Sporting News is following the USA vs. South Korea match live, providing score updates, commentary, and highlights as they happen.

USA vs. South Korea live score

Kickoff: 7:07 p.m. local (8:07 p.m. ET / 5:07 p.m. PT)
Location: Allianz Stadium (St. Paul, Minnesota)
Referee: Astrid Azucena Gramajo (GUA)

MORE: All about new USWNT coach Emma Hayes who wins international debut vs. South Korea

Starting lineups:

USA (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1. Murphy (GK) — 20. Krueger, 2. Staab, 14. Sonnett, 3. Nighswonger — 5. Albert, 16. Lavelle — 8. Shaw, 10. Horan, 19. Dunn — 13. Morgan.

S. Korea (4-4-2, right to left): 18. Kim JM (GK) — 23. Kang, 2. Lee EY, 20. Kim HR, 22. Choo — 10. Ji, 17. Lee YJ, 14. Jeon, 11. Choe — 13. Phair, 9. Lee GM.

USA vs. South Korea live updates, highlights, commentary

USA vs. South Korea stats

USA vs. South Korea: First Half

13th min: GOAL! USA! The United States lead as Crystal Dunn scores in her first start in the attack since 2006!

8th min: A free-kick is won by Alex Morgan in the attacking third, shaded left about 30 yards from goal. Rose Lavelle stands over it, a bit far from net to put a shot on frame. Instead, she loops it to the penalty spot, and the ball fizzes across the face of goal without anyone latching on. That’s disappointing from Morgan who can’t get her foot to it at the far post.

2nd min: Rose Lavelle, on her 100th cap, has been very active in the first few minutes, as a pair of long balls from deep find her on runs forward. The second from Casey Krueger links up, but Lavelle checks it back at the end line before being dispossessed by a South Korean defender.

Kickoff: They’re under way at Allianz Field in Minneapolis on a stormy evening in the rain! Emma Hayes looks to win both her first two matches in charge of the U.S. women’s national team, while South Korea hope to salvage something from these two games.

USA vs. South Korea: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more

15 mins to kickoff: In goal for the United States, Casey Murphy will get a look tonight after Jane Campbell had little to do on the weekend. It’s a big 90 minutes for Murphy who probably won’t be tested often and can ill afford mistakes knowing there’s only one place on the roster for the Olympics up for grabs.

Established No. 1 goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher isn’t on the roster due to injury, but Emma Hayes hinted that she’s still clearly the first-choice goalkeeper and rightly so, and on an 18-player Olympic roster, there will only be room for one more goalkeeper. Will Murphy have enough opportunities tonight to make her case?

30 mins to kickoff: This is a massive 90 minutes in the late stage of Alex Morgan’s career, as she may not have many other opportunities to earn a place on the Olympic roster. Morgan is mired in the worst goal scoring drought of her international career, on a nine-match run without a goal dating back to early 2023.

45 mins to kickoff: South Korea have given 16-year-old Casey Phair another opportunity up front amidst a formational change, as they move to a 4-4-2 to more appropriately deal with the USWNT attackers dropping into pockets of space above their back line. A more crowded midfield should help with this, but at the cost of width.

1 hour to kickoff: The USWNT lineup is in, and when Emma Hayes promised changes, she sure was onto something — there are nine changes to the starting lineup from last time out, with only Lindsey Horan and Jenna Nighswonger retaining their places in the XI.

Most notably, Alex Morgan takes over up front with a big chance to prove her value to the team ahead of the Olympics, while Emily Sonnett drops back along the back line after about a year experimenting in midfield. Rose Lavelle and Korbin Albert partner in the middle, with Lindsey Horan above them in a more attacking role.

1 hour 15 mins to kick: Something former USWNT midfielder Sam Mewis noticed in the weekend match which she’ll be looking out for again tonight is Mal Swanson starting on the wing but dropping centrally into the pocket between the opponent’s back line and midfield.

She didn’t have lots of space to operate in that area, but she doesn’t need it — it took just a few moves off her teammate’s deliveries to find openings to shoot, and it resulted in two goals for her last time out. Whether it’s Swanson in that role tonight or someone else, look for that tactical approach again to create openings at the top of the penalty area.

1 hour 30 mins to kick: Emma Hayes hinted in her pre-match press conference that there will be significant changes to the USWNT lineup tonight. The one confirmed by Hayes will see a new individual in goal after Jane Campbell started on Saturday, so we’ll see if she affords backups Aubrey Kingsbury or Casey Murphy a chance to earn a backup role at the Olympics behind starter Alyssa Naeher.

It would be reasonable to expect Alex Morgan to get a chance to start, after she didn’t appear in the weekend match, while while Jaedyn Shaw could get a chance to start after coming off the bench in the last game. Other than that, we’ll see who gets the nod.

1 hour 45 mins to kick: A big feature of the Emma Hayes debut against South Korea was her constant insistence on the team picking up the pace. CBS analyst Christine Cupo has translated that to “playing without fear” as Hayes wanted the USWNT to move forward more confidently in the attack without being so concerned about safety in the buildup.

With the counter-press so active, the USWNT under Hayes looked confident of its ability to win the ball back before the opponent could hurt them in transition, especially after the first 30 minutes after they begun to grasp her instructions more.

2 hours to kickoff: Emma Hayes has been brutally honest about the challenges her short transition from Chelsea to the U.S. women presents. In her press conference before tonight’s match, Hayes equated the position she’s in to being “a heart surgeon in the middle of emergency surgery.”

After some clarification, the point she was making is that she can’t be teaching others to do the surgery while she’s in the middle of it herself. Eventually, she says she’ll get to the point where she can teach others to carry out the jobs, but for now, she’s tasked herself with everything until the first international camp is over.

USA vs. South Korea pre-match facts, figures

• The 4-0 victory for Emma Hayes in her debut on Saturday was the second-largest margin of victory for a USWNT head coach in their first match, behind only Tony DiCiccio who defeated Australia 5-0 in his debut in 1995.
• Mallory Swanson has scored 10 goals in her last nine international games dating back to before her injury.
• This is the 17th all-time meeting between the USWNT and South Korea, with the United States unbeaten across that series, winning 12 and drawing four. They have never played in a competitive match, as all 16 games have been friendlies.

USA vs. South Korea lineups, team news

New head coach Emma Hayes did her best to downplay the importance of her starting XI in Saturday’s game, saying it had no bearing on the eventual Olympic roster. Yet the absence of Alex Morgan felt like a signal about her status in the overall pecking order amongst USWNT forwards. She could be handed a chance to impress here after failing to appear in the previous game.

Youngster Jaedyn Shaw surprisingly came off the bench in Saturday’s match and also could come into the side after exploding onto the USWNT scene through the past year under interim head coach Twila Kilgore. Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario both played big roles in Saturday’s win, but they could be given rest, as they’ve just returned to USWNT duty following significant knee injuries.

Lindsey Horan could be given rest after starting Saturday’s match following the conclusion of a long club season with Lyon, with Rose Lavelle a candidate to enter depending on her full-match fitness amid a lingering knee injury.

USA starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Murphy (GK) — Krueger, Staab, Sonnett, Nighswonger — Albert, Lavelle — Shaw, Horan, Dunn — Morgan.

USA subs (12): Kingsbury (GK), Campbell (GK), Girma, Davidson, Fox, Hershfelt, Coffey, Yohannes, Rodman, S. Smith, Macario, Swanson.

This South Korea roster is quite inexperienced given a few injuries to certain veteran players at key positions. Most notably, an injury to right-back Jang Sel-gi leaves the side thin at that wing-back position, as Jang usually takes the field out wide having collected 102 international caps before the age of 30.

They are also absent central defender Lim Seon-joo, who tore her ACL back in February, leaving them without another player with over 100 international caps.

16-year-old Casey Phair, who became the youngest player to ever appear in a Women’s World Cup match last summer, started the first game but had little service at the No. 9 position, and while she retains her place, she’ll have attacking help alongside 30-year-old Lee Geum-Min. Veteran defender Kim Hye-Ri came off the bench last time out and is given a starting role tonight along the back line.

South Korea projected starting lineup (3-4-3): Kim JM (GK) — Kang, Lee EY, Kim HR, Choo — Ji, Lee YJ, Jeon, Choe — Phair, Lee GM.

South Korea subs (12): Choi YS (GK), Kim KH, Hong HJ, Won, Go, Hong SY, Lee JE, Cho, Moon, Chun, Kwon, Lee SH.

How to watch USA vs. South Korea

• Date: Tuesday, June 4, 2024
• Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT
• English:
  • TV channel: TNT
  • Streaming: Sling, Max
• Spanish:
  • TV channel: Universo
  • Streaming: Fubo

The second of two consecutive U.S. women’s friendlies against South Korea will be televised in the United States on TNT, which can be streamed on Sling, who’s offering $25 off the first month of service for new users. The match can also be streamed on Turner’s dedicated platform Max, formerly known as HBO Max.

There is also a televised Spanish-language broadcast on Universo, which can be streamed on Fubo, who’s offering a free trial for new users.