The team that captivated a nation by winning its fourth Women's World Cup is bringing its show to St. Paul to play in the country's newest pro soccer stadium.
The U.S. women's national team, led by outspoken World Cup MVP Megan Rapinoe and star Alex Morgan, will play an international friendly against Portugal on Sept. 3 at Allianz Field. It's the third date in a five-game national "Victory Tour" that begins Aug. 3 against Ireland at the Rose Bowl and ends in early October.
That follows the team's 2-0 championship-game victory over the Netherlands in France earlier this month.
The game marks the second appearance this summer by a U.S. national team at Allianz Field, which opened in April as a $250 million venue built specifically for soccer.
Owned by Major League Soccer's Minnesota United team, the 19,400-seat capacity stadium hosted the U.S. men's national team's first Gold Cup game against Guyana before a sellout audience in June.
"Given what these young women stand for and their incredible performance in France winning the World Cup for a fourth time, I think it'll be the hottest ticket in the market all season," said United CEO Chris Wright, whose team has sold out its league games so far this season.
An exclusive ticket presale for United season-ticket members begins at 10 a.m. Friday and ends at 8 a.m. Sunday. Presale for members of The Preserve — the official Allianz Field waiting list — begins Monday. Tickets for the general public go on sale next at 10 a.m. Wednesday on ussoccer.com.
The 7 p.m. game will be televised on ESPN2 and the ESPN App.
The U.S. has won half of the eight women's World Cup tournaments. Its July 7 victory in Paris not only justified its favorite's role on the field, but some of its players — most notably Rapinoe — drew attention off the field by speaking up on issues including equal pay, gay rights and social justice.
Wright called the summer visits by two U.S. national teams just the beginning of an association between them and Minnesota United with Allianz Field.
"We want to build a really strong relationship with the U.S. Soccer Federation," Wright said. "We think there are some incredible opportunities inside of this market with our beautiful stadium, on both the men's and women's side."
He also called the timing of June's Gold Cup game, September's friendly and Allianz Field's inaugural season both "absolutely incredible" and "remarkable" and good for the team's fans who have filled the venue for regular-season matches.
The U.S. women's national team last visited Minnesota in October 2016, when Carli Lloyd scored twice in a 5-1 friendly victory over Switzerland at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The announced crowd of 23,400 fans is a record for women's soccer in Minnesota.
U.S. midfielder Rose Lavelle, who scored the game-clinching goal against the Netherlands with a beauty of a left-footed shot, called the team's return to Minnesota to play in a new "world-class" stadium "another sign of the growth of soccer in the USA," according to a statement released on Wednesday to announce the Sept. 3 friendly.
The U.S. Soccer Federation's website says the Victory Tour roster will feature the 23-player Women's World Cup champions.
The U.S. team also will play Portugal on Aug. 29 in Philadelphia. The first two stops on the Victory Tour will be played in large American football stadiums.
The venues for the final two Victory Tour games on Oct. 3 and Oct. 6 have not yet been announced.
Allianz Field seats a little more than two-thirds of the 27,000-plus tickets already sold for the Rose Bowl tour opener, priced in Pasadena, Calif., from $40 to nearly $600 for field-side "platinum" seats.
Wright termed Allianz Field a "big-game venue" nonetheless, with an "experience and atmosphere" that, he said, impressed U.S. men's team coach Gregg Berhalter when his team played there in June.
"We want to make sure when they're in our stadium, the experience is absolutely best in class," Wright said of United's goal as hosts. "We want it to be their stadium when they are here."
