Soccer at Snapdragon Stadium in 2022. Photo by Chris Stone

Coaches for the U.S. women’s soccer team are using the upcoming SheBelieves Cup as an opportunity to develop players ahead of the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The six-game February tournament will kick off the team’s first international matches of the year following their gold medal performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics with new head coach Emma Hayes.

Hayes’s team took the gold after she had just four months as head coach and 10 U.S. matches under her belt.

Now she said she has used her time since last summer to scout and close the development gap between the under-23 and senior level teams.

“Listen, this isn’t just about SheBelieves, this is about competing to win a World Cup,” Hayes said in a Tuesday conference call with reporters.

The SheBelieves Cup will be an opportunity to build a deeper roster and develop some newcomers, Hayes said.

“Sometimes we might have to go through that hard pain first before we come out the other side,” Hayes said. “It’s an exciting time, and one where I feel much better informed than I did six months ago.”

The SheBelieves Cup will start in Houston before moving to Glendale, Arizona. It concludes in San Diego at Snapdragon Stadium on Feb. 26.

The finale in San Diego will be played against Japan as part of a doubleheader also featuring Australia vs. Colombia. Both of the latter teams will be competing in the SheBelieves Cup for the first time.

The last time the U.S. played Japan was at the 2024 Olympics, where they won 1-0 in the quarterfinal with an overtime goal from Trinity Rodman.

The U.S. team has won the last five SheBelieves Cup tournaments, and seven overall since the event began in 2016.

All four participating teams were in the last World Cup and Olympics, and are working to qualify for the next World Cup in Brazil.

Each of the four teams play each other once; the winner is determined in total points.

All the U.S. matches will be broadcast on TBS and Universo and streamed on Max and Peacock. All non-U.S. games will be available on Max and in Spanish on Universo and Peacock.