No Matter How Hard the USWNT Tried, There’s No Replacing Julie Ertz

After nearly 20 months away from the squad, the midfielder will be making her third World Cup appearance and providing an indispensable veteran presence for the reigning champs.

No U.S. women’s national team player has embodied irreplaceability in recent years quite like Julie Ertz. The 31-year-old stepped away after the Tokyo Olympics, giving birth to her first child with husband Zach Ertz in August 2022, and in her absence the team’s midfield struggled. Coach Vlatko Andonovski experimented with several solutions at the No. 6 position, but it’s become clear that the defensive midfield role, as the U.S. sets up now, is made in Ertz’s image.

So when she returned to the USWNT in April, after nearly 20 months away from competitive play, it came as no surprise that Ertz was already being touted as a lock for the World Cup roster. Her signing a one-year deal with NWSL club Angel City FC only solidified that theory. Predictably, Ertz was named to Andonovski’s World Cup roster in June, despite the relatively short return runway, ending the months-long discussion of how the squad would fare at a major tournament without the USWNT veteran.

Ertz, aware of the discourse surrounding her invaluableness, says the conversation was “humbling,” adding that she felt gratitude that people noticed her influence on the sport. This type of recognition only holds more weight as she gets older, she says.

“I think you hope you’ll leave an impact on the field,” says Ertz. “I would never lie and say that didn't feel good. I think as a player you always want to leave a part of you into this game because you sacrifice so much.”

The 2023 New Zealand and Australia iteration marks Ertz’s third World Cup, helping the U.S. to lift the trophy twice before. Getting the call from Andonovski this time around, now well into her national team career, felt distinctly different than making the ’15 and ’19 squads.

“Obviously, I think [it] was emotional in a different way … just because my journey specifically getting back was an up-and-down roller coaster,” says Ertz. “So, I think for me, it was just like a kind of a surreal moment just because of what I guess the woman's body can do and I think I never thought it would be in my wheelhouse to be a mom and professional soccer player, so sometimes I pinch myself. I didn’t know it was going to be possible for me.”

Ertz has 118 caps to her name, but only appeared in two USWNT games this year ahead of the World Cup.  :: Karen Ambrose Hickey/IMAGO

With a new perspective, informed by motherhood, and renewed purpose (much like fellow USWNT vet Alex Morgan), stirred by her time away from the pitch, Ertz—who will also be featured in a Frito-Lay commercial throughout the tournament—is ready to reprise her role as the team’s offensive engine and defensive buttress. Imposing a dominant, not easily replicated presence in the center of the park, Ertz can briskly shut down transitions, winning tackles and blocking passes, getting stuck in with inspiring fervor. She keeps the game moving too, playing out of the midfield and dolling out balls to kick start the attack while maintaining possession in close quarters. Ertz has proved herself a dangerous target for set pieces as well—especially in the air—a massive bonus for a tournament like the World Cup.

Since she’s made the defensive midfield position so thoroughly her own, it’s easy to forget that Ertz first burst onto the USWNT scene as a center back. At just 23 years old, Ertz (then Johnston) fielded an impressive breakout tournament at the 2015 World Cup as a defender and as one of the brightest spots on the entire team. Andonovski referenced Ertz’s stint as a center back during a June press conference, saying the coaching staff “knows that she has the ability to play different positions,” adding, “It is definitely something that is on our mind. And we will be exploring that option.”

That versatility will certainly help Ertz—and the USWNT—come this summer’s tournament as the squad forges ahead without former captain and veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn, who will miss what would be her fourth World Cup due to injury. Young stars Naomi Girma and Alana Cook are the go-to center-back duo Down Under, but beyond that, there isn’t much depth at the position. With an experienced player like Ertz on the plane, the team is likely breathing a sigh of relief.

Lining up in front of Girma and Cook, 23 and 26, respectively, Ertz will provide a level of veteran know-how necessary to achieve an unprecedented World Cup three-peat. “My role, maybe even more so now, is just making sure that our standards are just met at all times,” says Ertz. “I think I am naturally more comfortable as a vocal player so I think in that role, as I kind of had really since 2015 is just where I am the most comfortable.”

However, even with 118 caps to her name and loads of critical experience, Ertz is still up against the clock, working back into the USWNT with very few minutes played this year. She’s appeared in two games for her country, logging just 69 minutes, and played in only seven matches with Angel City FC. Ertz didn’t take the pitch for the U.S.’s send-off game against Wales on July 9, either, although Andonovski reassured that, “For Julie … if this was a World Cup game or meaningful game, it’s a no-brainer.” As many have alluded to, including Andonovski, Ertz at 80% or 90% often eclipses other players at their best.

For her part, Ertz is fired up and ready to compete, summing up the ethos of this squad with one word: “attack.” She isn’t content to simply rest on making her third World Cup team or even to clinch a historic three-peat.

Her goal for the World Cup?

“A win,” Ertz says. “And I think, even more so, if you want to elevate it, you want statement wins.”