Although the 2024 W League season is over, this summer of soccer is far from finished. Three W League players have been called up to join their national teams in France to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Asheville City SC’s Ilana Izquierdo will reunite with the Colombian National Team for her first major tournament with the senior squad. She’s earned five caps already this year, all of which in the starting lineup, including a friendly against Mexico and Concacaf Gold Cup fixtures against Brazil, Panama, Puerto Rico, and the United States. She has also played at the U-17, U-19 and U-20 levels for Colombia. 

Izquierdo finished her second season with Asheville City this month, starting in nine matches to help the team earn its first playoff berth in club history. She recorded five goals and an assist in the regular season, and she also assisted both goals in the team’s 2-1 comeback win in the first round of the playoffs. 

Following the Olympics, Izquierdo will rejoin the Mississippi State Bulldogs for her senior season. Last year, she started all 23 matches and was third on the team in points with four goals and three assists. 

Moving from the Southeast to the Northwest, FC Olympia goalkeepers Murphy Sheaff and Shu Ohba are joining their national teams as reserves. Sheaff will represent New Zealand, and Ohba will be in net for Japan. 

The two goalkeepers split their time between the posts for FC Olympia this season, helping the team earn its second consecutive first-place finish in the Northwest Division. Sheaff recorded four starts in seven matches played, while Ohba started four of her five matches played. The pair conceded only three goals throughout the entire regular season. 

Sheaff has gotten the call to join the New Zealand National Team twice in the last two years for international friendlies. She also started all three matches for New Zealand in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica in 2022. The goalkeeper recently finished her sophomore season with Kansas State, where she recorded 82 saves and four shutouts in 1,590 minutes of action.  

Ohba was called up to the senior national team with Japan earlier this year in April for the SheBelieves Cup, before earning her first cap in May in a friendly against New Zealand, where Sheaff was also on the roster. Ohba competed with Japan in the 2023 Asian Games in China back in September and led the U-20 team to the final in the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. 

Ohba will return to Ole Miss this fall after a stellar junior season in 2023. She was named to the 2023 All-SEC Second Team after leading the conference in saves and saves per game in the regular season. She tallied seven shutouts in 15 games played. 

All 2024 Paris Olympics Women's Soccer opening matches will take place on Thursday, July 25

Group Stage Match Schedule

Colombia (Group A):

Match 1: vs. France, Thursday, July 25, 3 p.m. ET. 

Match 2: vs. New Zealand, Sunday, July 28, 11 a.m. ET

Match 3: vs. Canada, Wednesday, July 31, 3 p.m. ET

New Zealand (Group A):

Match 1: vs Canada, Thursday, July 25, 11 a.m. ET

Match 2: vs. Colombia, Sunday, July 28, 11 a.m. ET

Match 3: vs. France, Wednesday, July 31, 3 p.m. ET

Japan (Group C):

Match 1: vs. Spain, Thursday, July 25, 11 a.m. ET

Match 2: vs. Brazil, Sunday, July 28, 11 a.m. ET

Match 3: vs. Nigeria, Wednesday, July 31, 11 a.m. ET