Swanson’s Late Volley Rescues 2-2 Draw as USWNT Rallies From Two Goals Down Against Spain

CHESTER, Pennsylvania — For forty-five minutes on Tuesday night, the story looked like a rerun. Spain, the reigning world champion and the top-ranked team on the planet, had again built a two-goal halftime lead over the United States, again scored twice in a five-minute burst, and again left the Americans staring at the same questions that had followed them out of Washington three days earlier. Then the second half happened.

The United States rallied for a 2-2 draw with Spain at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, according to U.S. Soccer. Ashley Sanchez pulled one back four minutes after the restart, and Mallory Swanson levelled the match with a volley in the 86th minute, her first goal for the national team since she won the gold-medal match at the Paris Olympics in August 2024. In front of 18,648 spectators on a clear 71-degree evening, a team that had looked second-best for a half found a second wind, and a draw that felt, by the final whistle, more like a statement than a salvage job.

Spain had won the first meeting of this two-game October window 2-0 on Saturday, October 10, in Washington, D.C., scoring twice in the opening 14 minutes. The rematch followed an eerily similar first-half script. According to U.S. Soccer, Alexia Putellas opened the scoring in the 27th minute, and Salma Paralluelo doubled the advantage in the 32nd. For the second time in four days, the United States went into the dressing room trailing the world champions by two goals. This time, unlike Saturday, the Americans answered.

The comeback mattered for more than the scoreline. The United States arrived at this window trying to measure itself against the team that now holds the title it owned for so long, with the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil less than a year away and a Concacaf W Championship quarterfinal against El Salvador on November 27 that will decide whether the Americans qualify for that tournament. A second straight defeat, by the same margin, after the same collapse, would have hardened a narrative that the gap between the two sides is structural. Instead, the United States produced 45 minutes that suggested the gap is closer to a half than a chasm — and that this young, changing roster has the resilience to close it.

How Spain built the lead

Spain’s first goal came from the kind of patient, precise build-up that has defined this team. According to U.S. Soccer, midfielder Clara Serrajordi received the ball on the right edge of the penalty area and curled a pass across the face of goal. Clara Pinedo dummied the cross, letting it run through to Putellas, who finished from close range at the left post. A lengthy video review examined whether Pinedo had been offside; the goal stood. Putellas, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, was making her 150th appearance for Spain, according to the Associated Press, and the goal was her 43rd at international level.

Five minutes later, Spain struck again, and this time the United States contributed to its own trouble. According to U.S. Soccer, defender Emily Fox played the ball back toward goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce for a quick clearance, but the clearance flew straight to Putellas in midfield. Putellas drove forward, split two defenders with a pass to Paralluelo on the right, and Paralluelo took a touch inside the box before smashing a shot off the underside of the crossbar and over the line. The Associated Press reported that Tullis-Joyce had misplayed the ball up the field and Spain pounced — the kind of error that a team of Spain’s quality converts almost automatically.

The pattern was now impossible to ignore. According to the Associated Press, it was the first time the United States had conceded two first-half goals to an opponent in consecutive matches since 2011. Spain had scored twice in the first half on Saturday and twice in the first half on Tuesday. For a programme whose identity has long been built on defensive organisation and control, that was a jarring statistic — and a fair measure of how far Spain’s attacking quality has come.

The United States did create chances before the break. According to U.S. Soccer, Sanchez dribbled at goal in the 34th minute and cut onto her right foot at the top of the box, but her shot went wide. Just before halftime, Rose Lavelle lofted a free kick from about 30 yards out, and Trinity Rodman met it with a header that went straight at Spain goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez. The Americans were not without threat. They were, however, without a goal, and Spain’s two-goal cushion looked, at that point, like it might be enough.

Sanchez starts the comeback

The response began almost immediately after the restart. According to U.S. Soccer, Sophia Wilson received a pass near midfield, fended off a tackle and raced toward the Spain goal. She played the ball wide to Sanchez on the left, and Sanchez dribbled inside the box, used a stutter-step to create space in front of her defender, and drove a low shot into the bottom-right corner. The goal came in the 49th minute, four minutes into the second half, and it changed the match.

For Sanchez personally, the moment carried years of weight. According to U.S. Soccer, it was her fourth international goal and her first since July 14, 2022 — a gap of 1,552 days. It was also her first start for the national team since October 30, 2024, against Argentina. Sanchez had returned to the squad for this window after nearly two years away, coming off the bench in the 66th minute on Saturday, and she arrived in camp as the leading scorer in the National Women’s Soccer League, with 20 goals in 27 matches for the North Carolina Courage, according to Yardbarker’s account of the match. USA Today noted that it was her first start since 2024 and that she finished to the far post. The goal was, in the simplest sense, a reward for persistence — a player who had been out of the picture forcing her way back into it with the form of her club season.

The goal also changed the tactical shape of the evening. Spain could no longer manage the game at walking pace. The United States, with a goal to chase rather than two, could press with more conviction. The crowd, which had been silenced twice in the first half, found its voice. And head coach Emma Hayes, who had already reshaped her starting line-up with four changes from Saturday, had a bench full of fresh legs to throw at the problem.

Hayes turns to her bench

According to USA Today, Hayes made five substitutions around the hour mark, bringing on Michelle Cooper, Alyssa Thompson, Lily Yohannes, Jaelin Howell and Swanson. ESPN reported that Hayes later made three more changes with about ten minutes remaining, and shifted the team into a 3-5-2 formation in the second half, with Cooper and Alyssa Thompson eventually operating as wing-backs. It was an aggressive, all-in reshaping — the kind of move that either unlocks a game or leaves a team exposed. On this night, it unlocked the game.

Swanson nearly scored on her first clear chance. According to U.S. Soccer, Sanchez played Yohannes in the centre circle, and Yohannes sent a first-time pass behind Spain’s back line to Swanson. Swanson sprinted toward goal and tried a left-footed shot, but Rodriguez extended to make the save. The warning was there. Spain’s back line, which had looked so composed for an hour, was now being run at by fresh attackers with space in behind. The equaliser, when it came, felt less like a surprise than a consequence.

It arrived in the 86th minute, and it was constructed by two players who had entered the match as substitutes in the 80th minute and the hour mark respectively. According to U.S. Soccer, defender Kate Del Fava, who had come on in the 80th minute to earn her first cap at age 28, sent a long ball down the right flank to Cooper. Cooper held up play, kept her composure inside the box, and found Swanson unmarked running into the area. Swanson collected a ball that popped into the air, took a touch, and smashed a volley into the lower-left corner from about 15 yards out. USA Today described it as a thundered volley that levelled the match. The goal was Swanson’s 39th for the United States, according to U.S. Soccer.

The drama was not quite over. According to U.S. Soccer, Yohannes whipped in a shot from outside the box in one of the final plays that deflected off a Spanish defender and nearly snuck inside the bottom-right corner, but Rodriguez made what U.S. Soccer called a world-class save to scoop the ball away for a corner. USA Today reported that the United States almost won it with the last kick of the game, but Rodriguez saved a deflected long strike from Yohannes. A match that had started as a rerun of Saturday’s defeat ended with the Americans pushing for a winner.

Two returns, one night

What gives this draw its emotional centre is that both American goals were scored by players completing long journeys back. Sanchez and Swanson had each made their first national-team appearances in nearly two years on Saturday, coming off the bench in Washington. On Tuesday, both scored. That symmetry is not a coincidence; it is a window into where this team is and where Hayes is trying to take it.

Swanson’s story is the more widely known of the two. Her last goal before Tuesday had been the winner in the Olympic gold-medal match against Brazil on August 10, 2024, a 1-0 victory that delivered the United States its fifth Olympic gold in women’s football, according to U.S. Soccer. She then spent 2025 on maternity leave and returned to the field for the United States for the first time on Saturday. According to U.S. Soccer, her goal on Tuesday made her the 12th mother to score for the national team. ESPN reported that Swanson said after the match that she felt grateful, and noted that she had not scored for the United States since that Olympic final. The New York Post reported that she celebrated by running and jumping into Jaelin Howell’s arms. For a player whose career has been defined by big goals in big moments, this one was quieter in context — a friendly, not a final — but no less meaningful as a marker of return.

Sanchez’s path back was different: less about absence and more about patience. She had not started for the national team in two years, and her previous goal had come more than four years ago. Her club form this season — the NWSL scoring lead — made the case for her inclusion, and her goal on Tuesday made the case for her staying. In a squad where attacking places for the World Cup are genuinely competitive, a goal against the world champions, from a start, in a game the team was losing, is the strongest possible audition.

The night also belonged to two debutants. According to U.S. Soccer, Del Fava became the 291st player to earn a cap for the United States, and Pietra Tordin became the 292nd. Both came off the bench in the 80th minute, and Del Fava’s first contribution of note was the long ball that started the move for the equaliser. U.S. Soccer also reported that their debuts, plus Howell’s appearance, meant Hayes has now used 46 different players in a single calendar year — a programme record, surpassing the previous mark of 44 shared by 2000, 2001 and 2025. That number tells its own story about this phase of the cycle: Hayes is still expanding the pool, still testing, still looking for the combinations that will carry the team into Brazil.

There were other milestones tucked into the match report. According to U.S. Soccer, Lavelle passed Julie Ertz for 34th on the all-time caps list with her 124th appearance. Wilson earned her first assist since returning to the national team after giving birth to her daughter in September 2025. Howell came on in the 61st minute for her first appearance in 316 days. The match statistics, according to U.S. Soccer, finished remarkably even: the United States attempted 14 shots to Spain’s 15, put six on target to Spain’s four, and won eight corners to Spain’s five. Spain committed 11 fouls to the United States’ six. The numbers describe a game that Spain controlled early and the United States seized late — which is exactly how it felt.

Analysis: Why It Matters

The first thing to say about this draw is that a draw can be a result with a direction. The United States did not beat Spain. Spain remains the world champion, remains ranked No. 1, and remains the team everyone else will have to go through in Brazil. But the direction of travel across these two October games matters. On Saturday, the United States lost 2-0 and never truly threatened a comeback. On Tuesday, the United States fell behind by the same margin, in the same way, and found a way back. That is not a small difference. It is the difference between a team that folds when the pattern repeats and a team that learns inside a single week.

The second point is about what Hayes discovered. Her starting line-up on Tuesday featured four changes from Saturday — Tullis-Joyce in goal, Sanchez in the forward line, Claire Hutton in midfield and Gisele Thompson in defence — and, according to USA Today, it was the first time that back four had started a match together. The first half suggested the new combination still needs work: two goals conceded, both from moments where Spain found space too easily. The second half suggested something else: that Hayes’s bench, and her willingness to reshape the team mid-match, is a genuine weapon. The five substitutions around the hour mark changed the game’s energy. The shift to a 3-5-2 gave the United States width and numbers in attack. The three late changes, including Del Fava’s debut, produced the assist for the equaliser. ESPN reported that Hayes praised the fearlessness of her second-half substitutes after the match. That word — fearlessness — is worth pausing on, because it describes exactly what had been missing in the first half on Saturday: players willing to take risks, run in behind, and play forward when the safe pass was sideways.

The third point is about Spain, and about what this result does and does not say about the world champions. Spain scored twice in each game of this window and, across both matches, showed why it holds the No. 1 ranking: a midfield that can keep the ball under pressure, attackers who punish a single mistake, and a capacity to score in bursts that breaks opponents psychologically. But Spain also conceded twice in the second half on Tuesday, after conceding nothing on Saturday, and it finished the match defending its own box against a team it had dominated for an hour. Spain has already qualified for the World Cup, according to the Associated Press, and friendlies are not the place where champions are judged. Still, the second half in Chester offered every other contender a useful piece of film: press Spain late, stretch its back line with fresh legs, and even the best team in the world can be made uncomfortable.

The fourth point is the one that will matter most in November. The United States’ next competitive match is the Concacaf W Championship quarterfinal against El Salvador on November 27 in Mansfield, Texas, according to U.S. Soccer, with the winner earning a place at the 2027 World Cup. That is a match the United States is expected to win, and the draw against Spain does not change that expectation. What it changes is the mood around the team going into it. A camp that ended with two defeats would have carried a different weight into qualifying. A camp that ended with a comeback draw against the world champions carries momentum, and momentum is a real thing in tournament football — especially for a squad blending returning stars, new mothers, debutants and players fighting for roster places.

The final point is about identity. The New York Post reported that Howell said after the match that grit and a never-say-die mentality are part of the team’s DNA. That is the kind of line that can sound like a cliché, but on Tuesday night it described something specific: a team that had been beaten the same way twice in four days refusing to be beaten the same way a second time. The United States is, by its own recent standards, in an unfamiliar position. The New York Post noted that, with the World Cup seven months away, the United States is not the team to beat — that title belongs to Spain. Reclaiming it will require more than one comeback draw in a friendly. But comebacks have to start somewhere, and a draw built on two returning scorers, two debutants and a bench that changed the game is as good a starting point as any.

What to Watch Next

1. World Cup qualifying — The United States faces El Salvador in the Concacaf W Championship quarterfinal on November 27 in Mansfield, Texas, according to U.S. Soccer. A win sends the Americans to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. Watch whether Hayes keeps the expanded rotation or tightens the squad for a match with real stakes.
2. The goalkeeper question — Hayes gave Tullis-Joyce the start in the rematch after Claudia Dickey started on Saturday. The second Spain goal came from a clearance error. Watch whether Hayes settles on a first-choice goalkeeper before qualifying, or keeps rotating through the November window.
3. The returning attackers — Sanchez and Swanson both scored in their first starts back after long absences. Watch whether either forces her way into the starting line-up for the qualifier, and how Hayes balances them against Rodman, Wilson and the other forwards competing for minutes.
4. The debutants — Del Fava and Tordin earned their first caps, and Del Fava played a direct role in the equaliser. Watch whether either earns a longer look in November, and whether the 46-player calendar-year record grows further before the World Cup roster is set.
5. Spain’s road to Brazil — Spain has already qualified for the World Cup, according to the Associated Press. Watch how head coach Sonia Bermudez uses the remaining months: whether she tightens a defence that conceded twice in a half in Chester, and whether Putellas, Paralluelo and the rest of the core arrive in Brazil as favourites holding form or as favourites carrying questions.

Sources

• U.S. Soccer — “U.S. Women’s National Team Battles Spain to 2-2 Draw in Rematch as Ashley Sanchez and Mallory Swanson Score” (primary match report)
• USA Today — “Mallory Swanson secures thrilling late draw for USWNT vs Spain: Highlights, recap”
• New York Post — “US women erase two-goal deficit to tie World Cup champion Spain”
• Associated Press — “Swanson nets first goal since Olympics as USWNT draws 2-2 with Spain”