While my fellow writers are looking through MLS history to figure out the best at (almost) every number across the league, we decided to take a different approach when it came to women’s soccer — plus add an extra level of difficulty.



The premise: pick a (mostly) functional 23-player U.S. women’s national team roster, using only World Cup squads from 1991-2019, with one player per jersey number. The goal is to have the best player at each number, but still have a team that could conceivably play as an actual team, with the right balance of goalkeepers (three), defenders (six or seven), midfielders (six or seven) and forwards (six or seven).



Essentially, the selections turned into a ‘99ers vs. the modern era, to some extent — a battle which, for the most part, favored more recent players thanks to the increased level of play in women’s soccer. And while I did mostly ensure roster balance (I’m a little defender happy, though a...