Tullis-Joyce makes senior debut for United States

Tullis-Joyce makes senior debut for United States

On the back of a standout season so far for Manchester United, goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce earned her first senior cap for the US Women’s National Team over the weekend.

The United shot-stopper played the entirety of the Olympic champions’ 2-0 friendly victory over Brazil on Saturday, marking her big outing at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles with a clean sheet.

While that was the result of an all-round defensive effort from the USA, Phallon made a string of saves to keep her side ahead after Trinity Rodman’s fifth-minute opener, most notably making herself big at the feet of Gabi Portilho to deny a dangerous one-on-one attempt in the first half.

That was before Lindsey Heaps then doubled the hosts’ lead and completed the scoring after the break, firing home emphatically from the penalty spot.

For Tullis-Joyce, her international debut is just the latest milestone of what has proved to be a breakout season for club and country, during which the 28-year-old has impressively grown into the role of our first-choice goalkeeper.

Our no.91’s form in the WSL, now boasting a division-high 12 clean sheets and a leading save ratio of 83.9 per cent, earned her a first senior call-up to Emma Hayes’s USA squad in November and she’s since been able to gain further experience in the national-team setup while working towards her maiden appearance.

That opportunity of course came on Saturday night, in the first of back-to-back Californian friendlies with Brazil this month, and the goalkeeper took to Instagram to express her pride afterwards.

She said: “First cap!!! Unreal, thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this moment. Great shift by the squad to get the W and the clean sheet.”

The reaction to that post has been brilliant and the sheer volume of comments on it from her United team-mates shows just how popular a member of the squad she is, and how proud everyone back here in Manchester is of her latest achievement. 

We are SO proud of you, @Phallon91 🫶🇺🇸 #MUWomen || #USWNT pic.twitter.com/G55dSIuO7j

— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) April 6, 2025

Tullis-Joyce’s debut has been a real highlight of the international break so far, which has already been a busy window for United’s players since the games began at the back end of last week.

Lucy Newell (U19s) and Kayla Rendell (U23s) have both played twice for England’s youth teams, while seven other Reds have made a sole appearance for their respective countries.

Grace Clinton, Ella Toone, Aoife Mannion, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Emma Watson all featured in Nations League matches across Europe on Friday night, before Hinata Miyazawa completed 90 minutes as Japan shared friendly spoils with Colombia on Sunday.

The action continues for our international representatives tomorrow (Tuesday), before Marc Skinner’s squad reassemble at Carrington ahead of this Sunday’s huge Adobe Women’s FA Cup semi-final away to Manchester City.

Be sure to check out our guide to the ongoing national-team window for a reminder of the fixtures between now and then, and who could be involved.

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