USWNT star Catarina Macario is out of the World Cup

Catarina Macario, one of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s biggest rising stars, ruled herself out of the World Cup on Tuesday because of a longer-than-expected recovery from a torn knee ligament.

“While I’m excited and super optimistic about my future as a footballer, I’m sad to share that I won’t be physically ready for selection to our U.S. World Cup team,” the 23-year-old wrote on social media.

Macario suffered the injury last June and initially was expected to be out for six months. She did most of her rehab work at the Aspetar sports medicine facility in Qatar. When she posted a video on social media in January of a ball-dribbling workout, hopes rose that she’d be back on schedule.

Yet an expected arrival in mid-March was delayed to early April. Sources with knowledge of the matter said Macario returned to France at various times during her rehab process. But she never got back on the field in a formal capacity for Lyon. Now she never will, as The Athletic reported a move to England’s Chelsea is on deck this summer.

“The desire to return to play for my club and country has driven my training and fueled my everyday life,” Macario said. “However, what’s most important right now is my health and getting fit and ready for my next club season. I am eternally grateful to Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital for always supporting me and guiding me in my rehab, and to U.S. Soccer and Vlatko Andonovski for prioritizing my long-term health over any individual and collective ambitions.”

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What happens now with the U.S. team will be yet another big story line to watch as the two-time reigning World Cup champions head to New Zealand. Macario and Alex Morgan were set to be the Americans’ two central strikers, with their different skill sets — Macario as a creator, Morgan as an all-time finisher — allowing the U.S. to vary its tactics.

Ashley Hatch has been No. 3 on the depth chart. Her five goals in the NWSL for the Washington Spirit so far this year have her in a four-way tie atop the regular-season scoring chart with Morgan (San Diego Wave), Lynn Williams (Gotham FC), and Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns, where she plays as a midfielder, not left back).

But in national team games, there’s been a significant drop-off from Morgan and Macario to Hatch. Will Andonovski stick with her? Or will he move forward Sophia Smith, another elite scorer, to the central position and give the open roster spot to another winger?

Mallory Swanson’s torn patellar tendon suffered in April opened one roster spot for a winger to join Williams, Smith, and Megan Rapinoe. The race was quickly led by a pair of elite youngsters: Trinity Rodman, 21, and rookie phenom Alyssa Thompson, 18.

If either of them falters — and Thompson understandably has had ups and downs so far — Gotham FC veteran Midge Purce could come back to the picture. But she’s currently sidelined with a hip injury.

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Andonovski has a month to make his decision. The U.S. team’s World Cup training camp starts June 26 in California, and it’s expected that the World Cup roster will be announced a few days before.

There are five rounds of NWSL regular-season games and two rounds of Challenge Cup group-stage contests until then. And there will be a whole lot of questions along the way.

“I’ll be cheering hard for my teammates at the world cup, and I look forward to dedicating myself to fight to earn a spot for what I hope will be a long future on the U.S. national team,” Macario concluded, trying to put an optimistic spin on a moment many dreaded.

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