U.S. Soccer Icons Carli Lloyd and Brandi Chastain Headline U.S. Department of State’s Spring Roster of Soccer Sports Envoys 

The U.S. Department of State announced today that American soccer icons Carli Lloyd and Brandi Chastain will headline the 2024 spring roster of U.S. Soccer Sports Envoys.  U.S. Sports Envoys are elite American athletes and coaches who travel overseas to engage youth and are an integral part of the United States’ vast diplomatic efforts to elevate sports to promote peace and democracy around the world.  

Lloyd, a former captain of the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, two-time FIFA Player of the Year, and sports broadcaster, will travel April 22-26 to Greece where she will team up with U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) alumnus Cobi Jones to engage youth on and off the field through soccer clinics and leadership workshops.  Jones holds the all-time record of international appearances (also known as caps) for the USMNT, and competed in three FIFA World Cups, as well as the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona. 

Chastain, a two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster, is on travel April 4-9 to the Azores with youth soccer development expert Radovan Pletka, where they are engaging young women soccer players.  While there, Chastain and Pletka are conducting soccer clinics, as well as leadership workshops that highlight the importance of education and inclusion.  Chastain scored the winning goal during a penalty kick shootout to crown the 1999 USWNT FIFA World Cup Champions.  In April 2023, Chastain co-founded Bay FC, the National Women’s Soccer League’s newest expansion team.  

Rounding out the 2024 spring lineup of sports envoys are U.S. Women’s National Team alumnae Joanna Lohman and Kacey White, who traveled March 1-8 to Cambodia, where they worked with young soccer players and coaches in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to elevate inclusion, tolerance, and gender equality both on and off the field of competition. Both Lohman and White have served as U.S. Sports Envoys previously.  Lohman also played for the Washington Spirit, the Washington, DC-based National Women’s Soccer League, and was the organization’s first player to have her number 15 jersey retired. 

For more information on the United States’ global efforts to promote peace and democracy through sports, please contact eca-press@state.gov.