The Future of U.S. Women’s Soccer Is Here

Alex Morgan waited her turn. Before she morphed into one of the greatest footballers of all time, she was just a 22-year-old hopeful making her World Cup debut for the U.S. women’s national team.

It was 2011, and Team USA was playing in its first match at the World Cup. Excitement hummed inside the team’s youngest player, as she tried to navigate the delicate balance between fitting in and standing out.

“As a young player, I didn’t have all the confidence that I do now,” Morgan says. “And this team—the national team—gave me that confidence. They really helped me find my voice.”

She watched and waited. Studying veterans like Christie Pearce Rampone, Abby Wambach, and Shannon Boxx, who all had multiple World Cup caps under their belts. But she was eventually called upon as a substitute, and in the semifinal against France, she delivered. In a tight game, the U.S. needed a goal. It needed a spark.

It needed her.

There was no time to think, no time to doubt. Her moment was here. And she seized it in the 82nd minute, scoring the goal that sealed the U.S.’s spot in the World Cup final. Though Team USA would eventually fall short in a penalty shootout against Japan, Morgan came up big once again in the final, finishing with a goal in the 69th minute and an assist on Wambach’s game-tying goal in the 104th minute.

It’s surreal for Morgan now, 12 years later, at age 34, to be the one who is being watched and waited upon by her much-younger U.S. teammates, as they prepare for their first World Cup in New Zealand and Australia later this week. They are as green, as determined, as she was, back in 2011. Fourteen of Team USA’s 23 players will be playing in their first World Cup this year—more than the USWNT had at either of the previous two World Cups. The U.S. has dominated, winning both of those World Cups in 2015 and 2019.

Morgan can sense something special is happening again. There’s a shift inside the USWNT program, much like when she scored her first World Cup goal in 2011 or when Wambach and Rampone were coming up and established stars like Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Brandi Chastain stepped aside for them.

The ground is shifting. Beneath Morgan and beneath the 38-year-old Megan Rapinoe, who recently announced she would retire at the end of the National Women’s Soccer League season. Morgan has yet to announce her own plans for the future. It’s eerie, watching the cycle spin in real time. How one is briefly a rookie and then suddenly a veteran. Anticipation turns to wisdom and fear melts into memory. It’s all a lesson to pass on to her younger teammates she sees running up and down the pitch every day.

These younger teammates, of course, aren’t merely on the roster to observe or to learn; they’re there to contribute. Because much like the World Cup teams of the past, this next generation isn’t just the future, they also might be the key to the present. There is something unique about this young core, something that Morgan hasn’t seen since her first World Cup in 2011. “The talent level is just unmatched,” Morgan says. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced with my time on the team so many players in their teens and young 20s that have just been so dominant on the world stage.”

Team USA will look to become the first team to three-peat at the competition, kicking off play against Vietnam on July 21. The U.S. is favored to win the title, despite the loss of several key players to injury. Becky Sauerbrunn, the 38-year-old center back and typical team captain, recently announced that she’d be missing the tournament due to a foot injury. Mallory Swanson, one of the team’s brightest young talents, who had seven goals in six appearances this year, will miss the World Cup with a torn patella tendon. Christen Press and Catarina Macario will also be absent while recovering from torn ACLs.

Aside from Morgan, Rapinoe, and 31-year-old star Crystal Dunn, the team may be forced to rely on a core of young players, including forward Trinity Rodman, defender Naomi Girma, and forward Sophia Smith. The trio respects those who came before them, but they aren’t intimidated by them either. They are wiser and more poised than their ages might indicate. They bring creativity and flair to the pitch—coloring outside the lines rather than playing it safe.

“This younger group, we definitely don’t lack confidence,” says Smith, 22. “I don’t think it’s cocky. I don’t think it’s ego. I think we’ve come to a place where we know what we can do. We know what we’re capable of. And we know people may be calling us ‘The Future’ or whatever. But we know that we can impact the game right now. A lot of us want to prove that every single day.”

The future may be here, but the current generation isn’t ready to give up the pitch, either. Regardless of age, everyone on the USWNT fought for their positions in the run-up to this World Cup. Tackle after tackle. Jerseys yanked. Fouls whistled. Everyone sprinting harder with each minute. Some attackers dreaded the common intrasquad three-vs.-three, attackers-vs.-defenders drill, as the defenders rarely let them score.

“We’re brawling all the time,” says Rodman. “As soon as you step off, it’s kind of like, ‘My bad.’ But it’s what the game calls for.” She adds: “I almost feel like people would think, ‘Oh the younger ones are working harder because they kind of have something to prove.’” Rather, everyone’s pushing each other, holding each other accountable—regardless of age, Rodman says: “There’s no turning off. You’re locked in at all times.”

Rodman, who turned 21 in late May, was the youngest player ever drafted in NWSL history when the Washington Spirit selected the 18-year-old no. 2 in 2021. She’s now the second-youngest player on the U.S. women’s team, behind only 18-year-old Alyssa Thompson, but for years has been playing at the highest levels of the game. Her youth team, the SoCal Blues, didn’t lose for five straight years and won four national youth championships. Rodman, the highest-paid NWSL player, is also the daughter of NBA star Dennis Rodman (they do not have a close relationship). Her path has been unique, to say the least, skipping college ball to turn pro.

“If Trinity was a boy,” says Greg Baker, Rodman’s Blues coach, “we would be touting her as the next Neymar.”

Rodman scored two goals in the U.S.’s 2-0 friendly victory against Wales on July 9, its final tune-up before World Cup play. Rodman, Girma, and Smith are the first players born in the 2000s to be named to a U.S. women’s World Cup roster. They, of course, weren’t alive for the historic 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, hosted and won by the U.S. But carrying on the tradition is meaningful to them, even though they didn’t experience the beginning.

“These young players have no fear,” Morgan says. “When I was younger, and when other players were younger, it’s like, ‘OK. I’ll wait until it’s my turn.’ But these players are like, ‘No, I’m not going to wait until it’s my turn. I’m going to force their hands so my turn comes sooner than it should.’ That’s the kind of mentality that I really haven’t seen before.”

Women’s football in America may be inching toward an inflection point. With Rodman and Thompson, this marks the second consecutive World Cup in which the U.S. has had multiple players aged 21 or younger on a World Cup roster.

“We have integrated more young players than any other time before,” says Vlatko Andonovski, head coach of the U.S. women’s national team.

“They’re constantly competing with themselves. Even for the smallest thing, they want to be perfect.”

All three women mention the word “standard” when discussing what it means to play for Team USA. The standard isn’t even talked about—it’s felt. The standard is not necessarily just about talent. It’s the attitude, intensity, that players bring to the pitch. “You have to try to be the best version of yourself every moment, every second that you spend in this environment,” Andonovski says, “otherwise the environment pushes you out.”

The younger players understood that early, by watching the intensity with which veterans approached something as simple as a recovery session. Smith, who plays for Portland Thorns FC and currently leads the NWSL with 10 goals, saw that focus during her first national-team camp around age 16. She told herself that her goal would be to learn as much as possible. But being in that environment opened her eyes to not just what it would take to be on that team, but stay on that team. The effort level is sustained far beyond the camp. “It’s the mindset that it’s not work, it’s your life,” Smith says. “Your whole life.”

Rodman had a similar epiphany early on in her time with the squad. In one drill, while players were practicing crossing, the coaches brought in men to defend the women. The men kept blocking Rodman’s shots again and again.

I don’t really know what to do. They’re faster than me, she thought to herself, before letting out a quiet giggle under her breath. It was a defense mechanism she used after making a mistake, more so out of embarrassment than frivolity. “I got whipped into shape real fast,” she says. “Vlatko was not having it. He was like, ‘This isn’t a laughing matter. You need to fix it.’”

“You’re right,” she said. She didn’t slip up again. Of course, she and her teammates have moments when they do goof around in practice every so often, as anyone might, but she has learned to better pick her moments. She has learned that wearing the Team USA jersey—even a practice jersey—is sacred.

“When we’re in a drill, it’s time to go,” Rodman says. “There’s no messing around.”

The veterans often share wisdom with the younger players about how fast-paced the World Cup will be. How grueling it will feel. “It doesn’t get easier,” they often tell the younger group, encouraging them to embrace the difficulties ahead.

“It’s just knowing that for those 30 days, 35, 45 days, you have to be focused. You have to be your best every single day, and it’s harder than anything that has ever been asked of you,” Morgan says.

Rodman remembers a recent conversation with Rapinoe, when the veteran was talking to her about self-confidence: “Even from our head coach, you don’t need the validation,” Rodman remembers Rapinoe telling her. “You shouldn’t be sitting on a team with validation from a coach saying, ‘You’re going to get these minutes. You’re not going to get these minutes. This is what you need to do.’ At the end of the day, the validation is them bringing you into camp, and it’s your responsibility to take care of the rest.”

Another instance, Rodman was going up against defender Emily Sonnett, trying to gain position, during an 11-on-11 intrasquad match. As hard as Rodman tried to get near Sonnett’s back shoulder, she couldn’t move the very strong and experienced player. Rodman was frustrated with herself, but instead of sulking, she asked Sonnett for help. “How do you think I can do better?” she asked. “How can I get my positioning to where you can’t get it, to where I completely beat you?”

Instead of resenting a younger player, Sonnett explained exactly how to do it, even if that would be giving Rodman an advantage the next time they matched up. “For her to give me the feedback knowing that next practice, I’m going to go against her and maybe beat her to the ball, it speaks volumes,” Rodman says. “The people around me want what’s best for me, even when they’re going against me.”

These lessons extend off the pitch as well, to things far more important than football. Girma, a center back who plays for San Diego Wave FC and was the no. 1 pick in 2022, often receives wisdom from those ahead of her, mostly Sauerbrunn. Similar to how Morgan learned from the vets ahead of her how to be comfortable speaking up and to embrace her own voice, Girma saw the way Sauerbrunn used her platform to advocate for bigger issues, such as pay equity. “We’ve seen time and time again how much the national team will stand up for not only ourselves,” Girma says, “but for other people who don’t have as big of a voice or don’t have as big of a platform.”

The USWNT has been a pioneer in that aspect, standing up on a multitude of issues, including racial discrimination, systemic abuse, pay inequity, and more. That’s Morgan’s hope as well—for the torch to truly be passed.

“Having the platform that we have to speak up, to be an advocate for LGBTQ [rights] or [other] inequalities, is incredibly important,” Morgan says. “That’s definitely a huge part of this team and will be for a long time.”

Girma hopes to carry on that legacy of advocacy, too.

Her ties extend far beyond the U.S. She is the first USWNT player (and NWSL player) of Ethiopian descent. Her father, Girma Aweke, immigrated from Ethiopia when he was around 19 or 20, fleeing a horrific dictatorship and a crumbling economy. It was a harrowing journey, one filled with uncertainty with each passing day.

When he eventually settled in the Bay Area, he met his wife, Seble Demissie, through the local Ethiopian community. She, too, had immigrated from Ethiopia, when she was 21.

They taught young Naomi, and her brother, Nathaniel, the importance of not forgetting their roots. As she started falling in love with football, her father created a football team, called Maleda Soccer Club. “Maleda” means “dawn” in Amharic, one of the main languages in Ethiopia.

“There wasn’t a lot of extra money to give, but it was always something that was just a part of life, is you give to your community,” she says.

As a child, she couldn’t fully appreciate the struggles her parents went through to come to America. She was just trying to fit in with her own classmates, most of whom were white, and many of whom perceived her as different. “That was hard,” Naomi says, “you just didn’t want to be different.”

Deep down, she was proud of her Ethiopian culture. But it took her many years to fully embrace it. As she got older, she started sharing her culture with teammates. That started with food, her aunt’s Kitfo—beef cooked with comforting spices.

Now that she’s much older, she can fully appreciate her parents’ sacrifices for her, and feels she is playing for something bigger than herself.

She wants to inspire other Black girls and women who look like her, especially as the USWNT is becoming more diverse than ever. “It’s something I didn’t see that much when I was younger,” she says. Naomi was at a recent event with young footballers when she spotted a lone Black girl in the mostly white group, warming up, doing skips.

That was me, Naomi thought.

Naomi approached the girl with a bright “Hi!,” extending her hand for a high-five. The girl burrowed into Naomi’s chest instead for a giant hug.

Naomi was so moved, seeing this girl see her. Seeing what she could one day become.

Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/USSF/Getty Images for USSF

Girma is particularly close with Smith. They were teammates at Stanford, helping the Cardinal win the 2019 Women’s College Cup championship. They have become best friends, but they are also close with the team’s other young players, such as midfielder Ashley Sanchez, because they’ve been in the national-team pool since they were in their early teens.

A connection outside of football, though, has further strengthened Team USA’s current young core. They have a book club, mostly reading romance novels, especially books by their favorite author, Colleen Hoover. They schedule coffee runs together. TikTok brought them even closer. Rodman knows how it sounds, when she brings that up: “That sounds so … 20 years old,” Rodman says. “But as soon as I started making TikToks and asking people to be in them, just to break the ice, it opened up so much for me. There’s only so much you can do to really get to know someone when you’re in the meal room.”

TikTok allowed the younger players to get to know each other’s energetic and creative personalities and develop chemistry in a non-pressure environment. TikTok helped Rodman come out of her shell, as she remembers one in particular where she mastered a dance with Smith and Swanson. “It just brings so much joy,” Rodman says. “You can’t not laugh when you’re making a TikTok.”

The veteran players have embraced the platform, too. Morgan asked everyone to get into one of her TikToks, when everyone was jumping around, screaming, celebrating a victory. “They definitely keep me young,” Morgan says. “Being a mom, some of these girls are closer in age, to, it seems, my daughter than me.” She knows that’s not exactly true, but it certainly feels like it.

That youthful joy has crossed over to matches—especially in Smith’s game. Smith doesn’t just sprint, she dazzles. She plays off instinct, quickly making decisions with her high football IQ. “I like to put on a show when I’m playing,” Smith says.

Growing up in Windsor, Colorado, Smith learned much of her creativity from watching the Brazilian football legend Marta. Part of Smith’s natural creativity came from playing basketball. Her father, Kenny, a former player for the University of Wyoming, coached her, and always instilled a sense of confidence in her. “She would always try things and try to get out of her comfort zone,” Kenny says.

But as Smith got older, she felt there were too many plays in basketball. Too much structure.

She decided to fully commit to football around 13. It wasn’t an easy road. She wasn’t invited for one U-17 national-team camp. It was “heartbreaking,” says her mother, Mollie. But Smith didn’t give up or lose confidence.

Still, Smith wasn’t immediately comfortable showcasing her creativity. At first, she kept things simple. Safe. At times she felt she struggled.

Gradually, however, she got more experience, which helped her become more confident. Take more risks. “She’s world class now,” says Mike Norris, her coach with the Thorns. Norris thinks she can sustain that elite level “for the next 10 years to come.”

As Morgan watches this younger generation gain more experience, she tries to teach them about balance. She wishes she had learned that message earlier in her own career. “Balance in life is really important. For a lot of these younger players, soccer has been their entire life, and I mean, justifiably so. They’re 18 or younger,” Morgan says.

“But at the same time, I just feel like balance and making sure you take time for yourself outside of soccer, make sure you have an identity outside of soccer, and have a good support system that sometimes has nothing to do with how they value you as a human outside of the soccer field, is incredibly important.”

But for now, there is a World Cup to win. Challenges to meet. She and the veterans continue to stress: It doesn’t get easier.

“It will actually get harder,” Andonovski says. “But what we’ve trained all along, is to learn how to deal with the difficulties and how to use the difficulties. ... Accept those challenges. Don’t run away. Face them straight up.”