Compared to the accelerated track to Olympic gold that was 2024, this year has been one of transformational adjustments within the U.S. women’s national team. Relative to the tight deadline head coach Emma Hayes was under when she began her tenure last year, officially starting the job two months before the Olympics, she luxuriated in ample time with the team in 2025 . This meant time to tinker with the development pipeline within U.S. Soccer, which led to the inaugural Futures Camp in January a
This meant time to tinker with the development pipeline within U.S. Soccer, which led to the inaugural Futures Camp in January as well as a record-setting 16 new players called up to the senior team, which makes the USWNT’s 2025 record of 12-3 even more impressive.
Throughout the year, players spoke of steep learning curves, exceptional challenges, and confidence building as they attempted to wedge their way into the core group Hayes plans to hone in on when the intensity of World Cup preparation increases further in 2026.
The U.S. finished the calendar year with a tidy 2-0 victory over Italy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Dec. 1, and only seven of the players who competed in that match were part of the team’s gold medal-winning roster from the 2024 Summer Olympics. The Athletic reflects on some of the most pivotal moments from 2025 and sets intentions for the next.
Best moment
USWNT’s high-scoring summer
This summer felt like the epitome of Hayes’ vision not only for the senior national team, but the system she’s been forging with other head coaches on the women’s side of U.S. Soccer. She kicked the summer off in surprising fashion by offering a break to players based in Europe who had just completed their seasons abroad; only center-back Naomi Girma, who was working her way back from injury, was called in to camp that summer. Everyone else featured came from the NWSL and included a slew of new faces, many of whom had been named to the January Futures camp or had recently impressed at the U-23 level, like midfielder Sam Meza and defenders Jordyn Bugg and Lilly Reale.
The U.S. competition over the summer was filtered through the schedules of continental tournaments like the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Copa América Femenina, and the European Championship. They faced tests against China, Jamaica, Ireland, and Canada, and aced all four emphatically, scoring a total of 18 goals without conceding a single one. Given the volume of fresh faces who played during that window, this summer offered a glimpse of Hayes’ program in motion.
—Tamerra Griffin
Worst moment
USWNT 1-2 Portugal
I’m enjoying the growing lore between the U.S. and Portugal, which started at the 2023 World Cup when Portugal nearly knocked the U.S. out in the group stage. This match, the first of two in the October window, was their first time meeting since the World Cup. Portugal, despite having the weaker roster in terms of individual talent, was assertive and unafraid, bouncing back after conceding in the opening minute of the match to claim a massive 2-1 victory.
The U.S., meanwhile, looked listless across the pitch, unable to conduct plays from the midfield and generally seeming unsure of themselves, which resulted in individualistic play that Hayes described as a “game of Whac-a-Mole.” Adding to the concern was the fact that the starting midfielders in that game were composed of USWNT veterans Lindsey Heaps, Rose Lavelle, and Sam Coffey.
That said, at the risk of sounding aggressively glass-half-full, this felt more like a one-off moment rather than a pattern in 2025. Hayes has been adamant all year that she would not prioritize winning over development, which is why the USWNT’s other losses to Japan and Brazil that preceded this match are not “worst moment” candidates. Those games, which took place in February and April, respectively, were experimental for younger USWNT players like Ally Sentnor, Claire Hutton, and Lily Yohannes, who were going up against teams ranked among the top 10 in the world for the first time at the senior level. That was less the case in October and with a more experienced lineup, which is what made the Portugal match so confounding and disappointing.
—Griffin
Best player
Catarina Macario
Macario is a complete player, with a high, and frankly undefined, ceiling. So much so that it’s hard to tell how much better the 26-year-old forward can get. After missing out on the 2024 Olympics due to irritation in her knee, Macario started 2025 with a bang that refused to dull. She scored the USWNT’s first goal of the year against Colombia in the SheBelieves Cup and went on to net seven more, making her the team’s top goalscorer this year.
As with most things related to Macario’s game, the stat sheet only tells part of the story. Her awareness and movement off the ball are singular in the USWNT’s attack, and her ability to combine with younger players like Yohannes (whose two assists this year both led to Macario goals) and older ones like Lavelle makes her a critical link between generations on the pitch. She started all 10 of the matches she appeared in and recorded two assists on top of her eight goals on the year.
—Griffin
Favorite quote
Hayes on players going abroad
Hayes is good for a quirky metaphor; she’s quoted Robert Frost and made culinary references to putting players in the frying pan and slow-cooking her development plans like a winter stew.
My favorite line from Hayes, however, was in response to a question the former Chelsea manager is likely tired of being asked about USWNT players moving abroad to play in Europe. It’s a question she thinks exposes a subtle gendered assumption about where female athletes can and should be, rather than celebrating that they have viable options.
“I find it fascinating because nobody asked Mauricio (Pochettino, USMNT head coach) them, and it almost feels like we always have to ask that question because it’s women. Now, all of a sudden, women get the opportunity to choose. We should celebrate the position that women are in to be able to do that. We shouldn’t shoehorn it. Like, we can have an incredible league and still have incredible U.S. women’s national team players that played both here and abroad and is celebrated instead of, like, picking it apart.
“It doesn’t mean we’re always going to lose people forever, and it doesn’t mean we’re going to lose everyone. We just have to accept that different things matter to different people.”
—Griffin
Most surprising thing that happened
Sam Coffey the… goalscorer?
On a scale of 1-10, if someone had told me Sam Coffey would be in a three-way tie for second place on the USWNT’s list of top goalscorers by the end of 2025, my surprise would register somewhere at around an eight.
Before this year, the 26-year-old defensive midfielder had one goal to her name from a 2023 friendly against China. This year she scored four (including in another friendly against China), along with forwards Lynn Biyendolo and Ally Sentnor. Only Macario has scored more with eight.
“I miss plenty of them in practice, so it was about time I made one,” Coffey joked after this year’s China match. “I feel like I’m working a lot on trying to join the play more, get up in counter-measures. I tend to play it too safe, and think too ‘worst-case scenario,’ so I was just trying to join.”
The USWNT hasn’t seen a goalscoring No. 6 since Julie Ertz, who was known for her aerial prowess. Coffey’s profile is very different, but her burgeoning hunger for the back of the net makes for exciting possibilities as the USWNT continues to build.
—Griffin
Player to watch in 2026
Sophia Wilson
2025 was marked by a Triple Espresso-shaped hole in the USWNT as Wilson and Mallory Swanson were absent on maternity leave and Trinity Rodman’s ongoing back injury forced her into sporadic appearances on the national team. Wilson gave birth to her daughter Gianna in September, and by November was traveling with her to the NWSL Championship in San Jose, Calif. and the USWNT’s final games of the year in Florida.
When she announced that she would exercise her player option with the Thorns and return to Portland in 2026, Wilson mentioned the importance of returning to a familiar place after such a significant life change and long break from soccer. On the national team front, she’ll be returning to a completely different setup than the one she left shortly after the Olympics, which will make her return to the USWNT all the more worth paying attention to.
—Griffin
Best game
The bounce back in Connecticut
We all remember the panic that set in after the USWNT fell to Portugal at Subaru Park in Philadelphia. It was an uncharacteristic 2-1 loss from the U.S., as they seemed disjointed on the pitch. It was the first time the team played together in roughly 130 days, and it certainly showed.
But what stood out from this window was the team’s ability to bounce back. The U.S. returned to the pitch at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn., just three days later, where they faced Portugal again. This time, the U.S. flipped the script. Both games started with an early goal from the U.S., but the players kept their pace in their much-needed redo. Rising star Olivia Moultrie played a key role in their 3-1 win with her second-ever career brace — a symbolic nod to the team’s next generation. The team kept their momentum against Portugal, maintained control and ended the night on top.
As Hayes said after the match, “I’m really, really pleased with the mentality, most importantly, of the group to recover, but also (to) dominate the game in a way I expect and demand.” Losing against Portugal was just as important for the U.S. as winning against them was, and this pair of matches stands out as one of the most important weeks of 2025 for the USWNT as they continue to develop.
—Melanie Anzidei
Stat that sums up 2025
16 first-time call-ups
As Tamerra pointed out in her dispatch from Florida earlier this month, a record 16 players earned their first senior national team caps with the U.S. in 2025. This stands as the most caps earned in any calendar year in program history.
Hayes’ pipeline was put into motion this fall when Rodman had to miss the USWNT camps in October and November after sustaining a mid-season injury with the Washington Spirit. Paris Saint-Germain’s Eva Gaetino, who was called up to train with the U.S. U-23 camp, was called up mid-window to fill in that vacancy on the senior side.
This fluidity between the two teams was also highlighted by Gotham FC’s Jaedyn Shaw. The 21-year-old successfully moved between both rosters, returning to the USWNT senior side in October for the first time since April after spending two summer windows with the U-23. Upon her return, Shaw seemed refreshed. This was punctuated further by her dominance with Gotham, which she joined in September, and later helped lead to their second NWSL Championship win in three years.
Hayes’ persistence in developing this pipeline will continue to strengthen the foundation of the U.S. team and allow players the flexibility to develop at their own pace.
—Anzidei
A wish for 2026
The return of Triple Espresso
About a year ago, when Hayes shared the USWNT’s 26-player roster for January camp, the team’s announcement included a line about the Triple Espresso. The beloved frontline of Wilson, Swanson and Rodman would be absent from the team’s first camp of 2025, as they continued offseason rest and injury recovery.
No one could have predicted that we would go the entire calendar year without the trio together on a pitch, especially after they won the hearts of global soccer fans with their Olympic gold medal run in Paris just the summer before. Wilson and Swanson took time away from soccer in 2025 to start their families, while Rodman’s long-anticipated return to the USWNT this fall was delayed by an injury sustained during the NWSL season.
To say the national team has moved on from Triple Espresso would be wrong. Sure, multiple players have stepped up in their absence, and these players will all have to earn their way back into the team’s starting lineup, but as the USWNT eyes the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, this next year will be critical in identifying the tournament’s final roster.
—Anzidei
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
US Women's national team, NWSL, Women's Soccer
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