The women’s soccer year in review
The USWNT redeemed itself and the NWSL championships proved historic in a year full of joyful soccer
There was Triple Espresso and the Orlando Pride’s magical ride to the NWSL championship. There was also that loss to Mexico (yikes), a weird Canadian drone scandal, and we said farewell to a few icons. This was a particularly eventful year for women’s soccer. In a strange way, it was also the antidote for a really, really disappointing 2023. So, let’s dig right in!
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(Editor’s note: this is the last Soccer Monday of 2024. The IX is off next week, and Soccer Monday will return on Jan. 6, 2024.)
January: The year started with Gotham making some power moves. The team added Crystal Dunn, Tierna Davidson, Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett to a roster that already had Esther and Lynn Williams. That is just an insane amount of talent. These moves wound up getting Gotham all to the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs. January was also massively disappointing in the soccer world, with Sam Kerr’s season-ending ACL injury.
Other January notables: Croix Bethune was drafted by the Washington Spirit, Spain’s Aitana Bonmati won FIFA Best Player of the Year, Sarina Wiegman earned the Best Coach award, and Mary Earps won Best Goalkeeper.
February: Interim USWNT coach Twila Kilgore named the squad for the first CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup. Mallory Swanson returned from her patella tendon injury, albeit as a training player. Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn were not included on the roster, but Morgan was added when Mia Fishel tore her ACL during training.
The roster was notable because Kilgore, acting on behalf of not-yet-arrived Emma Hayes, gave playing time to up-and-coming teenagers like Olivia Moultire and Jaedyn Shaw. Shaw in particular seemed to solidify her future with the team.
The good feeling around the USWNT turned to worry when the United States lost to Mexico in the Gold Cup in February. Here’s my story for AP on what happened, and why it mattered. Of course one loss in a tournament doesn’t necessarily mean it’s over …
March: The USWNT rebounded from the loss with a 3-0 win over Colombia, then went on to redeem itself with a victory over Brazil in the final (with a rain-soaked win over Canada along the way). My takeaways from that tournament: that the future looked bright with Shaw and the other teens, the defense was the USWNT’s secret weapon with Naomi Girma and Alyssa Naeher, and Alex Morgan wasn’t done just yet. Those predictions would obviously become more interesting as the year progressed.
Also in March, the NWSL season got underway. The draw for the Olympics was held as well. We all know now what happened there. But first things first.
April: Korbin Albert’s inclusion on the USWNT roster for the abbreviated SheBelieves Cup (the tournament was trimmed as it was an Olympic year) came with controversy, which is still resonating today with fans who booed her when she subbed in during the team’s recent trip to Europe.
Albert drew widespread criticism over some of her social media activity. She posted a part of a sermon that attacked being gay and “feeling transgender.” She also portrayed her family proclaiming their pronouns to be USA. And she apparently liked an upsetting Instagram post that took delight in Megan Rapinoe’s injury in her final match last year.
Albert went on the record to say she was sorry: “I truly believe that everyone should feel safe and respected everywhere and on all playing fields. I know my actions have not lived up to that and for that I sincerely apologize.”
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The SheBelieves roster also included 16-year-old Lily Yohannes and Cat Macario. The United States went on to beat Canada for the tournament title.
May: Kelley O’Hara announces she’s hanging up her cleats. Of course, Just Women’s Sports breaks the story.
Is this everybody else’s favorite Kelley O’Hara moment too?
The FIFA Congress voted (for the first time) on the host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup. To absolutely no one’s surprise, the host will be Brazil.
Oh, and Emma Hayes arrived in the United States to take over the national team. Which leads us to …
June: Fans got a first look of what the team would look like under Hayes. The USWNT got a pair of wins against South Korea before getting a bit of revenge with a 1-0 win over Mexico. In the first one, Hayes started four up top, with Sophia Smith, Catarina Macario, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman. Macario played the No. 10 role, Smith in the No. 9. Interesting.
“I feel-re-energized and want to coach this group, and they want to be coached. And I think you can see we’re building something. There’s lots of work to do. There’s lot of holes in our play, no question. But it was a good start,” Hayes said.
Unfortunately, Macario wasn’t named to the Olympic roster because of injury. Lynn Williams got the nod in her place. But the biggest news about the roster was that Alex Morgan was staying home.
July: Off to France! But before the NWSL’s Olympic break The Orlando Pride defeated the Kansas City Current 2-1 and, in the process, improved to 11-0-5 on the season. This win extended their unbeaten streak to 17 games, dating back to last season.
The Olympics open with controversy. Canada is accused of flying drones over New Zealand’s practice before the first match and everything is thrown into chaos. Coach Bev Priestman was sent home and suspended for a year before she was ultimately fired. The scandal is ongoing, with Canada Soccer recently releasing results of its investigation.
“I am absolutely heartbroken for the players, and I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the impact this situation has had on all of them,” Priestman said in a statement during the Olympics. “As the leader of the team on the field, I want to take accountability, and I plan to fully cooperate with the investigation.”
It was a black eye for Canada Soccer, not just because it involved the defending Olympic champions, but because Canada is preparing to co-host the 2026 men’s World Cup and is mired in scandal.
There was happier news for the USWNT, though, who were winning in France. The USWNT downed Japan 1-0 in extra time in the quarterfinals. There was nearly a US-Canada semifinal but alas, the Germans prevailed on penalty kicks. Canada, despite being docked six points because of the drones, still amazingly advanced to the knockout round.
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August: The USWNT defeated Germany in the semifinals and advanced to the gold medal match. And we all know what happened there. Along the way, the United States found its joie de vivre.
In the 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final, Mallory Swanson warned teammate Sophia Smith not to touch the ball because she was offside, then buried it herself in the 57th minute. Alyssa Naeher preserved the 1-0 victory with a one-handed stoppage time save on Adriana’s header.
Along the way, I got robbed in Lyon, I briefly got to hold Casey Krueger’s gold medal, and I got to see this:
But August was not over. Once we all returned to the United States, the NWSL signed a historic collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association. The CBA eliminated the draft and opened up free agency, giving players more flexibility in determining their futures. Here’s my AP story. This new CBA has implications for the future. Stay tuned to The IX, because we’re going to be looking at it all in the new year.
September: This happened, marking the end of an era:
Alex Morgan not only retired from soccer, she announced that she was pregnant with her second child.
In addition to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019, Morgan also won a gold medal with the United States at the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Early in her career, she was known by the nickname Baby Horse, a moniker given to her by teammates because of her long strides. One of her most memorable goals came in London, the game-winner in extra time against Canada that sent the United States to the Olympic final. A year earlier, she scored in the World Cup final against Japan.
At the 2019 World Cup, Morgan scored the deciding goal in a 2-1 semifinal victory over England, which she celebrated by pretending to sip tea.
Morgan played in 224 matches for the national team, ninth-all time, with 123 goals (fifth all-time) and 53 assists (ninth all-time). She was named the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2012 and 2018.
Truly an amazing career. On a personal note, it still hasn’t quite sunk in.
We had hardly recovered from that announcement when another came, although this was more predictable. Christine Sinclair, who had already stepped away from the Canadian national team, was leaving club soccer, too, at the end of the season with the Portland Thorns.
October: It finally happened. The Orlando Pride lost a match, falling to the Thorns.
The Thorns were winless in seven games going into the match, hurting with both Sophia Smith and Hina Sugita injured. The Pride were on a high, having already clinched the team’s first major trophy, the NWSL Shield. They had a 23-match unbeaten streak this season, and 24-game run dating back to last season.
The Pride, apparently satisfied with the Shield and looking forward to a bigger prize in the playoffs, rested its usual starters. That opened a window for the determined Thorns, who won 2-0.
Also in October, Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or. Oh and Emma Hayes won coach of the year.
The USWNT also won a pair of friendlies against Iceland.
November: Portland said goodbye to Sinc. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Oh, and she scored in her final regular-season match, giving her a fairytale ending.
The Orlando Pride wrapped up the season as the NWSL champions with a victory over the Washington Spirit. What a ride from last season to this.
The IX’s Kathleen Gier wrote this absolutely wonderful lede:
KANSAS CITY – As the final whistle blew in Saturday night’s National Women’s Soccer League Championship match, Brazil legend Marta fell to her knees with her arms outstretched to the sky.
In that moment, she attempted to balance the joy and relief of winning an elusive league title before being swarmed by teammates. When asked for her first reaction on stage following the Orlando Pride’s 1-0 victory against the Washington Spirit, she had her response ready.
“I fucking waited eight years!”
And that brings us to the final month of the year …
December: The USWNT played to a scoreless draw with England at Wembley but the story was Alyssa Naeher, who was added to the list of notable retirements in 2024. The 36-year-old goalkeeper played in 115 games for the U.S., with 111 starts, 89 wins and 69 shutouts.
Naeher is the only U.S. keeper with shutouts in both a World Cup and an Olympic final. She’ll go down in USWNT history as one of the greats.
“I feel like in my heart I would love to keep going. In my head, in my body and mind, I feel like it’s the right time. And I think it’s the right time with this team as well as it builds towards the future and towards 2027,” Naeher said. “This environment, this team, is an incredible team to be a part of, but it’s also really hard and really challenging in a lot of ways as well. I feel like I’ve given everything I have to give for this team and that’s why I feel at peace with that.”
And I’m at peace with saying goodbye to 2024 and looking forward to 2025. Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading and subscribing. I’ve been writing Soccer Mondays since 2018, and it is just a joy. So, happy holidays everybody, and here’s to a great New Year.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
