Women's Soccer

Thirteen-year-old McKenna Whitham signed a professional contract with the NJ/NY Gotham FC on Friday, making her the youngest player in NWSL history.

Whitham, who turns 14 on Saturday, reportedly signed a guaranteed contract that becomes effective Jan. 1, 2025, and runs through 2028. She also signed a signed a national team replacement player contract, which makes her available to play in upcoming NWSL x Liga MX Summer Cup matches.

Gotham FC sign McKenna Whitham

Two Mallory Swanson goals vs Zambia in the 24th and 25th minute put the United States women’s national team out of reach as they cruised to a 3-0 victory in their opening game of the 2024 Olympics. 

The USWNT’s first group stage game was played in Nice, France.

The USA came out swinging to begin their quest for gold, peppering Zambia’s goal with shots. Swanson and Trinity Rodman both rocked the crossbar with efforts early in the first half.

ST-ETIENNE — Defending champions Canada defeated New Zealand 2-1 in their Paris Olympics opening game on Thursday overshadowed by a spying scandal that has engulfed the women's tournament.

Cloe Lacasse and Evelyne Viens scored on a night that might have been a routine group win for Canada before it was thrust into the global spotlight due to a scandal that saw manager Bev Priestman sit out Thursday's game and two staff members sent home amid allegations of drone use at two New Zealand practices.

United States women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes says that assuming the USA will reach the final or semifinals of the Olympics is “disrespectful” to the rest of the world.

Hayes spoke with the media on Tuesday ahead of the USWNT’s Olympic campaign and warned that the rest of the world has caught up to the U.S. in women’s soccer.

“Too often we keep talking about what we’re going to do in Paris, or what happens when you get to the semis or the finals,” Hayes said. “I think it’s disrespectful to the rest of the world to talk like that.”

Korbin Albert was given an unexpected start for Tuesday’s United States women’s national team Olympic send-off game vs. Costa Rica. Rose Lavelle was a late scratch due to muscle tightness and head coach Emma Hayes put Albert in the starting XI.

The United States women’s national team will be competing for gold in under two weeks and have a major conundrum. They can’t find the back of the net.

On Tuesday the Stars and Stripes played their send-off game at Audi Field in Washington D.C. against Costa Rica, ranked 44th in the world, and drew 0-0.

The USWNT had struggled to score against Mexico in their 1-0 victory on Saturday, and the problems carried over to Tuesday’s friendly.

The United States women’s national team defeated Mexico 1-0 on Saturday in a friendly ahead of the USWNT’s 2024 Olympics campaign. While the U.S. secured the victory, something they failed to do against Mexico in the W Gold Cup earlier this year, there’s still plenty of work to be done.

Finishing was perhaps the biggest issue for the USWNT on Saturday as they kept getting into promising positions in front of goal but couldn’t find the net. The U.S. recorded 17 shots, six on target and should've scored more than the one.