Phenoms

The 10th annual NWSL Draft was held on Saturday evening, and with the No. 1 overall pick, expansion side San Diego Wave FC selected Stanford defender Naomi Girma, who was U.S. Soccer's 2020 Young Female Player of the Year.

Girma joins a San Diego backline anchored by USWNT veteran Abby Dahlkemper and former Stanford teammate Tegan McGrady. The 21-year-old can also play in midfield, where she may be needed after the club selected a forward, German international Marleen Schimmer out of Grand Canyon University, with its ninth pick in the first round.  

On Tuesday, 16-year-old Landon high school junior Kristian Fletcher was named The Washington Post's All-Met Player of the Year after the forward recorded nine assists and 26 goals, including the winner in the Interstate Athletic Conference championship game, in just 17 games.

MLS needs more David Ochoas. It needs more players that “enjoy being the villain” and who aren’t — in a league that prides itself on providing the joyful unpredictably of parity — afraid of taking the spotlight and shining it firmly on themselves.

It makes the atmosphere in stadiums better. It makes matchups more intriguing. It creates headlines.

With the OL Reign taking center stage at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma on Sunday, all eyes were on the attacking riches of the No. 2 seed in the NWSL playoffs, including the USWNT duo of Megan Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle, France’s Eugénie Le Sommer, Germany’s Dzsenifer Marozsán and Wales’ Jess Fishlock.    

They were collectively outplayed and humbled by the Washington Spirit’s 19-year-old sensation Trinity Rodman and 22-year-old attacker Ashley Sanchez.

PARIS - Kylian Mbappé continued his meteoric rise on Saturday with another jaw-dropping performance as France qualified for next year's World Cup with an 8-0 demolition of Kazakhstan.

The Paris Saint-Germain striker became the first player to score four goals for France in a single game since Just Fontaine against Sweden at the 1958 World Cup.

Five weeks before his 23rd birthday, Mbappé has scored 23 international goals from 52 caps — bettering the marks of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the same age.

Forward Christian Pulisic headlines the 25-man roster announced Thursday for the United States Men's National Team's upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Players will begin reporting to camp in Cincinnati this Sunday. The USMNT will face Mexico at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium on Nov. 12 before traveling to face Jamaica in Kingston on Nov. 16.

The U.S. (3-1-2, 11 points) is currently in second place behind Mexico (4-0-2, 14 points) in the CONCACAF qualifying table for the Qatar World Cup. Canada (2-0-4, 10 points) is third.