WASHINGTON — About midway through the first half of a friendly against Spain on Saturday, U.S. women’s national team forward Sophia Wilson won the ball in midfield. She raced up the pitch and launched a powerful shot that Spain goalkeeper Adriana Nanclares deflected off the crossbar.
Many observers would look at that sequence and call it unlucky that Wilson didn’t score. U.S. head coach Emma Hayes had a different take.
“Unlucky is being struck by lightning,” she told reporters postgame.
Whatever you call it, though, that play from Wilson summarized how much of the game went for the United States in a 2-0 loss to the reigning World Cup champions. The U.S. had a missed penalty kick and a goal called back for offside. Meanwhile, Spain’s two goals came in the first 15 minutes, and Hayes felt that both were extremely avoidable.
Across the full 90 minutes, Spain had just three shots on goal, all in the first half, to 10 for the U.S. The visitors produced just 0.43 expected goals (xG) to the United States’ 2.26, per U.S. Soccer. And beyond that, Hayes said she saw several chances for the U.S. that she considered significant, but that she knew xG wouldn’t rate very highly.
All of it added up to a frustrating afternoon for the Americans.
“I’m disappointed at how easily we conceded today,” Hayes said. “And the finishing part, I know that we’ll [make] good with that. We need to keep creating the chances we did and have a bit more quality with that as a collective, and a bit more belief. And I thought there was a lot of good things, too.”
So much of what went wrong came down to details, Hayes and her players emphasized. As a coach, Hayes instinctively wants her players to get all the details correct right now, but she knows she needs to be patient. She said she’d much rather have her team produce stats like Saturday’s than not create chances — and she knows this group is still growing into what it can become for the 2027 World Cup.
Some of that growth will come naturally with greater familiarity. Saturday’s starting back four of Avery Patterson, Kennedy Wesley, Tierna Davidson and Fox had never started a game all together on defense. Subbing in Michelle Cooper — listed on the training camp roster as a forward — at right back late in the game to try to chase a goal didn’t add continuity there, either.
Forward/midfielder Ashley Sanchez made her return to the national team, entering the game in the 66th minute. Before this week, she’d last played in a game for the U.S. in October 2024, and last participated in a training camp in January 2025. But with Sanchez in the midst of a 20-goal NWSL season, Hayes not only called her back into camp, but also gave her game minutes to evaluate her further.
In addition, Wilson and fellow forward Mallory Swanson both recently returned to the team after giving birth and are finding their rhythm. Saturday was Wilson’s sixth game played since having daughter Gigi in September 2025, and Swanson made her first appearance since having daughter Josie in November.
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Return of the moms
Swanson became the 19th mother to play for the U.S. when she entered the game in the 66th minute. She played alongside Wilson, the 18th mother to appear in a game, on the day the team honored the 14th mother, retired player Crystal Dunn, in a pregame ceremony.
Dunn was presented with a framed jersey with the number 160 on the back, matching the number of caps she earned for the team. She was part of U.S. teams that won the Under-20 World Cup, the senior-level World Cup and the Olympics, and she was named CONCACAF Female Player of the Year in 2021. She was also central in the national team’s fight for equal pay, which it achieved in 2022, and was a role model for countless Black athletes who saw few players of color at the highest levels of soccer.
“You think about the time she’s coming through the program,” Hayes said on Friday. “Representation wasn’t the same [as it is now]. … I’ve heard it so many times when I’m on the road: the number of people that tuned into soccer because of Crystal and what she gave both as a player [and] as a person.”
In the NWSL, Dunn was named MVP with the Washington Spirit in 2015 and won three championships with two different teams. She announced her retirement in January, when she felt there was nothing else she needed to accomplish in the sport.
“I’m just really excited for [the current players’] future,” Dunn told reporters pregame. “… While there is always a level of, ‘Man, I wish we could grow up in the era of today,’ there is something beautiful about saying, ‘But look at where the game is. And we were a massive part in helping the game be exactly where it is, and that’s what our role was.’ It was about us paving the way.”
One of the areas Dunn paved the way was in motherhood. Though there have been moms on the U.S. team since the mid-1990s, Dunn helped show this era of players that coming back from pregnancy and childbirth was possible. Fittingly, she was wearing several beaded bracelets on Saturday, one of which read “MAMA.” And when it was time for on-field family photos during the ceremony, her 4-year-old son, Marcel, ran into her arms.
“I feel like she’s one of the main people that kind of gave me the confidence to know that I could also become a mom and come back stronger and compete at a high level,” Wilson told reporters on Friday. “So I’m so grateful for Crystal.”
Wilson added that she felt a lot of support when she was pregnant and as she has returned to play at the national team level. But she has bonded with fellow moms like Dunn and Swanson because they know everything that balancing motherhood and international soccer requires. She offered an example: The morning of one of her games with the Portland Thorns in the NWSL, Wilson was in a pool at a 24-Hour Fitness. It wasn’t for her own workout or recovery; instead, it was for Gigi’s swim lessons.
“I was literally in the pool thinking, ‘Oh my God, I have a game tonight,’” Wilson said. “So … I feel like people maybe, they see me show up ready for a game, but they don’t know the whole morning that went on before that, or the whole night of waking up five times. … It’s the other moms who are in this environment that get it, and I feel like that kind of connects us all.”
On Saturday, Wilson was one of the team’s most impactful players. In the 16th minute, shortly after Spain’s second goal, she found forward Alyssa Thompson in transition. Thompson was able to get past Nanclares but couldn’t score. Later in the first half, Wilson had her own shot deflected off the crossbar, then picked up a loose ball near the top of the box and shot just wide.
Wilson appeared to score in the 53rd minute, when she drilled a left-footed shot low into the right corner of the net. But after video review, Wilson was deemed to be offside when she broke free in the build-up to the goal.
She was also instrumental in the Americans’ biggest chance of the afternoon, which came in the 70th minute. Wilson collected a pass from Sanchez and drew a penalty kick after being taken down in the box. But midfielder Lily Yohannes — the team’s No. 2 penalty taker behind captain Lindsey Heaps — couldn’t get it past Nanclares.
“Soph did an amazing job [of] hold-up play, and I do think she got fouled a lot today,” forward Trinity Rodman told reporters postgame. “To be able to stay on the ball and not get frustrated and still playmake as a nine, I think is admirable. … I love playing with her and our connection. I think today it wasn’t the best, but it’s easy to build off of that.”
When Swanson subbed in for Thompson, she joined Wilson and Rodman to give the U.S. its first look at the vaunted “Triple Espresso” front line in quite some time. Swanson told reporters postgame that her goal when she took the field was to be aggressive and apply pressure, in hopes of helping the team finish some offensive opportunities.
In the 87th minute, Swanson nearly connected with Sanchez to halve the deficit, but Sanchez couldn’t put away Swanson’s cross.
“Obviously, it takes a lot to get back,” Swanson said, later adding that it felt completely different than coming back from injury. “So yeah, I think I’m just super grateful. It’s been, I think, two years, which is kind of crazy.”
“It is a really big moment, and I am very proud and happy for her,” Rodman said. “… Even just the little minutes she had [today], she looked great, and I’m just happy that she’s healthy and she’s back in with the squad.”
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What’s next for the US?
Now, the charge for the U.S. team is to build on the loss when it faces Spain again on Tuesday in Chester, Pennsylvania. Rodman said she anticipated that all of the players would pore over the game film on their iPads during the team’s bus ride to Chester on Saturday night.
“I don’t think it’s always necessarily a bad thing to lose,” she said. “I think it’s really good to be able to have another game going off of this loss. … I love watching film over, especially in a game like this, because when you’re out there, it’s not as clear as even the subs seeing it from the bench or the coaches seeing it. So I think it’ll be really helpful.”
Specifically, the hope is that this loss will give the players more experience together and teach them about the little things they need to do well to beat a team as talented as Spain. By the time the World Cup begins next summer, Saturday’s result should be a distant memory, with all the details fitting into place.
Before the game, Dunn was asked what advice she’d give girls looking to play on the elite stage. But her words ended up being fitting for the current team, too, as it turns the page to Tuesday.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a pretty successful career, but I think the moments where I fell short were the moments where I learned more about myself,” Dunn said. “I built up resilience to be adaptable to anything. So [my advice is] for them to just continue working on themselves and enjoying the journey — and trusting that they’re going to be exactly where they need to be.”
