Sophia Wilson returns to USWNT: 'I feel more present and grounded'

Sophia Wilson is back with the USWNT after stepping away for motherhood, saying the journey has left her feeling more balanced, grounded and ready for the next chapter.

Sophia Wilson is allowing herself grace. The 25-year-old U.S. Women’s National Team forward has won championships at every level, an Olympic gold medal, and the prestigious honors of National Women’s Soccer League Most Valuable Player in 2022 and the Golden Boot in 2023 after scoring a league-leading 11 goals for the Portland Thorns.

While every part of Wilson’s game exudes grace, from her symmetrical strides to a first touch that follows the game’s rhythm, it took time away from soccer for her to grant herself some ease.

Wilson announced her pregnancy last year and stepped away from the entire 2025 NWSL season, as well as from USWNT duties. She gave birth to her daughter, Gigi, in September. That moment, and what led up to it, forever changed her both as a person and as an elite athlete. Now, seven months after welcoming Gigi into the world, Wilson has received her first call-up to the USWNT and says she feels she is in a great place.

"I feel like I'm in a really great place right now," Wilson told media members on Thursday. "I think I've taken this journey the right way. I feel like I'm in a really great place and have balanced all the things graciously, because I've seen people before me do the same."

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'My biggest calling in life is to be a mom'
Wilson always knew she wanted to be a mother. The talented striker from Colorado had dreams of playing professional soccer, but she also knew she had another purpose.
"I knew I always wanted to be a mom," Wilson said. "I've always been very maternal, and I love kids, and I feel like my biggest calling in life is to be a mom."
But knowing deep down that she could do both, play at the highest level and be a parent, might have been harder to imagine if it were not for those who came before her, such as Alex Morgan and Crystal Dunn. There have been many moms on the national team, 18 to date, as confirmed by the USWNT this week. If Wilson scores in any of the upcoming matches against Japan, she will be the ninth mom to score for the USWNT.
Wilson has been inspired by Morgan from the very beginning and recalls the first national team camp when she brought her daughter around the team.
"I remember her first camp when she brought Charlie in and just thinking that was so inspiring and so incredible," Wilson said. "Watching her go through that and get back to playing at a high level was my first example of someone doing that firsthand."

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How USWNT moms like Joy Fawcett paved the way for Wilson
Wilson fully acknowledges that there have been many moms before her and does not shy away from noting how different the times are now.
"I know I am not the first player to have a baby and come back from having a baby," Wilson said. "We've had so many amazing players who have done that, and many who did it in conditions that were very poor, where they did not have the resources or support they needed. Those players still did a lot of fighting for the players they knew would come after them and go through the same thing."
One of the first moms to trailblaze the way for those after her was former USWNT defender Joy Fawcett, who at the same age as Wilson decided she wanted to have kids and would find a way to make it work. This was in 1993, when she famously said she would have kids and bring them on the road.
She did exactly that. If she had been forced to choose, she would have stepped away from the game. After Fawcett, many others paved the way for Wilson to reach the place she is in today: a mom, a current USWNT player, and at peace with it all.
"Everyone navigates motherhood differently, but it has been very inspiring," Wilson said. "Having those examples made me believe and know that I could do the same thing. I think I'm very fortunate to have gone through this at a time when we did have more support than previously."
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'I hope that I carry myself in the same way Alex did'
Wilson and Morgan have a lot in common, from their ability to score game-winning goals on the world’s biggest stage to the perfect ponytail on game day, and of course, both being moms.
"Having players like Alex was just the coolest thing to see," Wilson said when reflecting on watching her once idol, turned teammate, become a mom. "And now being that player that I once viewed Alex as is pretty surreal. I hope that I carry myself in the same way Alex did, where she showed young girls and athletes that it is very possible to do both."

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Wilson's view of the game has evolved with motherhood
As Wilson prepares for the April camp with the national team, she has played in all three of Portland's games this season and is getting the necessary reps and confidence for the next big step. She has been traveling with Gigi everywhere, from away games for Portland to media days and everything in between. She has not had to choose, and while everything is very much in motion with the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup inching closer, she has never felt more grounded.
"I feel more grounded, I feel more present, and I think that's how I view the game as well."
Wilson's view of soccer has evolved since becoming a mom.
"I think my perspective on life in general has shifted a lot, in all the best ways," Wilson told GOAL. "I'm trying to approach it with what I always have, but now more than ever, a goldfish mentality. Just be present in whatever practice or game I'm in, then move on to the next. Take what I need and what I want to learn from, but leave the rest behind. Being a mom has taught me to do that."
Wilson will play one more game with the Thorns before the international break, when she will join the USWNT for a trio of matches against Japan.