'The worst thing ever' - USWNT star Mallory Swanson opens up on injury nightmare that left her 'very, very ill' and out of 2023 World Cup

The Chicago Red Stars forward had her 2023 NWSL season cut short after she suffered a tear to her left knee while on international duty in a friendly match back in April. The forward has been out of action ever since and has now revealed the "nightmare" she endured due to the injury. Swanson suffered an infection after her primary surgery, which meant she had to undergo a second procedure less than two weeks later.

Speaking on The Women’s Game podcast, she said: "That tendon just completely ruptured and then my kneecap went up into my thigh. So it almost dislocated too. It hurt so bad. The training staff came on the field and then they put my kneecap back in place. And then I got relief and I was better.

"I ended up having an infection in my knee a week and a half later. So basically I got surgery and then a week and a half later, I had a second surgery. It was really bad. They had to do basically an emergency surgery to try and get this infection out because it was starting to — I don’t want to say it was starting to take over my body — but I was very, very ill.

"I think after that, that’s when I knew. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m [not playing in the] World Cup.’ I honestly didn’t even think about playing after that. I was like, I literally just need to feel better because I was so sick. I was on IV antibiotics for like six weeks. I had a PICC line in. It was awful. It was like literally the worst thing ever, but we made it through."

Swanson had been fine form with the Chicago Red Stars in 2022 until the devastating injury put paid to that. She has also been a pivotal member of the USWNT set-up and was sorely missed at the 2023 World Cup, a tournament that went very badly for her nation as they crashed out at the last-16 stage after penalty shoot-out heartbreak against Sweden.

The 25-year-old signed a new contract with the Chicago Red Stars earlier this month and is likely to become a pivotal part of their set-up once again, returning to her heights of the 2022 campaign. The upcoming NWSL season officially starts on March 16.