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Jeff Kassouf
Multiple Authors
United States women’s national team forward Sophia Wilson, who is set to return to the squad this month after giving birth in September, said she is grateful for the moms who came before her on the team — like Alex Morgan and Crystal Dunn — and the increased protections they and other generations fought for to support players with children.
“I know I am not the first player to have a baby and come back from having a baby,” Wilson told reporters on Thursday, one day after being named to her first USWNT roster in 17 months.
“We’ve had so many amazing players that have done that and many who have done that in conditions that were very poor, where they didn’t have the resources that they needed and they didn’t have the support that they needed.
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“Those players still did a lot of fighting for the players that they knew would come after them and go through the same thing so that players like myself felt more supported.
“For that, I’m very grateful, because it’s a very selfless thing to do to go through those negotiations and fight for those things knowing that maybe it’s not you who will benefit from it, but it’s the players who come after you who will.”
Wilson, who starred for the USWNT in its run to a 2024 Olympic gold medal, gave birth to her first child in September and returned to competitive matches last month with her club, the Portland Thorns. This week, she was named to USWNT head coach Emma Hayes’ 26-player roster for three games against Japan later this month.
The USWNT and the NWSL each ratified new collective bargaining agreements in recent years, adding various player protections that include better support for expecting moms and their potential returns to the field.
Under terms of the USWNT’s CBA, players are paid an agreed upon amount for up to six months. They also have the right to receive a callup to a USWNT camp after giving birth, if and when they are ready.
Morgan, who was one of the foremost figures in the equal pay fight over the past decade, gave birth to her first child in 2020 and returned to play in the Olympics the following year. That was a young Wilson’s first direct exposure within the USWNT to life as a mom at the professional and international level, she said.
Then Wilson saw Dunn, who was a teammate and “big sister” for the USWNT and the Thorns, give birth soon after, along with Thorns goalkeeper Bella Bixby.
Dunn was also active in the equal pay fight against U.S. Soccer, eventually as vice president and secretary of the union. She is one of three players who sat at the table for the physical signing of the new CBA in 2022.
Wilson has scored 24 goals in 58 caps for the USWNT. She missed all of 2025 for club and country on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her daughter, Gianna “Gigi.”
Wilson said that being a mom is her “biggest calling in life.” She added that, “I am a mom that I like to do everything unless I literally physically can’t,” although she has a nanny to help — especially on the road.
The NWSL’s CBA grants players 100% of their base salary for pregnancy leave along with ongoing insurance. Additionally, if a player’s contract expires during her pregnancy, her team must invite her to the next preseason camp.
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Wilson, 25, has appeared in all four Thorns games to start the 2026 NWSL season, making her first start last Saturday.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Thorns’ match against the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, Wilson said that her perspective on life — and soccer — has changed for the better since becoming a mom in September.
“I feel more grounded; I feel more present and I think that’s the way I view the game as well,” she said.
“I’m trying to approach it with — I always have, but I think more than ever — a goldfish mentality and it’s just [to] be present in whatever practice or whatever game I’m in, and it’s on to the next. Take what I need and what I want to learn from and leave the rest behind.”
When she makes her expected return to the field for the USWNT in the coming weeks, Wilson will become the 18th mom to play for the U.S. She would become the ninth mom to score for the USWNT with her next international goal.
Wilson could soon be rejoined by fellow USWNT forward Mallory Swanson, who gave birth to her first child last November. Along with Trinity Rodman, Swanson and Wilson formed the “Triple Espresso” attack, which scored 10 of the USWNT’s 12 goals on the Americans’ Olympic gold-medal run in 2024.
“I have of course remained in contact with [Wilson] and we spoke regularly, and this absolutely feels like the right time,” Hayes told reporters this week. “Not just because she’s playing again at a high level, but I think it’s really important for us to start getting these players like Soph back into a rhythm in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers.”
Wilson said she has been working on balancing her competitive nature with her new realities since the time she got pregnant, stressing that she is more patient with herself and that there is a lot of work happening behind the scenes.
“Getting back to playing at a high level, it’s not just a straight path,” she said. “It’s not going to just happen with the snap of my fingers.”
She continued: “I think for me, it’s just being gracious with myself and going into it with the perspective of, ‘Look at what my body has done for me, and what it’s still continuing to do for me.’ And knowing that it is possible to be great at both things — be a great mom and be a great athlete.”
