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Sophia Smith
NC Courage vs Portland Thorns (Apr 2024) 145 (Smith).jpg
Smith with the Portland Thorns in 2024
Personal information
Full name Sophia Olivia Smith
Date of birth (2000-08-10) August 10, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Windsor, Colorado, U.S.
Height 5ft6in
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current club Portland Thorns
Number 9
Youth career
Real Colorado
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Portland Thorns 68 (42)
National team
2015–2016 United States U17
2017–2020 United States U20 25 (21)
2020– United States 56 (23)
Honours
Women's soccer
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold 2024 Paris Team
CONCACAF W Championship
Winner 2022 Mexico
CONCACAF W Gold Cup
Winner 2024 United States
  • Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 23, 2024.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of August 10, 2024

Sophia Olivia Smith (born August 10, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Portland Thorns FC and the United States national team. She played college soccer at Stanford University, helping the Cardinal win the national championship in 2019. Smith was the first overall pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft.

In 2022, Smith was named NWSL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. She earned MVP honors at the 2022 NWSL Championship after helping the Thorns win the title. In 2023, she won the NWSL Golden Boot for most goals in the season. In 2024, Smith won a gold medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics with the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team.

Early life

Born to parents Mollie and Kenny Smith, Sophia was raised in Windsor near Fort Collins, Colorado with her two older sisters Gabrielle and Savannah. Smith's father played basketball at the University of Wyoming and her older sister Savannah played basketball at the University of Northern Colorado where she was the all-time leading scorer.

Sophia's father said he knew when Sophia was 6 years old that she would be a soccer star after watching her dominate a 3-on-3 league. On a car ride to one of her games, she told her father she was going to score ten goals, which she did accomplish. Smith began playing co-ed soccer as a young child. She played U-6 through U-10 with the Timnath Twisters and U-11 through U-13 with Arsenal Colorado. She won two state cups with Arsenal Colorado in 2012 and 2013.

Smith attended Fossil Ridge High School in Fort Collins, where she played for the varsity soccer and basketball teams as a freshman. She notched 10 goals and 4 assists in just 8 games and was named First-Team All-Conference. Smith also played for the varsity basketball team. She played club soccer for Real Colorado and was first called up to the U-14 national team in 2013. With Real Colorado, Smith and the team finished runners-up at the ECNL National Championship in 2014 and 2016 and finished in fourth-place in 2015. As a high schooler, Smith and her family would frequently drive 3–4 hours from Fort Collins to Denver and back for soccer practice with youth national teams. She earned a call up to the senior national team at age 16.

College career

Smith attended Stanford University where she played for the Cardinal. She finished her abbreviated collegiate career as a two-time Pac-12 Champion and NCAA Champion after just two seasons.

During her freshman season in 2018, Smith scored 7 goals and recorded 2 assists in 13 appearances. She led the Pac-12 Conference with three game-winning goals and was named to the All-Pac-12 freshman and second teams.

During the 2019 season, Smith scored 17 goals and provided 9 assists in 21 appearances. She was named to the Hermann Trophy watch list and helped lead the Cardinal to win the 2019 NCAA College Cup. She scored a hat-trick in the semi-final leading Stanford to defeat the UCLA Bruins. Stanford went on to win the national title via a penalty shootout in the final. Smith was named the College Cup's Most Outstanding Offensive Player and earned All-Tournament team honors. She was named to the All-Pac-12 second team and tied for the seventh-most goals in Cardinal history.

Club career

2022 NWSL Championship 57 - Sophia Smith (cropped)
Smith playing for Portland Thorns FC at the 2022 NWSL Championship.

Smith was the #1 pick at the 2020 NWSL College Draft and selected by Portland Thorns FC. Smith's first season with the Thorns was sidetracked by a foot injury and the COVID-19 pandemic. She made four appearances during the NWSL Fall Series and scored one goal in a 3–0 win against the Utah Royals FC. The Thorns finished in first place with a 3–0–1 record.

Smith was a starting forward in 17 of her 22 appearances in the 2021 season and scored seven goals. During her regular season league debut on May 16, 2021, Smith scored a brace against the Chicago Red Stars in a 5–0 win. Portland finished in first place winning the NWSL Shield and earned a berth to the NWSL Playoffs where they were defeated by the Chicago Red Stars in the semi-finals.

Smith scored three goals in five matches in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. She earned league MVP honors for the 2022 NWSL season. The Thorns won the NWSL Championship, with Smith scoring the first goal, and she was named Championship MVP.

On April 1, 2023, Smith scored her first professional hat-trick in a 4–1 victory against Kansas City Current. She was named NWSL Player of the Month for March/April and to the NWSL Best XI of the month. Two months later in June, she was named NWSL Player of the Month for the second time during the 2023 season after scoring six goals in four matches. Despite a knee injury that kept her out for three games after returning from the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Smith went on to finish the 2023 season as the league's top scorer. She secured the NWSL Golden Boot after scoring 11 goals in 17 matches and she was named to the NWSL Best XI for the second time in her career at the conclusion of the season. In 2024 she was signed by the Thorns to a two-year contract extension that made her the highest paid player in the NWSL.

International career

Smith has competed for the United States on the under-17, under-20, and senior national teams.

Smith competed at the 2016 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In early 2017, she scored nine goals in six games, which is believed to be a youth national team record for goals in six consecutive games. On March 31, 2017, Smith was called up for the first time to the senior national team for two international friendlies against Russia.

After being a part of the under-20 squad that finished runner-up at the 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship, Smith was named to the USA U-20 roster for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Sophia Smith
Smith with the United States in 2021

Smith was called up to the senior national team for the first training camp of 2020 from January 5 to 15 after having been called into a talent identification camp in December 2019.

On November 27, 2020, Smith earned her first national team cap in a game against the Netherlands, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to compete for the senior national team.

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

USWNT with SGOTUS July 2023
Smith with the U.S. national team and Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, July 2023

Smith was named to the U.S. squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. During the team's first group stage match against Vietnam, she scored a brace and provided the assist for the third goal in the team's 3–0 win. Involved in every goal scored, Smith was named Player of the Match.

In the United States' knockout stage match against Sweden, Smith played all 90 minutes of regulation time, as well as all 30 minutes of extra time. At the end of extra time, with a score of 0–0, the match moved to a penalty shootout. Smith was the second of three U.S. players who missed penalty shots, ultimately resulting in the U.S. being eliminated from the World Cup.

2024

Smith was included in the USWNT squad for the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup, which the US won. She scored one goal, against Canada, at the tournament. She was then included in the squad for the 2024 SheBelieves Cup; she scored two goals in the final, which the US also won (in a penalty shootout, with Smith scoring her shot), and she was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

2024 Olympics

Smith was selected to the 18-player roster for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. She scored a brace in the 4–1 win against Germany in the group stage and scored again on Germany in extra time to win 1–0 in the semifinals. The United States defeated Brazil 1–0 in the final on a goal from Mallory Swanson, securing the gold medal.

Personal life

Smith met her fiancé Michael Wilson, an NFL player, while they were both at Stanford. They got engaged in June 2024. She enjoys science fiction novels.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Playoffs Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Portland Thorns FC 2020 NWSL 0 0 4 1 4 1
2021 21 7 3 0 1 0 25 7
2022 18 14 5 3 2 1 25 18
2023 17 11 2 0 1 0 20 11
2024 14 10 14 10
Career total 70 42 10 3 4 1 4 1 88 47

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
United States 2020 1 0
2021 9 1
2022 17 11
2023 11 3
2024 18 8
Total 56 23
Scores and results list United States's goal tally first; score column indicates score after each Smith goal.
List of international goals scored by Sophia Smith
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 September 21, 2021 Cincinnati, Ohio Flag of Paraguay.svg Paraguay 2–0 8–0 Friendly
2 April 9, 2022 Columbus, Ohio Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Uzbekistan 3–0 9–1
3 4–0
4 6–0
5 June 25, 2022 Commerce City, Colorado Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia 1–0 3–0
6 2–0
7 July 7, 2022 Guadalupe, Mexico Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica 1–0 5–0 2022 CONCACAF W Championship
8 2–0
9 September 3, 2022 Kansas City, Kansas Flag of Nigeria.svg Nigeria 1–0 4–0 Friendly
10 3–0
11 October 7, 2022 London, England Flag of England.svg England 1–1 1–2
12 November 13, 2022 Harrison, New Jersey Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1–1 2–1
13 July 22, 2023 Auckland, New Zealand Flag of Vietnam.svg Vietnam 1–0 3–0 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup: Group stage
14 2–0
15 December 2, 2023 Fort Lauderdale, Florida Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China 1–0 3–0 Friendly
16 March 6, 2024 San Diego, California Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada 2–1 2–2
(aet)
(3–1 p)
2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup
17 April 9, 2024 Columbus, Ohio
1–1
2–2
(5–4 p)
2024 SheBelieves Cup
18
2–1
19 June 4, 2024 Saint Paul, Minnesota Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea 2–0 3–0 Friendly
20 July 13, 2024 Harrison, New Jersey Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico 1–0 1–0
21 July 28, 2024 Marseille, France Flag of Germany.svg Germany 1–0 4–1 2024 Summer Olympics: Group stage
22 3–1
23 August 6, 2024 Lyon, France 1–0 1–0 2024 Summer Olympics: Semi-final

Honors and awards

Stanford Cardinal

  • NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship: 2019

Portland Thorns FC

  • NWSL Championship: 2022
  • NWSL Challenge Cup: 2021
  • NWSL Community Shield: 2020
  • NWSL Shield: 2021
  • Women's International Champions Cup: 2021

United States U20

  • CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2020
  • Sud Ladies Cup: 2018

United States

  • Summer Olympic Games Gold Medal: 2024
  • SheBelieves Cup: 2021, 2022, 2024
  • CONCACAF Women's Championship: 2022
  • CONCACAF W Gold Cup: 2024

Individual

  • US Soccer Female Player of the Year: 2022
  • NWSL Most Valuable Player: 2022
  • NWSL Championship Game MVP: 2022
  • NWSL Best XI: 2022, 2023
  • NWSL Player of the Month: June 2022, March/April 2023, June 2023
  • SheBelieves Cup Most Valuable Player: 2024
  • Sud Ladies Cup Best Player: 2018
  • Sud Ladies Cup Top Scorer: 2018

See also

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