Sophia Smith opens up about her arrival as a U.S. women’s soccer superstar

Winning Olympic gold this year vaulted the 24-year-old into American soccer's pantheon. Now that her work is done for the year, she reflects on reaping the rewards of success.

Sophia Smith celebrates one of the goals she scored for the U.S. women's soccer team at this past summer's Olympics.Read moreDaniel Cole / AP

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Nov. 29, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

For much of this year, a big photo of Sophia Smith adorned a SEPTA bus shelter at 18th Street and JFK Boulevard.

The location wasn’t coincidental. It was a Comcast ad at the corner where the company’s global headquarters stands among Philadelphia’s tallest skyscrapers.

But why did the city’s biggest company, one as devoutly local as it is international, pick a Colorado native who plays in Oregon for such a prestigious spot? Why not a local product, like track athletes Allie Wilson or Nia Akins, or the most obvious stars in basketball’s Kahleah Copper or Joel Embiid?

There surely were commercial considerations, since Smith did lots of Comcast ads before flying to Paris. But perhaps there was also a belief that enough people in this parochial town know who she is, even though the only game she’s played here was 2½ years ago.

That is the U.S. women’s soccer team’s star power, after a quarter-century in the spotlight. And these days, it’s Smith’s star power specifically.

“I know the platform that comes with playing on the national team, and with that, having success on the national team,” the 24-year-old forward told The Inquirer in an interview this week. “And I know how many people are watching and paying attention and how many young athletes look to us as role models and people they are striving to be like. I think I’ve always had pride in that and taken that very seriously, and just being the person I can be for people, fans, to look to and root for.”

When told about the bus shelter ad, she was amused. She called it “special” to get such attention in a faraway place.

“I don’t really think of it like that — I still think of myself as the same ‘Soph’ that started playing when I was little and just loves the game,” Smith said. “I haven’t changed in that aspect at all, but I am very grateful for what this game has given me and the platform that it’s given me.”

But she knows how long this has been coming. When the 24-year-old forward earned her first senior U.S. team invitation as a 16-year-old high schooler in March 2017, she became the first call-up born in this millennium and the first who wasn’t alive for the historic 1999 World Cup final.

Five years later, Smith had her professional breakout: 18 goals in 25 games for the Thorns and 11 in 17 for the national team, where she became a regular starter in early summer. She won the NWSL’s MVP award and capped the year with a goal — and iconic celebration — to help win the title game.

Her profile rose further when she made her first World Cup squad in 2023 and scored a beautiful goal in the Americans’ opening game. But the U.S. fell in the round of 16, leaving her short of the highest heights. You haven’t fully made it with women’s soccer’s biggest team unless you win a major title.

The moment finally came at this year’s Olympics. Smith scored three goals in the Americans’ charge to their first gold medal in 12 years, including the game-winner in extra time of a grueling semifinal vs. Germany.

It drew raves then and is still extraordinary to watch now. Just how did she manage to shoot that ball from behind a defender and thread a needle past the goalkeeper?

“I remember bits and pieces of just making the run, seeing the ball get played through to me, and seeing a small opening between the keeper and the back of the net,” Smith said. “It’s natural instincts that I feel like I’ve had for my whole career. It’s just, how am I going to get the ball in the back of the net in the fastest, most efficient way possible?”

It’s no coincidence that she said something similar on the eve of last year’s World Cup. This is the essence of her stardom: polite on camera, ruthless on the field.

“That goal specifically was just about putting your body on the line,” Smith said. “I mean, it’s just getting that little touch before the defender. And I knew in that moment, like, I had to. I just kind of went into that mode of do whatever you have to do — and, yeah, I mean, it worked out, thankfully.”

She laughed for a moment, in a way that Germany and every other team she scores against definitely do not.

It was easier to look back on the play once she watched the video, which she has done many times since the summer. But pictures can only tell so much about the emotions of the moment, and those remain clear in her mind.

“Once I had time to kind of come back down from that high,” she said, “I remember the feeling of just being so relieved, so tired, so exhausted. So sure of this team, that this was our year, and we were going to win it all. That’s when I really — I just knew.”

Just as Becky Sauerbrunn, Smith’s Portland Thorns and former U.S. teammate, knew after the 2015 World Cup semifinal win over Germany that the Americans would take the final. And as the 2019 team knew after its semifinal win over England that destiny awaited again.

History’s echoes rose once more this summer, as Smith joined the pantheon of champions. Now all those roars that used to greet Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, and the rest are for her — and they’ll keep coming for years.

“She’s now reached, like, a third level of her game already, so young into her career,” Sauerbrunn told The Inquirer. “For her to know and to take responsibility and be like, ‘I can be the one that will win us this game.’ … to have that on your team is very rare, and it’s really special.”

She knew early on that Smith had the potential to get there. In fact, they were roommates at Smith’s first senior national team camp. But the veteran centerback knew what it really took to get there, and was waiting with everyone else for it to happen.

“Even then, at that age where she wasn’t ready for the senior national team, she was clearly a special player, and she had very special talents,” Sauerbrunn said. “I knew she was going to be something special if she kept working at it, and obviously she still has. When she started playing consistently with the Thorns, the things I saw her do — which I had not seen a player be able to do in a while, in a few years — that’s when I knew, like, ‘OK, she’s here.‘”

Smith hasn’t forgotten a moment of that first camp, especially the ones with Sauerbrunn.

“Everything I thought of — I mean, she’s the captain, she’s the legend, she’s just, like, the coolest person — and I was, like, so scared to room with her,” Smith said. “And I just remember walking into the room and her being so welcoming, just so down to earth and chill. … She made what was a difficult experience, just in terms of being so young and being in such a high-stress environment, easier and more comfortable.”

The U.S. team’s old guard has been watching just as closely. After the Olympics, Michelle Akers came down from Mount Rushmore (just kidding, from her home near Orlando) to watch Smith play for the Thorns at the Washington Spirit. Akers remains as invested as ever, and joked about having “5,000 heart attacks” as the new stars won gold.

“You see which players emerge and who wants to take it on their shoulders to make a difference,” she said. “To watch her choose that and step up in these critical moments was incredibly exciting. But also, to me, what’s more exciting is she’s just starting, so to see what’s going to happen in the future with her is going to be incredible.”

Smith won’t be part of the U.S. team’s year-ending games at England on Saturday (12:20 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62, Universo) and the Netherlands on Tuesday (2:45 p.m., TNT, truTV, Universo), as she recovers from a nagging ankle injury. She’ll watch from her family’s home in suburban Denver, cheering from afar amid Thanksgiving leftovers.

“I’m really excited for the new players in camp to get an opportunity,” Smith said, and she recalled her goal for the U.S. in its last visit to Wembley two years ago. “Playing in Wembley was one of the highlights of my career so far, so I’m excited to watch. I definitely have FOMO, but I know that they’re going to take care of business.”

Smith knows about the bragging rights among the teams’ fan bases, and how big the game will be for London-born U.S. manager Emma Hayes. She earned her coaching stripes in this country and now leads its most famous team.

“We take that game very seriously, and almost even more now that Emma’s our coach,” Smith said. “You can tell she has that feeling in her too. And to do it for her would be the best thing ever.”

(Well, maybe not ever, but it would be pretty fun.)

But for as much as Smith will miss the occasion — and as she’ll be missed — she can rest easy. Her work for this year is done, and she knows much more is still to come.

“I think this whole year, I’ve kind of taken the time here and there to really appreciate what was happening, and what I’ve been able to accomplish this year, and just feel really grateful for it all,” she said. “When everything kind of comes to a stop and you’re home, you definitely have more time to reflect. It’s been an amazing year. There’s been a lot of highs, there’s been some lows, but I’m grateful for all of it.”