United States women’s national team forward Sophia Wilson is getting closer to 90 minutes fit and could play in all three upcoming games against Japan, head coach Emma Hayes said on Friday.
“I know she’s taking it one day at a time and making sure she stays as present as possible, but she doesn’t look like she’s been away,” Hayes said of Wilson in a news conference.
Wilson missed all of 2025 on maternity leave to give birth to her daughter, Gianna “Gigi,” in September. Wilson has played in all five games for the Portland Thorns thus far this NWSL season, starting the last two and playing the full 90 on Saturday.
– Make-or-break questions the USWNT must answer before the World Cup- Returning Wilson grateful for past USWNT moms- Who are the best 21 women’s players aged 21 or under in the world?
“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,” Wilson said last week. “Take what I need and what I want to learn from and leave the rest behind.”
Wilson’s return to USWNT training coincides with defender Tierna Davidson’s first USWNT camp in over a year after tearing her ACL.
Davidson has played limited minutes in four games, all off the bench, for Gotham FC thus far this NWSL season. Hayes said that Wilson is “further ahead” of Davidson and that the plan is for Davidson to come off the bench in this series against Japan, barring injuries.
“I think for Tierna, I’ve spoken with her: She’s a little bit further behind, but she does need to get her minutes up at this point,” Hayes said. “I think she’s been training consistently at club for a period of time, and I think her next step is more regular minutes.”
Both Wilson and Davidson were integral to the USWNT’s 2024 Olympic gold medal triumph. Wilson scored three goals while starting all six games, and Davidson started four of six games, including the semifinal and final.
Hayes said recently that “it’s really important for us to start getting these players like Soph back into a rhythm in preparation for the World Cup qualifiers” in November.
1:05
Sophia Wilson, Tierna Davidson are back with the USWNT
Jeff Kassouf reports on Sophia Wilson and Tierna Davidson being back with the United States Women’s National Team.
The USWNT will play Japan on Saturday in San Jose, California, before a Tuesday rematch in Seattle and a third meeting on April 17 outside Denver.
Japan enters the three-game series fresh off winning an AFC Asian Cup title last month, but without Nils Nielsen, the coach who guided the team throughout the tournament. The Japan Football Association parted ways with Nielsen after the tournament.
Japan and the United States last met in February 2025, with Japan prevailing 2-1 over an inexperienced U.S. side to win that year’s SheBelieves Cup. Hayes, who noted she’s “always been like a secret fan of” Japan’s playing style throughout her career, said that her team has made significant progress since that meeting.
Hayes said she will play two different lineups in the first two games; she is undecided on how to handle the third game. No player will start more than two games, she said. The USWNT coach added that training has been “fierce” and quick with all her players now in season.
“We are prepared for the unexpected,” Hayes said. “But we also know we’re playing a world-class team.
“To disrupt the way they play, you have to be purposeful in the right moments doing things, and unlike the time we played them last year, you have to keep the ball. If you don’t keep the ball, it’ll be a long game. And if we don’t make the right decisions to be able to dominate and control, then we won’t be able to influence ourselves in the way we want.”
