International Soccer
Thompson strike secures sixth straight SheBelieves Cup: Tobin Heath’s career honored
The USWNT secured their 6th straight and 8th overall SheBelieves Cup title on Saturday, defeating Colombia 1-0 by way of a brilliant Alyssa Thompson strike.
The USWNT opened the 2026 SheBelieves Cup with wins over Canada and Argentina, needing a win or draw against Colombia to clinch the title. The final match was held in Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, where Tobin Heath was celebrated pregame in her home state.
It was a quiet first half for USWNT. Despite dominating 68% of possession, the USWNT failed to create many dangerous scoring chances. Colombia looked much more dangerous in transition, with many attacks sparked by Leicy Santos and Linda Caicedo. The USWNT had a scary moment in the 31st minute when a Caicedo cross was blocked and collected by Colombia. The ball was passed into Santos, who flicked the ball in behind to Colombia striker Maitane Lopez. Just in front of the USWNT goal, Emily Sonnett made a great recovery tackle before Lopez could shoot, keeping the match tied. Sonnett, who has been named on all 11 SheBelieves Cup rosters, brought experience and stability to the American back line. The USWNT would not register a shot on target until the 42nd minute when an Avery Patterson cross found Rose Lavelle, whose attempt on goal was straight at the Colombia goalkeeper. USWNT ended the first half with only three shots to Colombia’s eight.
Emma Hayes made one change at halftime, as Naomi Girma made way for Tara Rudd. The second half proceeded similarly to the first, with minimal shooting opportunities available for either team. In the 61st minute, Hayes made a quadruple substitution. Rose Lavelle, Lily Yohannes, Trinity Rodman, and Ally Sentnor all made way for Lindsey Heaps, Emma Sears Olivia Moultrie, and Jaedyn Shaw.
Immediately, the complexion of the match changed. USWNT played much more on the front foot with the new personnel on the field. In the 64th minute, Lindsey Heaps was in behind the Colombia back line. Heaps was offside, but the crowd was unaware and cheered when she passed to Sears who put the ball in the net. The match remained 0-0, but a flurry of USWNT chances in and around the Colombia penalty area were cleared by a resilient Colombia team.
USWNT’s persistent second half pressure paid off in the 82nd minute, and Hayes was rewarded for her changes. Halftime substitute Rudd broke up a Colombia counterattack and attempted a long ball. The ball was recovered by USWNT, and Alyssa Thompson received the ball on the left wing. Thompson passed to her striker Shaw and cut to the edge of the box. Shaw passed back to Thompson, who took a touch before firing a powerful shot off the underside of the crossbar and in. Thompson started and finished the play that ended with her brilliant strike, breaking the deadlock with her 4th USWNT goal. The lone goal would be enough for USWNT to secure the three points and a sixth successive SheBelieves Cup.
Alyssa Thompson, who was named SheBelieves cup MVP, spoke with media after the match. “The first half was a little slow, but I think we knew what we had to do, and we’ve trained the last few days for it. We know it was going to be difficult. We just needed to up our energy and our level, and that’s what we did,” the goal scorer explained. There were also some tactical changes made by coach Emma Hayes that opened more space for her attackers, including Thompson on the sequence leading to the winning goal. “During this tournament, we’ve been playing with inverted wingers. Coming into the second half, Emma [Hayes] wanted me a little bit wider, and I think that opened up different spaces for the team.” The play that led to Thompson’s goal was sparked when Lindsey Heaps found Thompson on the left touchline in space.
Hayes spoke to media about the adjustments she made both at halftime and around the 60-minute mark. “I felt that the gaps were starting to appear between Colombia’s back line and midfield. Sometimes when you want to make things happen, players start to come out of areas to get on the ball lower. I said to Jaedyn [Shaw] and Olivia [Moultrie], stay in those areas—the ball will come,” Hayes explained, sharing the message she gave to her substitutes to take advantage of a flaw in Colombia’s defensive structure. Hayes also spoke about the instruction gave to Thompson at halftime. “We inverted Avery [Patterson] and kept Alyssa on the outside, we made a tiny change there so that we had a good rest defend structure, knowing that every time we attacked, we stopped the transition second half. It allowed the 9 and 10 to be more active,” Hayes explained. “And then, of course, maintain the width on the outside with Emma Sears, but also have the width outside of Alyssa Thompson, which we didn’t have in the first half because Avery was in that part of the pitch.”
Hayes had high praise for the match-winner Thompson as well. “It’s been a tremendous year for Alyssa, for club and country. The consistency in her play—I think that’s been a standout for me. In terms of being able to do things over 90 minutes and do it game after game, including a clutch moment like today, she’s been doing that for Chelsea all year.” Thompson’s strike from the edge of the box was not an easy finish, but she took the chance brilliantly. “In world football, everyone’s quite compact and well coached now,” Hayes explained, giving Colombia credit for their defensive structure. “Sometimes you’re going to need something from deeper areas. You can’t break blocks; I call them low xG chances. If you think about this tournament… the types of goals we’ve scored, it’s because teams respect that space in the box, and not giving us much of it. It was a wonderful finish from her, and one that was coming. We deserved that, I think, based on the second half.”
Thompson created the chance on the dribble, finding a teammate with a quick pass before firing a beautiful shot into the top left; it was a goal reminiscent of a specific former USWNT winger.
Before the match, Tobin Heath’s career was celebrated on the field. Surrounded by friends and family, Heath received a custom USWNT shirt with the number 181 on it, representing her 181 international appearances for USWNT. Over that span, Heath won two Olympic gold medals and one bronze to go with two FIFA Women’s World Cup titles.
“It’s super special to be back where it all started for me in New Jersey. This place means so much to me, in terms of putting me on the trajectory to be able to represent my country,” Heath explained, who wears her local pride on her sleeve. “I’m feeling so much gratitude for so many people… being born where I was, such a competitive area for girls soccer was huge. I still consider my youth coaches some of the best coaches that I ever played for. They allowed me to be creative and enjoy the game.”
Heath showed up to the mixed zone carrying a white soccer ball bearing a green signature. “I was at my sister’s house in New Jersey, and this was lying on the floor when I was heading out. This actually lived on my bedside table. Growing up, it was after ’99, and somebody had gone to some type of event that Brandi [Chastain] was at and signed it for me.” Chastain is a legend for the USWNT, scoring the iconic winning penalty kick in the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final.
“My whole room was a shrine to football, but this particular ball, it sat on my bedside [table], and every night before I went to sleep, I would look at it, and it said ‘To Tobin – DREAM’ and obviously, signed by Brandi. The 1999 team… inspired my generation like crazy. I watched them open up just around the corner from here.” Heath attended the USWNT’s 1999 World Cup opener at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. She was just 11 years old.
On inspiring the next generation of USWNT stars, Heath explained, “I wanted to show what women’s athletes could do. I wanted to show that, women footballers could be the first to do something. They didn’t just have to mimic something else. I wanted to inspire people the way that the players that I enjoyed watching inspired me.”
Thompson, a member of the USWNT’s next generation spoke about the inspiration she found in Heath as well as Christen Press, Heath’s wife and a former teammate of Thompson’s. “Christen and Tobin helped me so much in my career and my journey. Being able to play with Christen at Angel City was something that shaped me, and Tobin has been a really good mentor for me.”
Next, the USWNT will face Japan in a three-match series taking place on the west coast in April. On the upcoming Japan series, Hayes said “I think [the difference in opponents] was the standout for me. Three very different opponents with very different challenges. That sets us up nicely for playing against Japan, who I think are another level. I think it sets us up to see where we stack up at the next stage.”
USWNT 1-0 Colombia
USWNT Lineup:
Phallon Tullis-Joyce; Emily Fox, Naomi Girma (45’), Emily Sonnett, Avery Patterson; Lily Yohannes (61’), Sam Coffey, Rose Lavelle (61’); Trinity Rodman (61’), Alyssa Thompson (85’), Ally Sentnor (61’)
Bench: Claudia Dickey; Emily Sams, Kennedy Wesley, Tara Rudd (45’); Claire Hutton, Lindsey Heaps (61’), Maddie Dahlien, Olivia Moultrie (61’), Riley Jackson; Emma Sears (61’), Jaedyn Shaw (61’), Jameese Joseph (85’)
Coach: Emma Hayes
Colombia Lineup:
Katherine Tapia; Ana Guzman (85’), Jorelyn Carabalí, Daniela Arias, Manuela Vanegas; Marcela Restrepo (85’), Daniela Montoya (56’), Leicy Santos; Manuela Paví (71’), Linda Caicedo, Maithe Lopez (56’)
Bench: Catalina Pérez, Natalia Giraldo, Mary Álvarez, Daniela Caracas, Yirleidis Quejada Minota, Liced Serna, Greicy Landázury, Wendy Bonilla (85’), Gisela Robledo (56’), Ilana Izquierdo (56’), Gabriela Rodriguez (85’), Valerin Loboa (71’)
Coach: Angelo Marsiglia
