Alyssa Thompson

Alyssa Paola Thompson (born November 7, 2004) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women's national team. She was named Gatorade Player of the Year in 2021. She was selected first overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft by Angel City while in high school.

Early life and education
Raised in Studio City, California in the Los Angeles area, Alyssa attended The Wesley School in North Hollywood. At age 8, she raced against the fastest boy at the school and won. Thompson's parents Karen and Mario signed Alyssa and her sister Gisele up to Total Futbol Academy (TFA) in 2013, when Alyssa Thompson was 9 years old, for them to compete on boys' teams. After two years, they transferred to Elite Clubs National League club Real So Cal, where they played until the COVID-19 pandemic. By the age of 13, Thompson was playing with players four years older than her. Thompson returned to TFA in 2020 and played for its under-19 team in the MLS Next league at the age of 17, and was the only female player in the league.

Thompson attended and played for Harvard-Westlake School during her freshman and sophomore years of high school and scored 48 goals in 18 games. National team and club soccer prevented her from playing during her junior season. She was drafted to professional play as a high school senior.

Thompson was named Gatorade Player of the Year in April 2021.

Professional career
In 2020, at the age of 15, Thompson verbally committed to joining the Cardinal of Stanford University starting in the 2023 season. However, she later decommitted to enter the 2023 NWSL Draft.

On January 12, 2023, Angel City FC selected Thompson as the first overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft. As part of a three-team trade, Angel City had sent a total of $450,000 to Portland Thorns and Gotham FC to secure the No. 1 pick. At the time, this trade made Thompson "essentially the most expensive player in league history," which was a record previously set by Alex Morgan. Thompson signed a three-year deal with the club.

While still attending her senior year of high school at Westlake, Thompson scored five minutes into her professional debut with Angel City FC, in a friendly match against Club América of Liga MX Femenil. Thompson scored a goal 11 minutes into her NWSL regular-season debut on March 26, 2023, in a 1–2 loss against NJ/NY Gotham FC. On April 11, she scored the game-opener against Portland Thorns FC. She was named NWSL Rookie of the Month for her performance during March–April 2023. Thompson's third regular season goal was the opening goal in the team's 3–2 win against Kansas City Current. On June 5, she provided the assist for Sydney Leroux's first goal and game of the season (after returning from an ankle injury in the previous season). Thompson finished her first season for Angel City with four goals and two assists in regular-season games on the way to the clubs first playoffs appearance, and was also named as one of the nominees for Rookie of the Year at the conclusion of the season.

On May 3, 2024, in Angel City's first game against Utah Royals, Thompson made her third assist of the season, and became the youngest player in NWSL history and the first player for Angel City to record assists in three consecutive matches. On May 18, 2024, in an away match against Washington Spirit, Thompson started alongside her younger sister Gisele, which marked the first time in NWSL history that two sisters had been named to the starting lineup of the same team.

International career
Thompson has represented the United States on the United States senior national team as well as the under-20 national team.

In 2022, she helped lead the under-20 national team to win gold at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, playing in five matches and scoring three goals. At the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica, she played in three matches and scored one goal.

Thompson was called up to the senior national team in September 2022 and was the youngest player since Sophia Smith in 2017. On October 7, 2022, she made her senior national team debut at Wembley Stadium during a friendly against England in front of 90,000 fans.

On April 9, 2023, Thompson was called up to the senior team to replace an injured Mallory Swanson in a friendly scheduled for April 11 against Ireland. In June of the same year, she was named to the U.S. squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. She made her debut during the team's first group stage match, a 3–0 win against Vietnam.

Playing style
In July 2023 the BBC said that her "pace and tenacity are stand-out features".

Personal life
Thompson is of African-American, Filipino and Peruvian descent. Her parents are Mario and Karen and she has two younger sisters, Gisele and Zoe. Gisele also plays for Angel City FC.

Thompson also runs track, and in April 2022, ran 100m in 11.74 seconds, which was the second fastest 100m sprint in 2022 up to that date in California.

Endorsements
In May 2022, Thompson and her sister Gisele signed a name, image, and likeness deal with Nike at ages 17 and 16 respectively, becoming the first high school athletes to do so. In July 2023, she appeared in a commercial for Volkswagen.

Television and film
Thompson was featured in episode 3 of the documentary series Angel City in 2023.

Thompson appeared in the Netflix documentary series, Under Pressure: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team, which followed the U.S. women's national team as they competed in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. She also appeared alongside her sister Gisele as cameos in the Netflix film Family Switch.

Honors and awards
United States U20
 * CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2022

Individual
 * Gatorade National Soccer Player of the Year: 2021
 * NWSL Rookie of the Month: March/April 2023