(Photo courtesy of Carl Gulbish)
Alyssa Thompson deserved a goal against Colombia on the final matchday of the SheBelieves Cup. With patience and determination, she eventually found the winner eight minutes from the end to seal the U.S. Women’s National Team’s SheBelieves Cup for the eighth time in the competition’s eleven-year history at Sports Illustrated Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The talented twenty-one year-old striker from California, who broke into the NWSL as a high-school senior in 2023, recently made the move to Chelsea this season and has been in top form since the fall. Against Colombia, it took more grit and determination to find the goal to put the U.S. up for good.
“It’s been a tremendous year for Alyssa in terms of club and country,” U.S. coach Emma Hayes said after the game. “The consistency in her game is what stands out to me, in terms of being able to do things over 90 minutes, game after game, including a clutch moment like today.”
Thompson puts the U.S. up 1-0 with a brilliant strike! https://t.co/wxqto6wAcR
— Backyard Pitches (@BackyardPitches) March 7, 2026
Needing a win or draw to clinch the title after Canada edged Argentina in Pks beforehand, the U.S. opened with a nearly identical lineup from their 1-0 win over Canada on Wednesday night, the lone change at left back with Avery Patterson replacing Thompson’s sister Gisele and having the difficult task of tracking Real Madrid striker Linda Caicedo. The U.S., employing a high press early in the game, found some joy down the left side with Thompson often linking up with Rose Lavelle and Patterson.
But it was Colombia who produced the best opportunities midway through the first half. In the 13th minute, Caicedo broke free down the right side and sent a dangerous cross through the box with Emily Fox defending 2 vs 1 on the back post, but Fox got to the ball first and cleared it away. Four minutes later, Manuela Vanegas got on the end of a botched clearance off a Colombia free kick, but her volley from a wide angle at close distance settled on top of the net. Just after thirty minutes, Colombia broke down the U.S. with a creative counter attack, but after the U.S. defenders stopped the first wave, they recycled again with a combination from Leicey Santos to Maithé López, but López’s shot deflected and squibbed toward U.S. keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who posted her second-consecutive shutout and extended the U.S. streak to eight straight games without conceding.
The U.S., though controlling the tempo, didn’t have many clear cut chances until the 37th minute when a combo between Lily Yohannes and Trinity Rodman down the right caused the Colombian backline to recover, but Rodman’s cross was blocked for a corner the U.S. couldn’t convert. Minutes from the break Lavelle created an attack from midfield that broke down Colombia once again on the left, and after a delayed run, she met the ball in the box for a redirection that Katherine Tapia saved with quick reflexes.
The U.S. had more jump from the start of the second half and were dangerous down the right with another attack involving Yohannes and Rodman that never found the final touch. Ally Sentnor broke through on a U.S. counter press in the 57th minute, but Tapia denied her shot from close range by cutting down the angle.
Thompson had a cut back into the box from the left side in the 60th, but her curler missed the far post, which may have been the memory she needed to seal her winner.
Hayes made a number of changes with thirty minutes to go, adding captain Lindsay Heaps for Yohannes, Emma Sears for Rodman, Olivia Moultrie for Lavelle, and Jaedyn Shaw for Sentnor at the nine. Shaw got involved immediately with a good chance, yet like much of the game, the U.S. broke down the Colombian defense well but failed to convert attacks into scoring chances.
“We coached some different things in the second half,” Hayes said. “Sometimes, you win the game in the first sixty minutes. Today, we won the game from the players coming from the bench.”
The U.S. found their breakthrough moment in the 82nd minute when Thompson combined with Shaw down the left. Shaw patiently waited for the return pass, leading Thompson inside the box. Thompson took a slight touch before sending a rocket into the upper corner, creating a frenzy from the 22,385 fans throughout the stadium.
Colombia tried to force an attack to find an equalizer, but the U.S. saw out the game with only a missed sitter from Moultrie in stoppage time the only thing stopping them from extending their lead.
“We’ve got a split season,” Hayes said about the overall performance of the tournament and where the team sits in their progression. “We’ve got half our players in season, half player out. The performances in SheBelieves reflects that. It’s really good moments and not quite, but as I said to the team winning major things requires different games and different approaches in every game. We’ve shown how to win when we’re not at our best. We’ve shown the versatility. We’ve shown the depth. We’ve shown the maturity. And I’m happy about those things.”
The U.S. will return to action in April with a three-game set against Japan, whom Hayes considers a step up from the competition this past week and test for her team’s progression towards the next World Cup-Olympics. For now though, the U.S. coach feels the team is in a better place than when they won the 2024 Olympics, and the ascension of young players like Thompson provides further proof the U.S. will be the favorites for glory in 2027 and 2028.
