Sophia Wilson loves Portland. The Oregon city has been home to the 25-year-old forward since she entered the National Women’s Soccer League as the No. 1 draft pick six years ago. This will remain her home in 2026, as Wilson has chosen to exercise her player option on her 2024 contract extension with the Portland Thorns.
“It’s very comfortable for me,” Wilson told Competitor An exclusive interview last week. “I know it’s good to be uncomfortable a lot of the time, but I feel like I’m at a point in my life and career where this is what I need, coming back from having a baby.”
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Despite all the changes over the past year, Portland isn’t one of them — even though the Thorns she left in 2024 before the birth of her first child, Gianna, isn’t the version she returns to in 2026.
“In order for me to get back to being the best version of myself, both on and off the court, what I need now is to be in a place that I’m familiar with,” Wilson said. “I miss my teammates. I miss playing in front of the Riveters at Providence Park. When I really think about making a decision like this, it’s hard to accept not playing in that stadium. It’s a hard, hard thing to think about.”
A photo of Wilson celebrating with a shrug after scoring a goal in the 2022 NWSL Championship perhaps best sums up the best version of herself — “that girl” Alex Morgan once thought she was. That year, she was named the NWSL regular season and tournament MVP and went on to win the U.S. Soccer Women’s Player of the Year award (the first time a woman of color had won the award since its inception in 1985).
Wilson is delighted to be back playing football for club and country. Still, just like the last time she talked about staying in Portland, she’s ready to shut down comments and questions about her decision. As she said, everyone will have their own opinion about what she did during the prime of her career.
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“At the end of the day, I know myself best. I know what kind of environment I work best in. I know what I need at this stage of my life. No one can tell me what’s better than myself,” Wilson said.
There may be an exception to this rule. She joked that her husband, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, knew she would return to Portland before making the final decision.
“I feel like it’s going to be even more special and fulfilling to be back in Portland with my daughter,” Wilson said, “because I grew up so much in that city and with the people there. Coming back as a completely new person — I mean, I’m still Sophie — but as a new person with a daughter, I’m excited to be back where I grew up.”
Wilson last wore a Thorns jersey in November 2024 when Portland lost to Gotham FC in the quarter-finals. In March, just before the start of the 2025 NWSL season, Wilson and her husband announced they were expecting their first child. This season is Wilson’s first break since — well, not even she remembers it, but she thinks it’s been that way since at least she was eight years old.
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“Probably I never really left football until I started playing it,” she said.
Her first season in the NWSL was 2020, which spanned from a strange first year to the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, the season is getting longer and the league will expand to 16 teams in 2026; add in U.S. Women’s National Team duties and a January training camp, saying goodbye to any long mental and physical breaks.
Wilson believes she’s always been good at leaving her game at the front door when she gets home, but this year off has opened up a new level of reset – completely different from injury.
“I went out knowing that the best thing in my life was about to happen to me and knowing that I was going to be able to come back and do what I love and do it with the best thing that ever happened to me,” she said. It turned out to be pleasure. She found herself watching games more like a fan than a player, eager to watch them again.
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“There’s no pressure or any pressure to watch,” she said. “I really enjoyed watching the games and it helped me coming back because it gave me a different perspective on the game. I learned a lot about how to adapt to different parts of each game, what qualities I can bring and what things I can do – but not in a stressful way, just in a, ‘Wow, I’m excited to come back and add these things to my game or contribute in this way.'”
Wilson will also contribute in other ways to return in 2026.
Her final appearance for the Thorns was also the final game for the club’s legendary trio: Christina Sinclair, Becky Sauerbrunn and Megan Klingenberg. Behind Bella Bixby, Wilson is tied for second in seniority with fellow draftee Morgan Weaver (who also missed the 2025 season with an ongoing knee injury).
Our mission is to find a balance between the fresh energy of her return and making the most of her experience in the NWSL, specifically in Portland.
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“We’ve lost a lot of Portland icons, veterans over the past few years,” she said. “I think the team is still in the process of refining that identity. There’s a balance between understanding what it means to be a Thorn but also creating a new way to be a Thorn with a new team and a new energy.”
She knows she’s been gone for a year and it’s a young team. (She returned to Providence Park several times, but wasn’t in the locker room every day.) Despite the comfort Portland brought her, there were changes, including the club’s search for another head coach after parting ways with Rob Gale in November. There is also a certain consistency to this change. The next permanent head coach will be Wilson’s fifth in six years.
“It helped me learn the process of finding and adjusting to a new coach and figuring it out with my teammates. It’s a difficult thing, but it’s also a moment of unity. You learn to stick together,” she said.
Wilson is ready to make the contributions she needs to make. For the most part, she’s ready to get back to playing in the stadium she knows and loves. She’s also ready for more. Since re-signing with the Thorns in 2024, her goal has been to lift more trophies.
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“I don’t play to win,” she said. Her tone was soft, but still had that trademark trace of feistiness.
For Portland, the love is mutual.
“I would say 364 of the nearly 365 days since I’ve been here praying for Sophia to come back,” Thorns president of football operations and general manager Jeff Agus joked last week.
“Sofia’s return is huge on several levels. From a lineup perspective, she immediately strengthens our attack and makes us extremely dangerous,” Agus said.
According to Agoos, statistics from the first half of the season showed that the Thorns were one of the best teams in the league at creating chances, but those chances were not being converted. Wilson’s clinical finishing ability will be welcomed. She has been averaging double-digit goals for the Thorns since 2022 and even won the 2023 Golden Boot while missing most of the season due to injury. In 2024, she scored 12 goals.
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“I think it’s a positive thing for the league as a whole when a talented player like Sophia chooses to come back to the league,” he added. “This speaks to the competitiveness of the league and the environment we are trying to create in the NWSL.”
Recently, this competitiveness has been called into question with the growing interest in NWSL players from European teams, especially American players. Wilson’s international teammates Naomi Gilma and Alyssa Thompson both left the league to join Chelsea this year, as has free agent Trinity Rodman.
Wilson did have a choice before him. During her off year, she not only watched games but everything happening around the league from player movement to expansion to increased investment. As she said when she last signed a contract extension with the Thorns, she struggles to assess everything in front of her, especially now, playing in her prime ahead of the 2027 World Cup. In 2024, she became a key member of the top three of the U.S. Women’s National Team along with Rodman and Mallory Swanson. The offensive team helped the team defeat Brazil and win the Olympic gold medal.
“As a player, you’re always thinking about what’s the best option for you. All the different aspects: What’s the best team environment? Where’s the best coaching staff? Where’s the best place to play? Where am I going to grow and develop?” she said.
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Although the league has also changed over the past year, she never stops thinking about these larger issues. She will face bigger questions at the end of the 2026 season as her option year comes to an end and she is able to test the market as a free agent, questions that will be answered (at least in part) by the solution her fellow “Triple Espresso” Rodman finds in ongoing negotiations with the NWSL this winter to stay with the Washington Spirit.
But now, Wilson remains a thorn in the side, both internally and externally. However, 2026 will be different not only for the team, but also for the new moms. Gigi has been by her side for her last few games, from the NWSL Championship in San Jose to the final USWNT game of the year in Florida. Wilson recently posted a video on Instagram of his wife putting Gigi’s dangling foot through a football during practice.
“I really didn’t realize how much I could love another person,” she said of her daughter, before she smiled and clarified that she clearly loves her family and her husband. “The love I have for her, I can’t even put it into words. All I care about is that she’s happy and taken care of.”
Even as Wilson was talking about her return to football, she admitted she was just staring at her daughter as she spoke. Wilson was undoubtedly fascinated.
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For a player who already seemed to be full of joy, known for her coolness and smile, her parting thoughts foreshadowed her return in 2026. Ask anyone who knows her, she said, and they’ll all say the same thing.
“I’m a happier person.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
U.S. Women’s National Team, Portland Thorns, NWSL, Women’s Soccer
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