Behind Sophia Smith's supreme confidence: 'From Day 1, I'm a winner'
Editor's note: Sophia Smith opened the scoring for the United States against Vietnam on Friday. Read about how her obsession with winning can give the U.S. a competitive edge in this year's Women's World Cup. This story was originally published on July 11.
Are you nervous?
Sophia Smith thought about the question, asked because not only is she about to participate in her first World Cup at 22 years old, but because she's expected to play a key role for a U.S. women's national team intent on three-peating.
"I don't really get nervous," the star forward said. Smith admitted to being a bit anxious, but only because she wants the games to start. It's all part of this uber-confidence that has become her trademark.
"From Day 1, I'm a winner," Smith said. "I have to win. It makes me sick to lose anything. Card games, anything. When it comes to soccer, I just find a way."
When the USWNT opens play against Vietnam on July 21 (9 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), Smith will start alongside her mentor, Alex Morgan, for the heavily favored Americans in a tournament that's expected to be the most attended and most watched of all time for women's soccer. She wrapped up that position early — last year, well before the World Cup roster was announced, U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski said it would be "extremely difficult" for another player to take her starting spot. That declaration has held up.
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While there are plenty of veteran (Megan Rapinoe, Morgan) and rising (Trinity Rodman, Alyssa Thompson) stars on this American roster, Smith arguably appears poised to take hold of her moment this summer more than any other player. She's fearless on the ball, loves taking defenders one-on-one and will tell anyone who asks that her goal is to one day be the best player in the world.
"I'm a creative and fun player, and I like to put on a show sometimes," Smith told FOX Sports.
Smith scores goal vs. Vietnam in 14' | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
But even with all the pressure and expectations, her self-assuredness and belief gives her teammates confidence.
Rapinoe calls her a "bona fide superstar." After winning a national championship at Stanford her sophomore year, Smith made history as the first teenager drafted into the National Women's Soccer League when she was taken No. 1 overall by the Portland Thorns in the 2020 draft. She earned her first USWNT cap later that year and now has 29.
In 2022, Smith led the national team with 11 goals and was voted NWSL MVP, won the league title with the Thorns and was named MVP of the championship game. So far this calendar year, she leads the NWSL with 10 goals and 59 shots (38 on goal) in 13 matches.
Smith adds USA's second goal vs. Vietnam in 45+7' | 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
In an interview with FOX Sports last year, her former Real Colorado club coach Lorne Donaldson — who is the head coach for the Jamaican side — recalled a story he believes truly sums her up. Smith had scored seven goals in the first half of a U-18 tournament game. The team had another match the next day, so he took Smith out at halftime to give her rest and minutes to other players.
Smith was not pleased.
"It took me the entire halftime to convince her that I wasn't going to play her," Donaldson recalled. "I said, ‘I don't want to embarrass the other team.' She looked at me straight in the eye and said, ‘Well then why are they playing? That's not my problem. I'm here to play.' She sat there and moaned the entire second half.
"Now, every time I see her, she reminds me of that story and asks why I pulled her out of the game. She still doesn't understand why."
Off the field, Smith's mother, Mollie, describes her daughter as sweet and kind. And Smith describes herself as laid-back and a "girly girl." She has a disarmingly friendly smile, wears a trademark bubble braid for games, and loves to read books.
But on the field, there's a ruthlessness to her game that Smith believes comes from being the youngest of three girls.
"I always had to fend for myself," she said.
Smith was born in August 2000 and was the first player born in the 2000s to play for the USWNT. While most players over the last few years were inspired by the 1999 World Cup, Smith hadn't been born yet. Her earliest and most impactful memory of the team was watching Carli Lloyd score a hat trick in the 2015 final.
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This World Cup will be about the blending of generations for the USWNT. Rapinoe, 38, is the oldest player on the team while Thompson, 18, is the youngest. In between, there are plenty of Gen Zs and millennials. Older players give the younger players a hard time for things they don't understand and vice versa. Smith has never used a CD player and rolls her eyes when Crystal Dunn, her close friend and Thorns teammate, tests her music knowledge.
"A song will come on and Crystal will be like, ‘Soph, do you know who sings this?'" Smith said. "And I'm like, ‘No.' And it will be Tupac or something or someone I'm supposed to know."
Smith never read or watched "Harry Potter" — but that's more because she preferred princess movies instead. When an older player asks her to watch an older movie that they like, her first question is: "But is it grainy?" If it is, she won't watch it.
But there are some Gen Z stereotypes that people get wrong.
"Not all of us are doing Tik Toks like Trinity," Smith said, smiling. "I'm not doing Tik Toks. But I think our generation has an image of being very confident, and I think that's great. It's not like having an ego. It's more we believe in ourselves and aren't afraid to show that."
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That has always been true of Smith, who believed in herself at a young age.
When she was little, Smith liked to jump off the steep staircase at her house. She always knew one of her parents or sisters would catch her, and they did.
When she was 5, she played on a three-on-three travel team. One day in the car on the way to a game, she declared that she was going to score 10 goals. She scored 10 goals.
When Smith told her parents she wanted to go to Stanford, Mollie was supportive but didn't know how her daughter would pull it off. She was already missing 60 days of school a year because of travel for national team camps. Smith would need to be organized and find a way to get all of her work completed on time. Smith figured it out and got into Stanford.
She always has been determined, whether that was commuting 90 minutes each way to play for the best club in the Denver area, Real Colorado, for four years of high school, or dragging defenders along with her as she sprints to goal. Watch any highlight of Smith streaking down the field, and you can bet there's anywhere from one to three players trying to catch her.
Smith feels the hands grabbing at her, but has too much of a killer instinct to let anything distract her from the task at hand. What's she thinking of in those decisive moments?
"Scoring," Smith said. "Scoring. I'm thinking about, ‘How can I get to the goal in the most efficient way possible to score a goal or to assist?'"
One of the more recent examples of that came in the USWNT's send-off match against Wales on Sunday. With the game scoreless in the 76th minute, Smith outran two defenders into the box before unselfishly crossing a perfect ball to a streaking Rodman, who scored the goal.
Andonovski has been a staunch Smith supporter for years — even though he didn't include her on the Tokyo Olympics roster in 2021. He's not surprised by her trajectory or the form she's in now. Smith and Andonovski both know the World Cup is a different level from playing in the NWSL, but still, expectations for her are high. And the team needs her.
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Helping the U.S. make history with a fifth (and third straight) World Cup title plus earning the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer aren't far-fetched goals for Smith. But she isn't getting ahead of herself.
As confident as ever, she said she's focused on one thing: "I just want to win."
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her on Twitter @LakenLitman.
