Timing is everything in life — and in awards voting, including our ESPN FC Women’s Rank.
This time of year always produces plenty of questions around voting for soccer awards, and there’s one being asked in full force this year: How is it that the U.S. women’s national team — winners of four World Cups, the reigning Olympic champions (for a record fifth time) and No. 2-ranked team in the world — doesn’t have more representation at the top of these year-end lists for best players?
The framing of the question is Americentrism, sure, and the reality of the landscape is that it remains Eurocentric. Combine that with a year when the USWNT’s best forwards from yesteryear were all largely absent, and it starts to explain the absence of Americans from the current conversations around the world’s best players, including ESPN’s top 50.
Seven Americans made the Women’s Rank list, but none within sniffing distance of the claim to being the world’s top player. Emily Fox, in the oft overlooked position of fullback, is the top-ranked American at No. 23 after playing a crucial role in Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League triumph in May — a European tie-in in itself, by no coincidence. Fox was also the highest-ranked American in the final Ballon d’Or voting, where she finished 25th in the rankings.
How is it that such a talented, deep and still relatively dominant team doesn’t have a player ranked among the top five or 10 players in the world in any of the awards, including ESPN’s top 50?
One could take aim at the voters for their potential faults and biases. Voters usually favor stars and especially goal scorers, who were the primary absentees for the USWNT this year. There are undeniable biases toward access in voting for any of these awards, and the NWSL and top leagues in Europe are the most accessible.
I was on the panel for ESPN’s list, obviously, and I have been a voter on the Best FIFA award mostly for over a decade. For the Best FIFA award, specifically, the stage at which journalists, coaches and captains get to vote is only after a committee puts forth a small group of names. I’ll never forget voting in 2014 when, for me, Kim Little — the NWSL MVP — was the best player in the world but wasn’t even an option on the ballot. ESPN’s ballot, however, allowed write-ins if the “short list” of 300 players missed anyone.
Voting tends to hinge on which big international tournaments happen in a given year — and which countries get to participate. For the Americans, they usually need a World Cup or Olympics to rise to the top of these rankings. Megan Rapinoe was the last American to win the Ballon d’Or, in 2019, after she practically levitated at that World Cup to win the Golden Boot, Golden Ball and a winner’s medal.
Last summer’s big tournament, of course, was the European Championship — at least in the eyes of so many globally. Africa and South America hosted their own overlapping continental championships, but with far less global commercialism and fanfare — even if they had just as much drama. (Brazil beating Colombia 5-4 in a shootout after an eight-goal thriller through 120 minutes was the game of the year.)
It comes as no surprise, then, that Europe would dominate again in awards season — ludicrously so when looking at FIFA’s Best XI, which is composed entirely of players from Spain and England — the two finalists at Euro 2025. For ESPN FC Women’s Rank, Spain led the way with nine players, and England followed with eight.
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Why did no USWNT players make the top 20 of ESPN FC Women’s Rank?
Futbol W’s Cristina Alexander and Ali Krieger, alongside Natalia Astrain, discuss Emily Fox as the highest-ranked USWNT player in ESPN FC Women’s Rank.
But let’s be clear: This is not a zero-sum conversation. Spain and England have world-class players. Spain, as the reigning World Cup champion, continues to produce players whose mastery on the ball and advanced tactical understanding can wow even the most casual observer. Spain fields a whole starting lineup of world-class players.
The USWNT can say the same — sort of. The transitional state of the national team is a huge factor in players’ global rankings right now. For the first time since ESPN launched its top 50 ranking, no Americans made the top 20 — but the USA’s seven players on the list is right behind England’s total. The USWNT has world-class talent, but the more established names have been absent, while the rising stars of that next generation are still staking their claims.
Forwards Sophia Wilson (No. 5 on our list last year) and Mallory Swanson (No. 15 last year) did not play a single competitive game as they awaited the births of their respective first children. Trinity Rodman, the other forward from that dominant triumvirate that led the USWNT to Olympic gold in 2024, missed about half the year due to various injuries. Rodman still checks in at No. 37 in our rankings, which speaks to her impact when she is on the field, but she was No. 8 last year.
Point blank, those are three of the most obvious U.S. players who would capture global attention — remember the worldwide voting pool isn’t watching every minute of every game — but their literal time on the field over the past year was significantly limited in one case and nonexistent in two others.
Smith, Swanson and Rodman finished fourth, sixth and ninth, respectively, in 2024 Ballon d’Or voting. Each player is in her prime and will be back in those rankings once they return to the field.
Also missing for most of the year was defender Naomi Girma, whom USWNT head coach Emma Hayes previously called “the best defender I’ve ever seen,” and who is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the world (Ballon d’Or voting be darned). She was No. 2 on ESPN’s list last year. Girma’s time on the field was extremely limited in our voting window due to multiple calf issues, and it’s the only reason for her absence.
Rose Lavelle also had arguably her best NWSL season to date but missed the first half of the year recovering from ankle surgery. Her play in the back half of the year warrants a ranking even higher than No. 32, where she ultimately landed on our countdown.
These absences also accelerated and intensified the most experimental year in the USWNT’s 40-year history. Hayes handed out 27 first caps in her 30 games in charge. The past year was marked by stark rotation and experimentation, meaning that even some of the best USWNT players were not necessarily regulars. And they didn’t need to be, because the Americans did not play a single game in an official competition in 2025.
There were still standouts, of course. Forward Alyssa Thompson leveraged MVP-level play with Angel City into a blockbuster summer transfer to Chelsea, where her profile could grow further along with her game. That was enough to earn her a spot at No. 43 on our list.
Midfielder Sam Coffey was a picture of consistency for the USWNT and the Portland Thorns. As one general manager told ESPN in our anonymous NWSL GM survey, if Coffey were Spanish, she would have been in the top five for the Ballon d’Or. Coffey checks in at No. 28 in our rankings this year.
Even if that hypothetical around a player being more appreciated in Europe sounds like a stretch, the state of timing for the USWNT cannot be ignored. The team’s three biggest stars from the Olympics were largely absent from the recent awards voting window, and the team rotated a laundry list of players through friendly matches.
None of that, however, suggests that there is a shortage of talent for the USWNT. From the established likes of Coffey, Fox and Lavelle to the rising stars such as midfielder Lily Yohannes, there is world-class talent in red, white and blue. Fair or not, it might just take another standout World Cup in 2027 for the world to fully appreciate that.