Alex Morgan is the lone U.S. women’s national team player to make the shortlist for the Best FIFA Women’s Player award.

Her USWNT teammate Sophia Smith, who last week was named the 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, was not included among the 14 nominees announced Thursday. The full list of nominees is below.

Morgan won the NWSL Golden Boot in 2022, scoring 15 goals in the regular season for the San Diego Wave. The 33-year-old striker also scored the game-winning goal for the USWNT in the Concacaf W Championship final.

Smith finished second to Morgan in the Golden Boot race, but the 22-year-old won the NWSL MVP and led the Portland Thorns to the NWSL title. She also paced the USWNT with 11 goals in 2022, becoming the youngest player to lead the United States in scoring since Mia Hamm in 1993.

The Best FIFA Women’s Player award has been presented annually soccer’s international governing body since 2016, when it replaced the FIFA’s previous Player of the Year award. USWNT players have won the award twice in the six years of its existence: Carli Lloyd in 2016 and Megan Rapinoe in 2019. Morgan finished second to Rapinoe in 2019.

Nominees for The Best FIFA Women's Player:

🇧🇷 Debinha
🇨🇦 Jessie Fleming
🇳🇴 Ada Hegerberg
🇦🇺 Sam Kerr
🇳🇱 Vivianne Miedema
🇺🇸 Alex Morgan
🇩🇪 Lena Oberdorf
🇩🇪 Alex Popp
🇪🇸 Aitana Bonmatí
🇪🇸 Alexia Putellas
🇫🇷 Wendie Renard
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Beth Mead
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Keira Walsh
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Leah Williamson pic.twitter.com/xx6QDB290F

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) January 12, 2023

FIFA also announced nominees for its top goalkeeper and coach awards. USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher is among the nominees for Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper, while England manager Sarina Wiegman is up for Best FIFA Women’s Coach after leading the Lionesses to their first UEFA Women’s Euro title.

Nominees for the awards were selected by a panel of former players, including retired USWNT star Carli Lloyd.

The winners for each award will be selected through a wider voting process, which will include four groups: national team coaches; national team captains; soccer journalists; and fans voting through the FIFA website. Each group will receive equal weight (25%) in the final tabulation. Fan voting is available through Feb. 3.

Three finalists for each award will be announced in early February.

Best FIFA Women’s Player

• Aitana Bonmatí (Spain / FC Barcelona)
• Debinha (Brazil / North Carolina Courage)
• Jessie Fleming (Canada / Chelsea FC Women)
• Ada Hegerberg (Norway / Olympique Lyonnais)
• Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
• Beth Mead (England / Arsenal WFC)
• Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
• Alex Morgan (USA / Orlando Pride / San Diego Wave)
• Lena Oberdorf (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
• Alexandra Popp (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
• Alexia Putellas (Spain / FC Barcelona)
• Wendie Renard (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
• Keira Walsh (England / Manchester City WFC / FC Barcelona)
• Leah Williamson (England / Arsenal WFC)

Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper

• Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC)
• Mary Earps (England / Manchester United)
• Christiane Endler (Chile / Olympique Lyonnais)
• Merle Frohms (Germany / Eintracht Frankfurt / VfL Wolfsburg)
• Alyssa Naeher (United States / Chicago Red Stars)
• Sandra Paños García-Villamil (Spain / FC Barcelona)

Best FIFA Women’s Coach

• Sonia Bompastor (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
• Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)
• Bev Priestman (England / Canadian National Team)
• Pia Sundhage (Sweden / Brazilian National Team)
• Martina Voss-Tecklenburg (Germany / German National Team)
• Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / English National Team)

LOVB volleyball is coming back to cable, as the pro volleyball league announced a Wednesday night primetime partnership with USA Network for its 2026 season.

From January through April, USA Network will air a "Match of the Week" nearly every Wednesday evening, starting with a 2025 championship rematch between runners-up LOVB Nebraska and title-winners LOVB Austin on January 7th, 2026.

USA Network will also broadcast a portion of LOVB's 2026 postseason, including one semifinal and both games in the league's new two-match championship series.

Gearing up for its second season, LOVB features a talented player pool amid an increasingly crowded pro volleyball market.

One in every five LOVB athletes are Olympians, with 90% of the league's international players and 75% of its US players boasting national team experience.

Even more, growing demand for the sport has expansion on the horizon for the six-team league, with LOVB preparing to launch its seventh franchise in Los Angeles — backed by Angel City and Chelsea FC investor Alexis Ohanian — in 2027.

How to watch the 2026 LOVB season on USA Network

The second season of LOVB opens when inaugural champions Austin take on runners-up Nebraska at 6 PM ET on January 7th, 2026.

Live coverage will air on USA Network.

With the rookie card of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark still doing numbers, trading card manufacturer Panini America is debuting Caitlin Clark Chronicled this week, dropping a limited-edition release on Monday that features a 22-page collectible book and 100-card set of the WNBA standout.

The book spans images of Clark on and off the court, and includes eight four-card packs and 32 randomly inserted trading cards, as well as autographed exclusives.

"I'm excited to launch 'Caitlin Clark Chronicled' with Panini America and share some of my favorite moments on and off the court from my first two years in the WNBA," Clark said in Monday's statement. "We wanted to create something different that combined great photography with trading cards, including some special exclusives. I am proud of this collection and hope fans enjoy it."

The WNBA superstar is an exclusive Panini partner in the trading card and autographed memorabilia space, with Clark making headlines last July when her one-of-one autographed rookie card sold for more than $600,000 — setting a new world record for a women's sports card.

How to buy Panini's 'Caitlin Clark Chronicled' card set

Panini's limited edition Clark collection is currently available for purchase at Target stores and Target.com.

Tensions remain high between the WNBA and WNBPA, after The Athletic reported on Monday that the latest CBA proposal from Players Association more than doubles the league's revenue share offer — suggesting a deepening rift in negotiations.

The union outlined a deal that would give players around 30% of total WNBA and team revenue — a significant leap from the league's proposed 15% share.

According to sources, the WNBPA also suggested linking the salary cap to the previous season's total revenue, factoring in player benefits and the number of teams in the league.

The move intends to undercut an accusation from the WNBA that the players have yet to put forward an economically viable revenue sharing model.

The union's proposal begins at 29% of the prior season's total league grosses, then grows to 34% by the final year of the CBA with a one-time adjustment for the new 11-year, $2.2 billion WNBA media rights deal.

Notably, the league recently rejected a flat 33% revenue share CBA proposal, prompting this week's 1%-per-year increase system in response.

It's clear that the WNBA office and the WNBPA are at odds, but the union is showing their work as both sides strive for a CBA that will keep players on the court in 2026.

Olympic swimming icon Katie Ledecky has done it again, becoming the first woman to break the 15-minute mile with a time of 14:59.62 at her namesake Katie Ledecky Invitational in Maryland.

Smashing her own US record of 15:01.41, Sunday's sub-15 minute mile gives Ledecky the 1,650-meter freestyle's eight fastest times, with US teammate Erica Sullivan earning the ninth-best in 2019.

"This is a special one for sure," Ledecky said afterwards. "This has been a goal of mine, to break 15 minutes in the 1,650, for probably eight or nine years. So, just putting in the hard work, believing that I could do it someday, and to do it at this meet, is really special."

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The 28-year-old Washington, DC, product is the most decorated women's swimmer in the history of the sport, prompting Nation's Capital Swimming — where Ledecky got her start at age six — to name their annual event in her honor earlier this year.

"I definitely was a little nervous before the race, just knowing there were a lot of eyes on me and all that," she continued. "But I knew I could just relax and have fun with it, and whatever happened, happened."

How to watch Katie Ledecky in action

Ledecky's next major competition will likely be the TYR Pro Swim Series, which kicks off in Austin on January 14th, 2026.

The domestic competition series will be covered across NBC Sports platforms.