Teenage standout Alyssa Thompson, who played for the U.S. youth national team at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in August, received her first senior call-up Thursday.

U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski named her to the 24-player roster for a European tour that will begin Friday, Oct. 7, with a match against England at Wembley Stadium in London.

The 17-year-old is the youngest player to earn a call-up for a full national team camp since Sophia Smith was tabbed at 16 years old back in April 2017.

“We are very excited about her potential and qualities, and we are looking forward to seeing how she is going to turn out in our environment,” Andonovski said.

Andonovski added that Thompson has a “good understanding of the game,” and said he is excited to see how she will fit into the USWNT’s system.

Thompson, a high school senior from Studio City, California, was named the Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2020-21.

Thompson plays for the U17 Total Futbol boys team in MLS NEXT, and along with her younger sister, Gisele, is committed to play college soccer at Stanford.

As part of the USYNT, the forward scored a goal and recorded an assist in a U20 World Cup matchup against Ghana in August.

Cooper ➡️ Thompson 🇺🇸

The @USYNT doubles their lead over Ghana 👏 pic.twitter.com/NoE2GUoh0F

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 11, 2022

Absent from the USWNT roster for October’s international window is star forward Alex Morgan, who was left off due to a knee injury, per the team news release. Morgan’s absence gives Thompson a roster spot and a chance to make an impact during the friendlies against England and Spain.

Thompson’s first Senior National Team camp is not “make or break” for her future on the team, Andonovski said. Rather, her the call up will provide her with a solid foundation moving forward.

“This is the first experience for her,” he said. “This is something that she shouldn’t even worry about. I think it’s a great experience, great exposure for her. And it’s a good experience for us to have the opportunity to work with her. What happens from there, we will see.”

In addition to making history as the first player born in 2004 to receive a call-up, Alyssa and Gisele became the first high-schoolers to sign an NIL deal with Nike back in May.

Unrivaled Basketball is stocking up ahead of the 3×3 offseason league's 2026 campaign, rolling out the first group of six players set to join its second season on Monday.

Officially returning to the league's Miami court this year are Phoenix forward Alyssa Thomas and her Mercury teammate Satou Sabally, as well as LA Sparks forward Rickea Jackson.

Joining the Unrivaled returnees will be a trio of newcomers, with Seattle Storm veteran guard Erica Wheeler set to log her first minutes in the new league alongside a pair of WNBA star freshmen in Connecticut Sun guard Saniya Rivers and 2025 Rookie of the Year and Dallas Wings standout Paige Bueckers.

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Unrivaled plans to announce six athletes every weekday through October 1st, as the league gears up for its first 54-player season, which tips off on January 5th.

Fueled by a successful debut year and significant additional investment, Unrivaled accelerated its salary growth and expansion plans, adding two new teams plus an additional development pool of players to the league's 2026 season.

"If we didn't expand rosters, there were going to be All-Stars who we didn't have space for," Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell recently told ESPN. "We want to be the home for all of the best players in the world."

Due to the increase to eight total teams, Unrivaled could see their rosters rearranged for the sophomore campaign — meaning returning players like Laces BC's Thomas, Mist BC's Jackson, and Phantom BC's Sabally could suit up for a different squad next year.

Following the reveal of the league's full lineup, Unrivaled plans to drop team assignments in November.

Celebrated Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí took home her third consecutive Ballon d'Or at Monday's 2025 awards, becoming the first-ever women's footballer to accomplish the feat.

FC Barcelona has dominated the last five international football player of the year honors, with the voting panel of journalists tapping Barça star Alexia Putellas in 2021 and 2022 followed by Bonmatí starting in 2023.

"My third time in a row here, and I still can't believe it, incredible," Bonmatí said at the annual Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris. "Thank you to France Football for this, for the third time — it really could have gone to anyone."

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The 27-year-old's win wasn't without controversy with Bonmatí beating out fellow Spanish national Mariona Caldentey (Arsenal), who came in second despite scoring in both her club's UWCL Final win and Spain's 2025 Euro Final loss.

"If it was possible to share it, I would, because I think it has been a year with an exceptionally high level, above all among my teammates, who had a great year," added Bonmatí.

After their successful Euro title defense, England fans were also miffed at the choice, though manager Sarina Wiegman did win Coach of the Year.

Five Lionesses also earned spots in the Ballon d'Or's Top 10: No. 3 Alessia Russo (Arsenal), No. 5 Chloe Kelly (Arsenal), No. 7 Leah Williamson (Arsenal), No. 9 Lucy Bronze (Chelsea), and No. 10 Hannah Hampton (Chelsea).

Meanwhile, Arsenal was named Women's Club of the Year after dethroning Barcelona in May's Champions League final.

As for the USWNT, standouts Emily Fox (Arsenal) and Lindsey Heaps (OL Lyonnes) made this year's 30-player finalists list, clocking in at Nos. 25 and 26, respectively.

Second-year Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts has his work cut out for him as No. 4 Phoenix preps for Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA semifinals against the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx on Tuesday night.

Armed with a revamped roster and a modern technical approach common among next-gen WNBA coaches, Tibbetts will try to lead Phoenix to the win the Mercury need to tie up their best-of-five series — doing so against a Lynx team laser focused on returning to the WNBA Finals under legendary manager Cheryl Reeve.

"They've been doing it, and now they've all got championships under their belt," Tibbetts told JWS, giving props to elite veterans coaches like Reeve. "Nothing is new to them when it comes to this league."

Ending the regular season on a 27-17 record, the Mercury have benefitted from Tibbetts's stretch offense all year, lengthening the court and freeing up room for sharp-shooters like 2025 WNBA MVP finalist Alyssa Thomas to crash the glass.

That strategy led Phoenix to a Top-5 regular-season finish in rebounds per game (34.7) and assists per game (20.9), as well as total 3-pointers made (414).

"[It's] just maximizing shot attempts, getting your players to understand the true values of what a shot looks like from a points-per-shot basis," Tibbetts explained. "I don’t think you need to overdo it — there's a ton of smart players in our league."

How to watch the Phoenix Mercury vs. Minnesota Lynx in Game 2

Tibbetts and the No. 4 Mercury will try to even the score with Reeve and the No. 1 Lynx in Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA semifinals at 7:30 PM ET on Tuesday, airing live on ESPN.

With their 17-game winning streak fading in the review, the No. 2 Las Vegas Aces enter Tuesday's Game 2 clash with the No. 6 Indiana Fever vying to dig themselves out of a 0-1 hole in the 2025 WNBA semifinals.

"We didn't really have a pep to us, the pace that they were playing at, the pep that they had in their step, we just didn't have that," Aces guard Jackie Young said following Sunday's Game 1 loss. "It's on us to change that next game."

"I thought it was really poor, really poor," echoed Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon, putting her team's recent defensive effort on blast.

Additionally, the Aces will be must-win mode on Tuesday night, as no WNBA team has ever bounced back from dropping the two opening games of a best-of-five series.

The Aces will likely try to avoid over-relying on star forward A'ja Wilson this time, after the Fever held the four-time WNBA MVP to just 16 points in Game 1.

"I know we're capable, but not when we play like that," said Hammon after Sunday's loss. "God forbid A'ja doesn't drop 40 [points] for us. We had 12 assists in 40 minutes tonight."

Las Vegas will also focus on stopping Indiana star guard Kelsey Mitchell after the first-time MVP finalist set records with her game-high 34 points on Sunday.

"You can't ask any one person to guard her," explained Hammon in respect to Mitchell's game. "It takes multiple actions and multiple bodies."

How to watch Indiana Fever vs. Las Vegas Aces in WNBA semifinals Game 2

The No. 2 Las Vegas Aces will host the No. 6 Indiana Fever again in Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA semifinals on Tuesday.

The action will tip off at 9:30 PM ET, with live coverage on ESPN.