Ada Hegerberg wasted no time making her presence felt in her return to the Norwegian national team, scoring a hat trick in the team’s 5-1 win over Kosovo in World Cup qualifying.

She scored her first goal with the national team in five years in the 21st minute, then scored her second mere two minutes later. At the 60-minute mark she completed the hat trick.

Frida Maanum and Celin Bizet Ildhusøy also found their way onto the score sheet.

Erëleta Memeti scored the lone goal of the game for the Dardanians.

Hegerberg, who won the first ever Ballon d’Or Feminin in 2018, tweeted after the match the she “couldn’t have dreamed of a better comeback.”

“As Norwegian as it gets,” she wrote.

A thousand thanks for all your messages 🥹. I couldn't have dreamed of a better comeback. As Norwegian as it gets. Tusen takk Sandefjord. Next stop: Oslo. HEIA #NORGE! 🇳🇴

📸 @vegardgrott pic.twitter.com/QA7wrrFjRC

— Ada S Hegerberg (@AdaStolsmo) April 7, 2022

With the hat trick, Hegerberg now has 41 goals through 67 appearances with the national team, ranking ninth all-time amongst Norwegian goalscorers. Isabell Herlovsen, who played from 2005 through 2019 and recorded 133 caps, sits first with 67 goals.

Hegerberg last played for the national team in 2017 before stepping away in protest over the treatment of women’s soccer in the country in comparison to the men’s game. As a result, she missed the 2019 World Cup.

The 26-year-old plays for Olympique Lyonnais in France. She’s been out for the better part of the past two seasons due to injury. After rupturing her ACL in January 2020, she suffered a stress fracture in her left tibia that September. She finally made her return to the game in October 2021 after 20 months away.

In late March, she was included on the Norwegian roster that was named by coach Martin Sjogren. She said then that it felt “incredibly good” to be back.

“I will do my part to help us achieve great things, both on and off the field—for football, for Norway, but not least for the next generation,” she said at the time.

The NWSL promises a tense mid-table battle this weekend, as the No. 4 Portland Thorns take on the No. 5 San Diego Wave with both teams looking to keep late-season lags at bay.

After strong starts, the Thorns and Wave each have just one win in their last five games, with San Diego aiming to snap a two-game losing streak after falling to Gotham last weekend.

Even more, both clubs currently sit in a four-way tie for points on the NWSL table, giving Saturday's match extra weight in potentially shifting the standings this weekend.

"It's a really important moment for us as a team," said San Diego head coach Jonas Eidevall. "Because adversity will happen to people or teams at various points, and everything about now is how we respond."

Portland will also look to regain ground, perhaps drawing inspiration from the past after announcing Wednesday that the club plans to retire legendary forward Christine Sinclair's jersey in an October 4th ceremony.

Sinclair established herself as the Portland Thorns' all-time leading scorer, retiring last year with 79 goals across all NWSL competitions — the second-most ever scored by an NWSL player.

How to watch the Portland Thorns vs. San Diego Wave

The No. 4 Portland Thorns will host the No. 5 San Diego Wave at 10 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage of the NWSL match airing on ION.

No. 2 Las Vegas narrowly avoided a 2025 first-round postseason series upset on Thursday night, defeating the No. 7 Seattle Storm 74-73 in a deciding Game 3 to advance to the Aces' seventh-straight WNBA semifinals.

Aces star A'ja Wilson put her team on her back with another dominant performance, posting 38 points — including 25 in the second half — to outscore the rest of the Las Vegas lineup entirely.

"I am so proud of my team, we were resilient, that's what we need to be in these playoffs and I love each and every last one of them," Wilson said postgame.

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Las Vegas got off to a slow start this year, but a late-season surge fueled by a renewed focus on depth saw the 2023 WNBA champs take the No. 2 playoff seed — and book yet another trip to the WNBA semifinals.

"I remember Chelsea [Gray] saying in a timeout, 'There's no time for my-bads anymore,'" said Wilson. "We have to play perfect basketball."

How to watch the Las Vegas Aces in the 2025 WNBA semifinals

Up next for No. 2 Las Vegas is a No. 6 Indiana side punching above their weight.

That said, the Fever did score a 2-1 record against the Aces in the 2025 regular season — and Las Vegas's lone win over Indiana came back in June.

"They haven't seen the real Aces yet," Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon said of the Fever. "They caught us when we were a bit in turmoil."

The Aces will take aim at Indiana in Sunday's 3 PM ET semifinals opener, airing live on ABC.

The No. 6 Indiana Fever claimed the first series upset in the 2025 WNBA Playoffs on Thursday, ousting the No. 3 Atlanta Dream with an 87-85 Game 3 win to book the franchise's first trip to the semifinals since 2015.

Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell stole the show once again, scoring a game-high 24 points while Indiana finished off the come-from-behind victory on a 7-0 run.

"I can't put it in words," said Fever forward Natasha Howard postgame. "I'm just speechless right now, just how we fought through this whole game."

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The win showcased Indiana's latent scrappiness, with the Fever forced to get crafty this year after multiple season-ending injuries coincided with midseason roster shakeups.

"This group is just really special," said Indiana head coach Stephanie White. "It's the resilience, the flexibility, the welcoming, inclusive nature of this team, their selflessness to pull for the 'we' over the 'me,' the ability to let each teammate be who they are and shine at their best and to lift them up."

"I give Indiana a lot of credit," Atlanta boss Karl Smesko added. "They fought all the way to the last seconds and, unfortunately, they were able to make the final play."

How to watch the Indiana Fever in the 2025 WNBA semifinals

Also punching their ticket on Thursday were the Fever's 2025 WNBA semifinals opponents, the Las Vegas Aces.

No. 6 Indiana will tip off their best-of-five semifinals series against No. 2 Las Vegas at 3 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on ABC.

US sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone blew past the competition this week, becoming the first women's track athlete to run a sub-48 second 400-meter dash in almost 40 years on Thursday, when she won the event final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist clocked a blistering time of 47.78 seconds, breaking her own US record en route to becoming the new world champion.

Notably, Dominican sprinter Marileidy Paulino — the 400-meter gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics — crossed Thursday's finish line right on McLaughlin-Levrone's heels, joining the US winner in breaking the near-impossible 48-second barrier with a time of 47.98 seconds.

"You don't run something like that without amazing women pushing you to it," said McLaughlin-Levrone afterwards, crediting the impact of the other contenders on her own historic pace.

McLaughlin-Levrone's new time is now the second fastest in the sport's history, trailing only the 1985 world record of 47.60 seconds set by East Germany's Marita Koch.

Thursday's win also marked the 26-year-old's first-ever major international 400-meter flat title after historically dominating the 400-meter hurdles, making McLaughlin-Levrone the only athlete to hold world titles in both races.

"I felt that somebody was going to have to run 47-something to win this," Bobby Kersee, the sprinter's longtime coach, told The AP. "She trained for it. She took on the challenge, took on the risk. She's just an amazing athlete that I can have no complaints about."