The 2019 Women’s World Cup was filled with memorable moments, but perhaps none more redemptive and consequential than Alyssa Naeher’s penalty-kick save in the USWNT’s semifinal win over England.

"This is Alyssa Naeher’s World Cup moment. The save she made in the first half was tremendous. She had good saves against France. But this is her World Cup moment. The big save that everyone said she would have to make – she made it." - JP Dellacamerapic.twitter.com/aZM8wmouF0

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) July 2, 2019

The penalty came in the 84^th minute, awarded to England after a collision in the box between Becky Sauerbrunn and Ellen White.

“Well, there was such a long VAR review. I just remember being like, ‘Just prepare like it’s a penalty,’” Naeher tells Kelley O’Hara on the Just Women’s Sports podcast, in the debut episode of Season 4.

The USWNT goalkeeper recalls a hush falling over the typically boisterous crowd inside the French stadium. “I just remember everything being very quiet, which obviously it wasn’t,” Naeher says. “There’s 70,000 people in the stands.”

Naeher says at that moment she thought back to January camp, when the U.S. was scrimmaging boys in preparation for the World Cup and she let in 10 consecutive penalties during a practice shootout.

“I was so angry, I literally like ripped my jersey,” Naeher says. “I was so frustrated, and I was trying new techniques and new stuff and I was seething.”

That’s when teammate Christen Press suggested the two take a stroll to cool off. “She’s like, ‘You need to change your mindset. You need to just let go of what happened, think ahead. It’s going to matter down the road and you need to be more positive with yourself and believe that you’re going to make a save and it’s going to make a difference,’” Naeher recalls.

That pep talk from Press immediately came to mind after Naeher made her career-defining save against England, sending the USWNT through to the World Cup final.

“That was the first thing I thought of afterwards,” she says. “I was like, thank you.”

Naeher’s teammates swarmed her in celebration after the save. She quickly shooed everyone out of the box in a now iconic response. According to the star keeper, the move came less from humility and more from anxiety.

“I had like a minor panic attack,” she says. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I shouldn’t have stood up. They’re going to call me for eight seconds.'”

So, what is Naeher’s secret to penalty-kick success? She says it’s about striking the right balance between preparation and letting “yourself be in the moment.”

“I will study … game films and scouting reports,” Naeher says. “You put the time into the preparation aspects on and off the field. But then there has to still be enough of an element of letting instincts take over.”

Listen to the full conversation between O’Hara and Naeher on the Just Women’s Sports podcast.

Sweden veteran defender Magda Eriksson is hanging up her international boots to focus on her health, with the 32-year-old officially announcing her retirement from her national team on Sunday.

Eriksson will continue competing at the domestic level for her German club, Bayern Munich.

The longtime captain sat out the most recent international window due to a head injury, watching as world No. 3 Sweden fell to No. 1 Spain in the two-leg 2025 Nations League semifinals.

"It's by far the toughest decision I've ever made," Eriksson said in her social media announcement. "But I'm listening to my body and mind instead of my heart."

"I've landed in the fact that unfortunately it's a decision that has to be made."

After an 11-year career with the Swedish senior national team, Eriksson retires as a two-time Olympic silver medalist, earning those podium finishes in Rio in 2016 and at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.

Often leading Sweden through major tournaments where early domination dissolved into a third-place finish, Eriksson also helped her team eke onto the World Cup podium in both 2019 and 2023.

"It is heavy news," said Sweden head coach Tony Gustavsson after Eriksson announced her international retirement, calling her "one of our most important players for a long time."

"[Magda's] professionalism, courage, and heart have left a strong mark on the national team," he added.

Chelsea FC's £1 million gamble is paying dividends, as USWNT rising star Alyssa Thompson continued her goal-scoring momentum for the six-time defending WSL champs on Sunday.

The young forward found the back of the net in the ninth minute of the Blues' 1-1 Sunday draw with Liverpool, solidifying her status as a decisive attacking threat for her new club.

"You can see how much talent she has and the quality she brings to the team," Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor said of Thompson earlier this month. "She's improving game after game, becoming more connected to her teammates, and understanding the way we want to play better."

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Thompson left NWSL side Angel City for Chelsea on a then-record £1 million transfer fee in early September, with the 21-year-old going on to notch three goals and one assist in four matches across both WSL and Champions League play.

"Being able to play with players that are the best in the world is an amazing opportunity," said the striker. "I want to learn, grow, and develop a lot. I feel like Chelsea is such an amazing environment to do that in."

Beyond individual accomplishment, Thompson's success underscores Chelsea's depth as they continue to hunt domestic and continental honors on a now-34 match WSL unbeaten streak — while also looking to potentially draw more USWNT stars away from the NWSL.

Women's professional baseball has landed a home base, with Front Office Sports reporting on Monday that the newly formed WPBL will play the entirety of its 2026 debut season at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois.

The incoming league prioritized a neutral venue without an existing baseball team to house its four inaugural clubs — New York, Boston, LA, and San Francisco — for its first campaign, with barnstorming games also planned for each team market.

"Our sport is for everybody," WPBL co-founder Keith Stein told FOS. "It's for middle America, everybody. We thought, 'Our teams are on these two coasts, it would be good to be in the middle of the country.'"

Founded in 2024 as the first professional women's baseball outfit in the US since 1954, the WPBL will hold its first-ever draft on Thursday, with the league's four teams drawing from a pool of 120 eligible players.

The WPBL recently fielded an oversubscribed Series A investment round, telling FOS that they're closing a $3 million raise with another round planned ahead of its August 2026 season-opener.

Each 30-player team will operate under a $95,000 salary cap for the first year, with the league also covering living costs throughout the seven-week season as well as giving players a percentage of sponsorship funds.

How to watch the first-ever WPBL Draft

The 2025 WPBL Draft kicks off at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live coverage streaming across the league's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube channels.

Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon spoke her mind last week, telling CNBC Sport that the WNBA might need "a change in leadership" for the league's CBA talks to successfully progress.

"I just think [player relations] might be too fractured at this point, but we'll see," Hammon said, while also noting that she's had only limited interactions with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

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Citing Engelbert's "private conversations...with individual players — or lack of the conversations," Hammon described the commissioner's current relationship with players as "rocky" while describing her widely criticized leadership style.

"I don't know if she can ever regret, retract, and get that traction back from those conversations," the Aces boss posited.

"When the players speak, people need to sit up and listen," she continued. "I think [Engelbert is] sitting up and listening now."

Hammon also voiced support for Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier after the five-time All-Star described the WNBA as having the "worst leadership in the world" in her now-viral 2025 exit interview.

"I completely agree with Napheesa that the players should be making more than coaches," the Las Vegas sideline leader — who publicly earns seven figures per year — continued. "They're due for a huge increase in salary, and it's got to be something that is sustainable. That's the biggest thing you got to remember, that this league is still a young league."

Ultimately, while the 2025 WNBA season is over, CBA concerns loom large over the league's current offseason and 2026 campaign, leaving Hammon and others looking to avoid a lockout as the November 30th extension deadline nears.