It’s July 2nd, 2019 — the Women’s World Cup is in full force, and the U.S. women’s national team is taking on England in hopes of securing their fifth appearance in a World Cup final. With only 30 minutes played, the two teams are deadlocked at 1-1: Christen Press is on the scoresheet for the States and Ellen White has notched one for England. In the 31st minute, Alex Morgan breaks the tie, scoring what will ultimately be the game-winning goal for the Americans.

Alex Morgan just conquered England with the tea sip after the goal ????#WomensWorldCup2019 #USAvENG
pic.twitter.com/gBg6GB8if0

— CGS Podcast: A Boston Sports Podcast (@CouchGuyPodcast) July 2, 2019

In an instantly-iconic celebration, Morgan races to the sidelines and gestures as if she is sipping tea. As you might expect, it’s a controversial move. Following the game, some call the gesture “legendary,” “amazing,” and “all in good fun,” while others call it “utterly classless” and “distasteful.”

Alex Morgan trolling England by sipping tea is LEGENDARY ????????pic.twitter.com/BzIBNx0xzu

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) July 2, 2019

☕ @liannesanderson calls Alex Morgan's tea sipping celebration "distasteful."

???? Live now on HD11#beINWWC #beINSPIRED19 #ENGUSA #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/dwvowkcdK6

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) July 2, 2019

Though it may not have been Morgan’s intention, the celebration certainly ruffled some feathers, being seen as a parody of the English and their love of tea. Morgan later clarified that the celebration was “not a hit to England in any way,” and she didn’t mince words when adding her thoughts on the disparities between what is acceptable from male and female athletes.

“I feel there is some double-standard for females in sports to feel like we have to be humble in our successes and have to celebrate, but not too much,” she told reporters. “You see men celebrating all around the world in big tournaments, you know, grabbing their sacks or whatever it is. And when I look at sipping a cup of tea, I’m a little taken aback, and you have to laugh about it to see all the criticism. So, I’m a little disappointed in that.”

Even with Morgan herself insisting that the celebration wasn’t a jab at England, it is unsurprising that Morgan’s move to the United Kingdom upon signing with Tottenham Hotspur this fall was met with mixed reactions. Many English soccer fans still had a bad taste in their mouth following that World Cup semi-final.

While it is no secret that Morgan has incredible potential with the Spurs, she is off to a rough start with her new club — and most recently, Morgan missed a penalty kick that cost Tottenham a much-needed win against Arsenal on November 18th.

Video clips and photos of Morgan’s “tea-sipping” celebration began to resurface as several Spurs fans took to Twitter to express their disdain for the American, asking “how that tea tastes now.”

Tea was too hot for Alex Morgan ???? https://t.co/0772HBuh0C

— Sumaiya (@SumaiyaVawda) November 18, 2020

WALTI SCORES! MORGAN MISSES!

Arsenal: ✅✅✅✅✅
Tottenham: ✅✅✅✅❌#ContiCup ???? pic.twitter.com/NTVffg53iX

— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) November 18, 2020

In the eyes of English football fans, Morgan needs to put her money where her mouth is… and quickly. It goes without saying that the expectations are high. But who better to shatter high expectations than Alex Morgan?

Tottenham is in desperate need of an impact player in the attacking third, and given Morgan’s impressive track record with her former teams, she could absolutely fill this void.

It’s worth noting that immediately following the loss against Arsenal, Tottenham head coaches Karen Hills and Juan Amoros were relieved of their duties and later replaced by former Arsenal assistant manager Rehanne Skinner. Hopefully, Skinner will be able to utilize Morgan in a way that allows her to showcase what she does best — getting on the scoresheet. However, a striker like Morgan is only as good as the offense that surrounds her. It will certainly take some tweaks to the Spurs lineup, but the potential to turn the season around is there.

Welcome, @rehanne_skinner! ????#THWFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/dANiRv7Np8

— Tottenham Hotspur Women (@SpursWomen) November 20, 2020

The Spurs take the pitch again on December 6th, where they’ll face off against eighth-place squad Brighton & Hove Albion. Here’s hoping that we will witness Tottenham’s first win in the 2020/2021 season, and that Alex Morgan can be an integral part of it all.

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE FA WSL:

December 5th 

Aston Villa vs. Manchester United @ 7:30 a.m. EST

December 6th

Everton vs. Manchester City @ 8:00 a.m. EST

Arsenal vs. Birmingham City @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Chelsea vs. West Ham @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Tottenham vs. Brighton & Hove Albion @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Reading FC vs. Bristol City @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Aryna Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam of the 2025 WTA season on Saturday, with the world No. 1 defeating then-No. 9 Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6(3) to claim the US Open trophy — the final Slam of the year.

"To bring the fight and be able to handle my emotions the way I did in this final, it means a lot," Sabalenka said following the match. "I'm super proud right now of myself."

After successfully defending her 2024 US Open title — and claiming tennis's top 2025 paycheck in the process — Sabalenka is now the tournament's first repeat champion since 2014, when Serena Williams claimed a third straight trophy at the New York Slam.

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The 27-year-old narrowly avoided a Slam-less year, going without a trophy despite reaching both the Australian Open and French Open finals as well as the Wimbledon semifinals.

"I think because of the finals earlier this season, this one felt different," Sabalenka said. "All of those lessons are making me tougher, tougher, and tougher."

As for Anisimova, the US rising star added a new career-high WTA ranking alongside her second straight Grand Slam final appearance on her 2025 resume, rising to world No. 4 in Monday's update.

Also earning a noticeable bump on Monday was Japanese star Naomi Osaka, who clocked in at No. 14 after a stellar Grand Slam comeback run to the 2025 US Open semifinals.

The Golden State Valkyries have made WNBA history yet again, setting a new league attendance record by selling out all 22 of the 2025 expansion team's home games this year — and doing so in their debut season.

Even more, the WNBA surpassed the 3 million-fan mark over the weekend, an historic first for the 29-year-old league.

A hit from the very first tip-off, the Valkyries have seen unprecedented support while becoming the first-ever expansion team to make the WNBA playoffs in their inaugural year.

Making the announcement in their final 2025 regular-season home stand against the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, the Valkyries have officially seen fans fill every one of the Chase Center's maximum 18,064 seats all season — claiming a WNBA all-time record for any team's per-game average along the way.

With those season-long record crowds, Golden State also now owns the WNBA total attendance mark at 397,408 fans on the year.

Just behind Golden State are the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty — the only other WNBA teams that will close out the 2025 regular-season with average crowds over 16,000 and totals breaking the 300,000-fan mark.

With one home game still left to play for each team, Indiana has welcomed 349,313 total fans so far, while New York currently sits at a 341,575 total attendance for the 2025 WNBA season.

Attendance has skyrocketed across the WNBA year, thanks in part to the league adding both a 13th franchise as well as two more home games to each team's 2025 schedule.

As a result, the league demolished the previous season-high attendance of 2.36 million set in 2002 and, with 11 games still on the 2025 regular-season schedule, the WNBA is currently on track to push past the 3.1 million mark before the postseason tips off.

Three retired WNBA icons received their flowers over the weekend, as Minnesota Lynx legends Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore and Seattle Storm great Sue Bird took their places in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday — making the 2025 WNBA class arguably the most dominant in HOF history.

"Now that I'm in the Hall, I believe I have become Auntie Maya," Moore said in her enshrinement speech. "I want to challenge you up-and-comers to learn to love and seek out joy and connection as your biggest motivator."

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With 11 Olympic gold medals — more than any other HOF group — and 10 league championships between them, plus countless individual honors, Fowles, Bird, and Moore comprise the strongest women's basketball Hall of Fame class in history.

Even more, this is the first year that the Naismith has added a full trio of WNBA players to its hallowed halls — a testament to the unmatched careers of Bird, Moore, and Fowles.

"Put us on a 3×3 team, you'd have some problems — we'd be pretty good," Bird joked. "It is pretty special to go in with people who aren't just amazing players, having impact on and off the court, but these are players that I got to experience life with."

"I think that would be fair to say that they would have the title of best class ever," Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve said.

The 2025 NWSL season for the No. 5 Orlando Pride has taken a sharp downturn, as the reigning league champions are now winless in their last seven games following Sunday's 5-2 loss to the No. 13 Chicago Stars at Northwestern University's Martin Stadium.

While left back Carson Pickett and defensive midfielder Haley McCutcheon each managed to take a goal back for the Pride, a leaky Orlando back line saw five different Stars players hit the back of the net — including a 10th goal on the season for Chicago star striker Ludmila.

"I apologize to the fans that were watching at home, and I apologize to the fans that were here with their support. That was not us today and we have to get it right," Pride head coach Seb Hines said following the match.

Orlando have continued to slide down the NWSL standings since their last win on June 13th, most recently logging three straight losses as the team struggles to find their form following MVP candidate Barbra Banda's season-ending injury on August 16th.

One of the Pride's rare bright spots on Sunday was record-breaking signee Lizbeth Ovalle, with the Mexican international subbing in at the half to make her NWSL debut.

Chicago, on the other hand, hasn't dropped a match since returning from the midseason summer break, with the surging Stars putting on a Sunday show in their impending lakefront home.

"I feel like it's just a really cool atmosphere, a lot more people can come now, and it's really good vibes," midfielder Julia Grosso said after the match.