Mallory Swanson emerging as USWNT’s next superstar

Mallory Swanson is looking like the United States women’s national team’s most important and electrifying player — right in time for this summer’s bid for World Cup history.

The 24-year-old forward has emerged as perhaps the most indispensable piece for the USWNT, which will vie for a World Cup three-peat when Australia and New Zealand co-host the 2023 tournament in July and August. The U.S. won the competition in 2015 and 2019.

But questions surround the USWNT as it transitions from the legends who helped captured those two trophies — Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn are still around, bridging the gap — to a new generation of stars. That’s where Swanson comes in. Her recent scoring surge propelled the USWNT to win its most crucial World Cup tuneup, the 2023 SheBelieves Cup, this week.

The one-time phenom — known as Mallory Pugh before her marriage last year to MLB shortstop Dansby Swanson — made her USWNT debut at the age of 17, which made her the youngest player to debut for the USA in the last 11 years. On Jan. 23, 2016, she got her first cap and scored her first goal against the Republic of Ireland.

Swanson played in the 2016 Olympics when she was just 18 years old, and then gave up her college eligibility (she was set to attend UCLA) to turn pro in the National Women’s Soccer League. She played in her first World Cup at the age of 21. Her career appeared to have no ceiling until injuries, including a reoccurring hamstring issue, derailed her.

Swanson played in just five matches for the U.S. from 2020 through 2021, and was left off the roster for Tokyo Olympics.

Swanson slowly worked her way back to peak performance. She trained, leaned on her loved ones and sought help from a sports psychologist. It was a recipe for a “Comeback of the Year” performance in 2022, that has carried over to 2023.

Swanson became the first player to score in all three matches in a single SheBelieves Cup, and was named MVP of the tournament. The U.S. defeated Brazil 2-1 on Wednesday behind goals from Morgan and Swanson. It marked Swanson’s fourth goal of the 2023 tournament and the sixth straight contest in which she’s scored for the USWNT.

The USWNT beat Canada 2-0 on the opening night of the SheBelieves Cup, and Swanson scored both of the team’s goals in the first half. She was responsible for the only goal in their 1-0 victory over Japan. 

Swanson’s 2022 campaign was nothing short of stellar for both the USWNT and in the NWSL with the Chicago Red Stars.

In December, she was named as one of five finalists for the 2022 BioSteel U.S. Soccer Female Player of Year, which eventually went to Portland Thorns FC forward Sophia Smith.

Mallory played in 15 total matches for the USWNT, starting 13, and totaling 1,030 minutes in 2022. She led the U.S. with a team-high 14 total goal involvements and generated a team-best 40 chances — 14 more than any other player on the roster.

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Swanson scored 11 goals and had six assists for the Red Stars in 17 regular-season games — and was a finalist for MVP for the second year in a row. She also earned a spot on the NWSL Best XI First Team.

After the season, she married Swanson at the Ritz Carlton Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia on Dec. 10, 2022.

Swanson proposed the previous December with a stunning oval-cut diamond in the doorway of a decorated home with a massive balloon arch. The couple met through Pugh’s brother-in-law and Swanson’s former Braves teammate Jace Peterson (now with the A’s second baseman) and began dating in 2017.

Swanson was called up to the Braves in August 2016, and won a World Series with Atlanta in 2021. The 29-year-old shortstop signed a seven-year contract with the Cubs worth $177 million in December.