Alyssa Thompson for Megan Rapinoe: 17-year-old makes U.S. Women's National Team debut

The soccer star from California becomes the youngest player to earn first cap for the national team since 2016

Photo by Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports

Alyssa Thompson outgrew the California high school soccer scene early.

And now at just 17 years old, she's hit soccer's biggest stage.

The Harvard-Westlake superstar took the field Friday for the U.S. Women's National Team, coming on for one of the legends of the game, Megan Rapinoe.

At 17 years and 334 days old, Alyssa Thompson is the 70th teenager all-time to earn a cap for the USWNT and the youngest player to debut for the USA since January of 2016 when Mallory Pugh made her debut at 17 years and 269 days of age. pic.twitter.com/COnb5BKkkb

— U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (@USWNT) October 7, 2022

Her first cap didn't come with a happy ending, as the U.S. lost 2-1 in a friendly against England.

As a sophomore she scored 48 goals in 18 games and led the Harvard-Westlake girls soccer team to Division 1 Southern Section and CIF State Regional championships.

She burst onto the soccer scene as a freshman at Harvard-Westlake along with playing on the national team circuit.

Alyssa and her younger sister Gisele Thompson broke ground on the name, image and likeness front in May, becoming Nike's first NIL signings from the high school ranks.

Alyssa and Gisele Thompson have both committed to play for Stanford.