As more and more players shift from the NWSL to the WSL, here is a list of some of the best US national side players who have played in England.
While the likes of Alex Morgan and Rose Lavelle have given the WSL a try during COVID-19, as the league was running in England and not the US, they were only there for the 2020/21 season and did not live up to the hype and expectations that the media and themselves had put them up to.
A lot of them do not stay for very long, max a few seasons before going back.
So here are the best US national team players who have graced the WSL.
SAM MEWIS
Like many of her compatriots they came to England during the COVID-19 pandemic when the NWSL was not playing and the WSL was. Many players were either loaned or signed to WSL clubs in the 2020-21 season.
This including Mewis the midfielder joined Manchester City and was one of the best of the US players that moved over. She was simply outstanding, coming through as one of the players of the season.
In just 17 WSL appearances she scored seven goals and netted a further five in her six outings in the Women’s Champions Leagye including one against the ever dominant Barcelona.
Her two biggest moments came in the FA when she scored the decisive goal in the semi-finals against Arsenal and then the opener in the final as City went on to beat Everton at Wembley in extra-time and lift the trophy.
PHALLON TULLIS-JOYCE.
When Mary Earps left Manchester United at the end of the 2023/24 season there were some big boots to fill for Tullis-Joyce but she went and did that. She won jointly with Hannah Hampton the WSL Golden Glove for the 2024/25 season with 13 clean sheets.
She was named in the 2025 PFA WSL team of the year as she came in as the clubs main choice keeper and lived up to the expectations Earps had left behind.
She helped the side get to the FA Cup final but fell at the last hurdle being beaten 3-0 by Chelsea.
She made her WSL debut on September 21, keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 win against Everton.
Made her debut on November 9, 2023, keeping a clean sheet in a 7-0 FA Women's League Cup group stage win.
Started all four group stage games, keeping two clean sheets and conceding three goals.
The club was so happy with her first starting season that they extended her contract until June 2028.
EMILY FOX
She joined Arsenal in January 2024 and has played 40+ games across all competitions as while not a regular on the scoresheet she has established herself as a model of consistency. She has only missed so many games in her time at the club in her first full season.
She helped the side with the Champions League for the first time since 2007.
She scored her first goal for the club in October 2024 against Vålerenga.
Scored her first WSL goal in the North London Derby against Tottenham in February 2025.
She was also named in the WSL PFA team of the season for 2024/25.
NAOMI GIRMA
She became the most expensive WSL signings of £900,000 in the January 2025 transfer. She was unveiled to fans at Stamford Bridge against their biggest rival Arsenal.
Though she did miss the first pit of the season she made her debut for the club during a 2-2 draw against Brighton in March.
She has made five appearances in the Women’s Super League and two in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, giving her eight appearances in all competitions so far.
Defensively, Girma has already shown her strength. In WSL action, she has made six tackles, successfully winning possession on three of those occasions. She has been heavily involved in Chelsea’s build-up play as well, recording around 251 touches across her league matches.
Most of these have come in deeper areas of the pitch, with roughly 150 touches in Chelsea’s defensive third, about 90 in the middle third, and 11 in the attacking third, reflecting her role as a composed ball-playing centre-back.
In her first half season she helped Chelsea go unbeaten and also win the domestic treble.
CATARINA MACARIO
Though the start of her time at Chelsea was plagued with injuries she finally scored on her first goal six minutes into her debut in March 2024 against Leicester City 600 days after her ACL injury in June 2022.
In her second game for Chelsea she scored for a 1-0 victory over Everton in the FA Cup only three minutes after coming one.
She made her first WSL start in a victory over Aston Villa in April 2024.
She has won the WSL twice and the domestic treble in two full playing seasons at the club.
Like the season before her 2024/25 season saw her first goal come late on the first away game against Crystal Palace. She opened. She scored in a December Champions League match at the Bridge against Twente.
She made goals in back-to-back Champions League games when slotting two penalties in quick succession away to Real Madrid, turning a losing position into a win.
In the second half of the season, Macario scored twice when starting a league game against Crystal Palace and she netted from the penalty spot for the only goal of the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in the match after the team had been crowned WSL champions.
Rising from the bench at Wembley on the day the trophy haul was raised to a treble, the USA international powerfully headed in the second goal in a 3-0 FA Cup final win over Manchester United.
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