Sports
Hayes inspired a USWNT turnaround – but expectations remain as high as ever
PARIS — The USWNT was on message all Olympics. Joy and belief. Trust and confidence. A fresh start under Emma Hayes.
After winning gold on Saturday at Parc des Princes in Paris, while many of the questions the players faced were about the game and the emotions and the medals around their necks, there were still a few that lingered on the past — especially last summer and the turnaround of this team over the past year from their worst World Cup finish to the top of the podium again.
The thing about this team, though, no matter what they accomplish, there’s always an eye to the future.
“We know there’s so much more in us, there’s so much more potential in the way we can play, the way we can break down opponents,” USWNT captain Lindsey Horan said in the final press conference, itching to don her goggles and start spraying champagne in the locker room with the rest of the squad to celebrate their 1-0 win over Brazil in the gold medal match.
“My gosh, the way the team is now and seeing the potential for 2027, it’s very exciting.”
USWNT captain Lindsey Horan says there is much more to come from this side (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
As much as the players have left the narrative around 2023 behind, it will shadow them for a while yet — at least until 2027 begins and a result comes there. That same old pressure is back, the expectations the same as ever: win, win, and win some more.
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Under head coach Hayes, though, it feels like there is a new pressure valve that wasn’t there before. There are karaoke machines, nail technicians, coffees, her being forced into watching more TikToks than she ever expected (or wanted). She’s met them where they are, as players and as people.
“We’ve been having so much fun,” forward Trinity Rodman said on Saturday after the match. “But again, we still push each other hard. There’s a misconception of, ‘Oh, they laugh and dance all the time at training. They’re not serious.’ We just proved to everyone that we are and that we take this very seriously.”
Big shout to @Nike for one heck of a celebration party 🎉🎉🎉 pic.twitter.com/EXQXC6PyhW
— U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (@USWNT) August 11, 2024
Maybe this Olympic gold proves they can have it all: the performances on the field, the goofiness off it, and joy threading through every moment, even as they had to find new depths in the summer heat of France against some of the best teams in the world.
If this team meshed so well in such a short period of time, if Hayes got so much right in her first 10 games as manager that it resulted in a gold medal, then maybe it’s more than fair to be thinking about three years down the line.
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But first, there’s so much that needs to happen between now and the next World Cup, which takes place in Brazil. Though FIFA has confirmed a schedule of international windows and competitions, from 2025 to 2029, a lot is still unknown — and there’s nothing firmed up about when World Cup qualifiers would be in 2026.
In the immediate future, everyone goes back home. Players will get a break, but there’s the rest of the NWSL season to play. Hayes noted at one press conference she still hasn’t even packed up her stuff at Chelsea’s facilities due to the speed at which she departed her previous role. There’s at least a little time here for a breather.
Hayes will now have a little bit of downtime (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
U.S. Soccer has the next four games booked, including three home matches in a row during the October window (back-to-back friendlies against Iceland in Austin and Nashville, then another against Argentina in Louisville).
Then they’ll head back to Wembley, this time with Hayes as their manager. The last time the USWNT played in England’s national stadium in London, it was a narrow loss to the Lionesses that came in the wake of the release of Sally Yates’ report into systemic abuse across the NWSL. This November, there should be no additional context needed, just a head-to-head that should be fodder for bragging rights for a while, maybe even into 2027.
Most importantly, Hayes and her technical staff, the players, and the federation have some space to intentionally start building — not just for 2027, but across the youth teams, their relationship with the NWSL, USL Super League and other international pro leagues, and more.
Hayes knows that expectations are as high as ever. And her days of being “a heart surgeon in the middle of emergency surgery” are finally over. She said Saturday that she believed she joined the USWNT at the right moment.
“Trust me, I know what this jersey means,” she said Saturday. “But I’m not going to let it strangle me, far from it.”
Back when Hayes first officially started her role in May, she worked hard to reframe the conversation from results to process, from the team’s worst-ever FIFA world ranking (they dipped to fifth) to what they could achieve.
“Are the USA at their best possible position today?” she asked at a lengthy sitdown with reporters upon her arrival in the States. “No, but it’s about where we finish when we need to that matters to me. So I want to focus on that instead of where we are in the world rankings, where we are in comparison to Spain.”
The only gap she was interested in then was the one she saw between their play on the field and what they could be at their full powers. On Saturday, not even a full three months into her tenure, she was asked what she makes of that gap now.
Hayes smiled. “We are so excited at our potential,” she answered.
“We are so looking forward to the things we can do together. Of course, tonight we have a gold medal, but it doesn’t mean it ends there. We want so much more for ourselves because we’re competitors. But we’re just at the beginning. About 75 days in, baby.”
And with that, it was time for them to join the party surely already raging in the locker room. Goggles were waiting. The pressure might always still be there, but it could wait for another couple of days. After all, there’s 1,046 to go until the first kick in Brazil.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
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Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes will be out for the rest of the season as he suffered a torn ACL on Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, according to multiple reports.
Mahomes’ knee buckled while he was scrambling and as he was getting hit by Chargers defensive end Da’Shawn Hand. He was helped off the field and he limped to the locker room. An MRI reportedly confirmed the extent of the damage.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his knee after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
The quarterback wrote a message to fans as word of his injury trickled out.
“Don’t know why this had to happen,” Mahomes wrote on X. “And not going to lie (it) hurts. But all we can do now is Trust in God and attack every single day over and over again. Thank you Chiefs kingdom for always supporting me and for everyone who has reached out and sent prayers. I Will be back stronger than ever.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered a gloomy outlook for Mahomes as he spoke to reporters following the loss.
PHILIP RIVERS THROWS FIRST TOUCHDOWN PASS SINCE 2020 SEASON
Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Odafe Oweh (98) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Dec. 14, 2025. (Jay Biggerstaff/Imagn Images)
“… It didn’t look good,” Reid said when asked whether he knew if Mahomes’ injury was serious. “I mean you guys saw it. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The loss to the Chargers also meant the Chiefs will not be making the postseason. Kansas City made it to the AFC Championship each season since 2018. They made it to the Super Bowl in each of the last three seasons, winning two titles in that span.
Mahomes will finish the season with 3,398 passing yards and 22 touchdown passes.
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Kansas City is 6-8 on the year.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a day when the Chargers took a big step toward the postseason, the Kansas City Chiefs lost their most important player.
What started in balmy Brazil ended Sunday in the bitter cold of Arrowhead Stadium. The Chargers completed a season sweep of AFC West bully Kansas City with a 16-13 victory that ultimately knocked the Chiefs out of playoff contention for the first time in 11 years.
It was the third-coldest game in Chargers history — 15 degrees at kickoff — and showcased a red-hot defense that paved the way to Los Angeles wins over Philadelphia and Kansas City, last season’s Super Bowl teams, in consecutive weeks.
“This is a ball team,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said, gleeful after his team won for the sixth time in seven games. “A real ball team.”
This Chargers season, which began with a 27-21 victory over the Chiefs in São Paulo, is just the second in the last 13 years in which they beat their division rival twice.
Harbaugh began his postgame remarks on a somber note, wishing the best for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who left the game late in the fourth quarter after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he was hit by defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand.
Gardner Minshew closed out at quarterback for the Chiefs, and the game ended when Derwin James Jr. intercepted his final pass. There would be no fantastic finish for the franchise that won the last nine division titles.
“We’ve been going at those guys for a while, going back to Baltimore,” said Chargers edge rusher Odafe Oweh, acquired in a trade with the Ravens this season. “It was long overdue.”
A week after Cameron Dicker kicked five field goals in the win over Philadelphia, he kicked three more against the Chiefs.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes grabs his left leg after sustaining a torn ACL in the fourth quarter.
(Reed Hoffmann / Associated Press)
Oweh had two sacks of Mahomes, and Tuli Tuipulotu had two more. The defense had the Chiefs in a hammer lock, limiting them to 190 yards in the air and a mere 49 on the ground.
Still, the Chargers had to dig themselves out of a hole. They faced a 13-3 deficit late in the second quarter before tearing off 13 unanswered points.
Justin Herbert threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie KeAndre Lambert-Smith with five seconds left in the first half to start the comeback. After that it was Dicker and defense for the visitors.
“It was really cool that we were able to close out a one-score game like that,” said Herbert, who said his surgically repaired left hand felt tight in the cold weather but was better, as was his grip on the ball. “How many times we’ve played them and it’s been those one-score games? The defense came up with the turnovers and the stops.”
Kansas City, trailing by three, got all the way down to the visitors’ 17 early in the fourth quarter but the Chargers yet again came up big on defense. Linebacker Daiyan Henley intercepted a third-down pass near the goal line, getting position on running back Kareem Hunt and essentially becoming the receiver on the play.
“I was surprised to even see the ball go up in the air, but I had to revert back to my receiver days and get an over-the-shoulder look,” said Henley, who last lined up as a pass catcher six or seven years ago at the University of Nevada Reno. “Eye-hand coordination is something you just have to have in those moments.”
Not everything the Chargers defense did was so smooth. Safety Tony Jefferson was ejected in the fourth quarter after a helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked Chiefs receiver Tyquan Thornton out of the game. The call to send Jefferson packing was not made by officials on the field, who flagged him for unnecessary roughness, but by league officials watching from New York.
Earlier in the second half, Jefferson flattened receiver Rashee Rice with another devastating hit, and Rice came after him as the Chargers safety made his way off the field and toward the locker room. Players from both sides intervened.
Chargers safety Tony Jefferson leaves the field after being ejected against the Chiefs on Sunday.
(Reed Hoffmann / Associated Press)
In response to the booing crowd, Jefferson raised both middle fingers, a gesture that likely will draw more attention from the league.
“I apologize for that,” he said afterward. “I’m classier than that. I was just caught up in the moment. Emotions get high. I won’t sit here and act like I’m a perfect man. I messed up when I did that.”
The Chargers (10-4), who finish the season at Denver, have yet to lose an AFC West game. They are 5-0 in those and remain within striking distance of the division-leading Broncos.
It won’t be an easy road. The Chargers play at Dallas next Sunday, then play host to Houston before closing out the regular season against the Broncos.
“I started thinking, this is my favorite ball team I’ve ever been on,” Harbaugh said. “Been on some good ones. None better than this one.
“They’re tight. Fates are intertwined. It’s unselfish. Nothing anyone is doing is for themselves.”
And on this frigid Sunday, that paid some unforgettable dividends.
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Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza became the first Hoosier to win the coveted Heisman Trophy, college football’s most prestigious award.
Mendoza claimed 2,392 first-place votes, beating Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 votes), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 votes) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 votes).
Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a nation-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores.
Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza runs off the field after a game against Wisconsin Nov. 15, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last season’s surprise run to the CFP.
A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. The trophy was established in 1935.
NO 2 INDIANA CAPS OFF COMEBACK WIN OVER PENN STATE WITH SENSATIONAL TOUCHDOWN, KEEPS UNDEFEATED SEASON ALIVE
Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top 10 finish in Heisman balloting, and it marks another first in program history. It now has had players in the top 10 of Heisman voting in back-to-back years. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.
Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years. Travis Hunter of Colorado, who played wide receiver and cornerback, won last season.
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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza throws before a game against Wisconsin Nov. 15, 2025, in Bloomington, Ind. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Mendoza was named The Associated Press Player of the Year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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