USWNT Star Jaedyn Shaw Shares Career Moment She’d Like to Relive

Jaedyn Shaw remembers being a kid, not knowing if her dreams of being a soccer star would pan out, “but having the belief” that it could happen.

The 21-year-old United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) star tells TODAY.com that when training as a young girl, she understood the sacrifices it took “to achieve my dream.”

At 17, Shaw signed with the National Women’s Soccer League, kick-starting her professional career. Now, with a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and an Olympic gold medal under her belt, she’s looking forward to watching the United States Men’s National Team score big wins during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where she’ll be a spectator of the international tournament for the first time.

“To see a World Cup on our home soil is something that’s also really special. It’s so cool to see all of the players that we’ve seen growing up on TV, being in the most random cities in the country,” the Adidas athlete says.

Below, in her own words, Shaw shares her World Cup memories, as well as what she’s most looking forward to with the tournament underway.

What is your earliest memory of watching a World Cup?

I’m going to have to go with the 2015 Women’s World Cup. Carli Lloyd getting a hat trick from half field. That’s probably my biggest World Cup memory.

What’s one career moment you wish you could relive?

I was with the U.S. National Team, playing in my home city, Frisco, in the FC Dallas Stadium, where I grew up going to games and training. I play for FC Gotham right now. We ended up going down a goal and we ended up coming back, and I scored the winning goal in my home city, home state, basically in front of all of my friends and family that came. That moment is probably a moment that I’ll remember forever.

What are you most looking forward to during the World Cup?

It’s going be really exciting to watch the U.S. Men’s National Team play. It’ll be really cool to see how they come out mentally. I think they have the ability to go very far in this tournament, and of course I want them to do well. Also, seeing (Lionel) Messi playing in Alabama, they (were) staying in Kansas City in the hotels that we stay in as well. It’s really crazy to see that they’re training on the same pitches, playing the same stadiums that some of us will play on, or have played in. It’s really cool to have the opportunity to watch.