Jaedyn Shaw remembers being a kid, not knowing if her dreams of being a soccer star would pan out, โbut having the beliefโ that it could happen.
The 21-year-old United States Womenโs National Team (USWNT) star tells TODAY.com that when training as a young girl, she understood the sacrifices it took โto achieve my dream.โ
At 17, Shaw signed with the National Womenโs Soccer League, kick-starting her professional career. Now, with a FIFA U-20 Womenโs World Cup and an Olympic gold medal under her belt, sheโs looking forward to watching the United States Menโs National Team score big wins during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where sheโll be a spectator of the international tournament for the first time.
โTo see a World Cup on our home soil is something thatโs also really special. Itโs so cool to see all of the players that weโve seen growing up on TV, being in the most random cities in the country,โ the Adidas athlete says.
Below, in her own words, Shaw shares her World Cup memories, as well as what sheโs most looking forward to with the tournament underway.
What is your earliest memory of watching a World Cup?
Iโm going to have to go with the 2015 Womenโs World Cup. Carli Lloyd getting a hat trick from half field. Thatโs probably my biggest World Cup memory.
Whatโs 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 Iโll remember forever.
What are you most looking forward to during the World Cup?
Itโs going be really exciting to watch the U.S. Menโs National Team play. Itโll 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. Itโs really crazy to see that theyโre training on the same pitches, playing the same stadiums that some of us will play on, or have played in. Itโs really cool to have the opportunity to watch.
