Mia Hamm (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Mia Hamm is one of the greatest soccer icons of all time.
The 54-year-old is best known for leading the United States women's soccer team to gold during the 1999 World Cup, becoming a mainstream name in the process. Her stardom reached a whole new level during the summer of ’99 when they won it all on home soil.Â
In addition to winning two World Cups (1991 and 1999), she also won gold at the Summer Olympics in 1996 and 2004. She ended her career ranked third in most international goals scored, regardless of gender, fourth in United States national team appearances and first in assists.
While speaking on behalf of her partnership with Dove — highlighting Dove’s Body Confident Collective — Hamm took the time to speak on a range of topics, including the United States’ recent showing in the 2026 World Cup, her thoughts on Team USA’s women’s squad in the 2027 World Cup and Christian Pulisic.
Hamm Looks Ahead to 2027 Women's World Cup
Q: The ’99 team is always going to be remembered. I remember that as a kid. I want to talk about the Women’s World Cup that’s coming up next year. Obviously, you know better than most people about this team, the Team USA squad that’s taking the field. What is your outlook for this team? And to the casual fans, what is maybe one woman or two that people should be paying attention to?
Hamm: Yeah, I think what’s been really great, obviously working with Dove coming off the Men’s World Cup and just the buzz and the excitement, and continuing that momentum, and shifting the focus and the spotlight onto the Women’s World Cup next summer, and the incredible athletes that will be competing.
Just looking at the U.S. team right now, super excited to see what Emma (Hayes), the coach, the manager, what she’s done in the last two to three years in getting these players focused and ready. I think she’s given a lot of young players an opportunity to gain the experience and to see how and if they will fit on the roster next summer.
I look at Claire Hutton right now, and she’s doing incredible things with Bay FC. I think she’s a player that can make this roster. Lily Yohannes is another one. You’re looking at how she’s going to her style of play, she continues to improve and how she fits into that midfield.
One of the things I love about her is she’s just very kind of calm on the ball. I think a lot of times when there’s energy and chaos on the field, having that type of presence out there that can, we used to call it just putting your foot on the ball, letting everyone catch their breath, kind of change the energy level of the field from this kind of frantic, overly excited environment to be able to kind of just let everyone reset emotionally and refocus.
She has that ability, as well as connecting the defense to the front line. I’m excited to see how Alyssa Thompson does. She will have had two full years over with Chelsea, and I think she’s gained a lot of confidence and experience there. That is really going to help us next summer.
Q: Obviously, men’s and women’s teams, there’s different expectations for Team USA, for this squad. Are you expecting gold? What are your expectations for them?
Hamm: I think when you play for the U.S. Women’s National Team, that’s your goal every time you step on the field is to win, and I don’t think this team is any different.
Obviously, there’s incredible parity, and Spain is the defending World Cup champions. You have to go through them. They’re not going to relinquish the crown easily, and there are so many teams right now that I think we’ve seen the investment in the women’s game who are stepping forward and playing incredibly well.
England’s a team you’re going to have to be mindful of. Obviously, France, Japan, Brazil. I mean, Brazil in their home country is going to be a lot to take on. They’re so creative and sophisticated, and they have this emotional investment every time they step on the field.
But that’s, as a competitor, that’s what you want. You want to play the best at their best, because that’s what you train for.
Hamm Reflects on USMNT's 2026 World Cup
Q: Yeah, it’s interesting that you bring that up, Mia, with Brazil hosting the Women’s World Cup. Obviously, we here in America just hosted the World Cup, and it was a very big spectacle, a very big deal. I want to get your overall thoughts on the men’s Team USA squad and moving forward. Obviously, you saw the ratings. Do you think this is something that will carry over in this country when it comes to soccer?
Hamm: I sure hope so. I was in the stadium cheering on the men’s team. I was in L.A. for two of the matches, watched every match they played, and was so proud and super excited for them and the energy and commitment that they had.
They’ll tell you they did not play their best game against Belgium. And when you get to that knockout round and you’re playing against the best teams in the world, you have to be at the top of your game, and I know they’re competitors.
That’s not the way they wanted to go out, and they’re going to learn from it. They had some young players, the expectations, I think changed halfway through the tournament, and that’s because of the way they played. That’s because of the way they showed up, and they’ll grow from this.
Excited for the future that they’re building, and hoping we’ll use that momentum, the women will use that momentum going into next summer.
Hamm Backs Pulisic to Lead USMNT
Q: You bring up an interesting word there: expectations. The expectations changed halfway through the tournament because of how Team USA played. I think my question to you is: in 2030, do you think the expectations will be higher? And then I’ll put this in there. Christian Pulisic is obviously seen as the main guy for that squad. What were your overall thoughts on his performance this past tournament?
Hamm: Yeah, I think the expectations will be higher. There’s been incredible investment in the team. I think players are playing at a higher level consistently, whether it be more leadership roles and more marquee players in our domestic league here in the MLS, but also their positions with some of the top clubs in Europe.
Listen, Christian, I think he would tell you there’s more in his game than what we saw, and I don’t know much about the injury.
I think that was kind of kept under wraps, which you understand why, both for tactical reasons, but to protect your player. But it didn’t look like after that match he was 100%, and the first game against Paraguay he was, every touch was dynamic, and you saw that type of confidence kind of just bleed into the rest of his teammates.
I feel for him, he’s got a lot on his shoulders, but he’s capable of leading this team, and the consistency for him, and he’d probably tell you he wasn’t where he wanted to be, and for all of them, it’s a learning experience being in an environment like this.
As I said earlier, they’ll learn from it, they’ll grow from it, and I know they’ll be better.
