Kristie Mewis has opened up about how badly she wants to make the U.S. women’s national team World Cup roster, saying a berth on the squad would change her life and how she views her career.
Mewis has been a regular with the USWNT in 2023, appearing in five of the team’s seven games. The Gotham FC midfielder is considered a likely bet to make the World Cup roster, but is far from a lock.
The 32-year-old played in her first major senior tournament with the USWNT in 2021, featuring in the Olympics in Japan. Should Mewis make the roster for Australia-New Zealand, it would be her first World Cup.
Appearing on the Snacks podcast, co-hosted by her younger sister Sam, Mewis admitted she has a lot riding on whether she makes Vlatko Andonovski’s 23-player squad.
“If I don’t make this World Cup team — this is so deep — but, do I feel fulfilled in my career?” she asked.
“That’s such a scary thought, being a bubble player and then I’ve also never really won anything. Yes, I won the [2020] Challenge Cup, but I’ve never won an NWSL championship. I’ve never won a college championship.
“I just feel like being named to this roster, like I everything that I’ve done my entire life will have been worth it — this is so deep, I hate it! But that’s actually how it feels to me and maybe it doesn’t seem that deep to other people.
“People who are locks [for the roster], they feel different pressure. Whereas I feel like this is actually going to change my life and change how I view my career. And that’s really hard to stomach every single day waiting for the roster to come out.”
"If I don’t make this World Cup team … do I feel fulfilled in my career? And that’s such a scary thought."
– Kristie Mewis pic.twitter.com/xOYmtsShY1
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) May 2, 2023
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