USWNT put a bow on 2025 with Italy shutout

It takes a village.

Cat Macario & Jaedyn Shaw lift USWNT over Italy

The USWNT ended the year with a bang, shutting out Italy yet again behind goals from young stars Catarina Macario and Jaedyn Shaw.

• Macario’s 20th-minute strike continued a scoring tear for the 26-year-old, marking her fifth US goal in the last three matches while bringing her 2025 tally to a team-leading eight.

• “[I’m] finally finding some consistency,” Macario said after the 2-0 win, commenting on her history of lingering knee injuries. “Considering everything that I’ve been through for the past three years, that is definitely the thing I’m most proud of.” (Watch full highlights)

Big picture: The US ends 2025 with 12 wins, three losses, and zero draws, tying the team record for most home defeats in a calendar year while shaping the player pool and honing their style of play.

• “I watched the product in the last two games, and I’m like ‘[Italy] was a team that nearly made the Euro final,’” manager Emma Hayes said postmatch. “We’ve got patience, we could control the game in the right moments, we can attack in a variety of different ways… for me the pride is in all of it.”

• “It’s what we’re striving for every game,” said midfielder Claire Hutton, one of three teenagers to start Monday’s friendly. “We want to put more goals up — two isn’t enough for us — but if we can end in a shutout and with a win, it puts us on the front foot going into January.”

Up next: After a brief break, the USWNT will return to action next month with a pair of friendlies starting January 24th, 2026.

US Soccer drops Player of the Year shortlist

The USWNT is eyeing another 2025 victory, with US Soccer announcing finalists for the federation’s end-of-year awards yesterday.

• Defender Emily Fox, midfielders Sam Coffey and Rose Lavelle, and forwards Alyssa Thompson and Catarina Macario headline the 2025 US Soccer Female Player of the Year shortlist after stellar runs for club and country.

• Defenders Jordyn Bugg, Pearl Cecil, and Lily Reale alongside forwards Micayla Johnson and Riley Tiernan are all up for the youth national team’s Young Female Player of the Year award.

• The USWNT is nominated for Game of the Year, recognizing July’s dominant 3-0 victory over North American rival Canada. (See full list)

Big picture: Club performances also factor into the final calls, as players, coaches, media, and fans determine the ultimate winners.

• In May, Fox won a Champions League title with Arsenal and Macario lifted the WSL trophy with Chelsea, while Gotham stars Lavelle and Reale finished their NWSL season as league champions late last month — with Reale also taking home NWSL Rookie of the Year.

Speak up: Voting runs through December 12th, with fan picks making up 15% of the final tally. (Submit ballot)

No. 2 Texas rockets up the AP Top 25

The AP Top 25 Poll has a new No. 2, as Texas jumped two spots up the ladder after taking down then-No. 2 South Carolina and No. 3 UCLA at last week’s Players Era Championship in Las Vegas.

• The 32-member media panel gave the Longhorns 10 first-place votes, with the team knocking off two Top 3 programs in the shortest time frame in 25 years.

• The No. 3 Gamecocks and No. 4 Bruins fell just one spot each despite the losses, with UCLA bouncing back against No. 19 Tennessee on Sunday — and the Vols seeing the week’s biggest rankings drop. (See full rankings)

Big picture: The Big Ten and SEC are now neck-and-neck, with both conferences featuring eight Top 25 teams after a win over No. 25 West Virginia saw No. 23 Ohio State enter the AP Poll for the first time this season.

• Nos. 5 through 10 held steady this week, as No. 5 LSU, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Maryland, No. 8 TCU, No. 9 Oklahoma, and No. 10 Iowa State all managed to avoid upsets.

Up next: The ranked action continues Thursday, with ESPN airing this year’s ACC/SEC Challenge starting at 7 PM ET.

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Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí suffers season-ending leg fracture

Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí has been sidelined, after the Barcelona midfielder fractured her fibula in training ahead of today’s two-legged Nations League finale.

• The three-time Ballon d’Or winner departed national team camp to return to Barcelona for further testing, with the club confirming this morning she’ll miss five months after undergoing surgery.

• The 27-year-old will sit out five club matches this month, including Champions League bouts with Portugal’s Benfica and France’s Paris FC.

Big picture: An already short-handed Spain will be without its superstar against Germany today, as they fight for the Nations League trophy following Friday’s 0-0 first-leg draw.

Tune in: The UEFA Nations League final kicks off at 12:30 PM ET, live on Paramount+.

Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone wins World Athlete of the Year

US runner Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone has done it again, winning the World Athletics Awards’ Women’s World Athlete of the Year on Sunday after going undefeated in the 400-meter flat race.

• Mclaughlin-Levrone began competing in the event this year, following up her historic 400-meter hurdles dominance by mastering its flat counterpart.

• “For me, 2025 was a year of stepping outside of the comfort zone and pushing the bounds of what was mentally and physically possible,” the four-time US Olympic gold medalist said in a press release. “I want to continue pushing boundaries in 2026.”

Big picture: The 26-year-old won the 400-meter at Tokyo’s World Championships in September, setting both a Championships and North American record time of 47.78 — the second-fastest of all time.

• The victory cemented her as the first to claim world titles in both the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter flat, having won the hurdle event in 2022.

• “The culmination of the season in Tokyo was a really special moment. I’m so thankful for everyone who supported, watched, voted, and who was there throughout this whole process,” she added.

Quote of the day

Tennessee forward Janiah Barker
posting to social media about seemingly dodging former coach Cori Close’s handshake after Sunday’s loss to UCLA.