Tierna Lillis Davidson (born September 19, 1998) is an American soccer player for the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States national team. She was drafted first overall by the

in the

2019 NWSL College Draft The 2019 NWSL College Draft was the seventh annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select newly eligible college players for the 2019 NWSL season. It was held on January 10, 2019 in conjunction with the United S ...

after playing three years at Stanford.

Early life

Davidson intended to become an astronaut, before actively pursuing professional soccer.

Stanford University, 2016–2018

In Davidson's freshman year in 2016 she started all 21 games for the Cardinal, and was named to the Pac-12 All Freshman team and the All-Pac-12 Second Team. In 2017, Davidson was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. She was a key part of the Stanford team that won the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament and was named the 2017 College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player. In 2018 Davidson only appeared in 3 games for Stanford as she suffered a fractured ankle on September 9 against

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. This would be her final appearance for Stanford as she declared for the

, forgoing her final year of college eligibility.

Club career

Chicago Red Stars, 2019–present

In November 2018, the National Women's Soccer League changed their rules for the NWSL College Draft to allow for players to enter the draft before they had exhausted their college eligibility. This allowed Davidson to declare for the

after only playing three years at Stanford. Davidson was selected 1st overall at the

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

by the

, she was the second consecutive Cardinal to be selected 1st overall after

Andi Sullivan Andi Maureen Sullivan (born December 20, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League and the United States women's national soccer team. Early life Raised in Lorton, Virginia, ...

was the 1st overall pick in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

. On March 11, 2019 Davidson signed a contract with the Red Stars. Davidson was injured in March 2022, suffering an ACL injury, missing the remainder of the 2022 NWSL season.

International career

In 2018 Davidson played for the senior

USWNT The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, a ...

and the U-20 WNT. She received her first senior cap for the United States on January 21, 2018 in a friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. After the match she joined the U-20 squad in Trinidad & Tobago for the

2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (27th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted at Bradenton, Florida, ...

. Davidson scored the tying goal in the Championship game against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, but the United States would lose on penalty kicks. Davidson was not part to the final roster for the 2018 FIFA U-20 World Cup as she has continued to receive call-ups for the senior USWNT. On July 18 she was named to the USWNT roster for the

2018 Tournament of Nations The 2018 Tournament of Nations was the second Tournament of Nations, an international women's football tournament, consisting of a series of friendly games. It was held in the United States, from July 26 to August 2, 2018, and featured the same ...

. Davidson scored her 1st international goal on August 31, 2018 against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Davidson was not part of the 2018 CONCACAF Championship due to a fractured ankle injury while playing for Stanford. In December, Davidson was named 2018 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year. After recovering from injury Davidson returned to the

in January 2019 and was named to the roster for the

2019 SheBelieves Cup The 2019 SheBelieves Cup was the fourth edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Brazil, England, Japan, and hosts United States, it began on February 27 an ...

in February. In May 2019, Davidson was named to the final 23-player squad for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, the youngest player on the roster. In June 2021, Davidson was named to the 18-player squad for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

International goals

World Cup appearances

Olympic appearances

Personal life

Davidson is openly queer.

Honors

Stanford * 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament United States * FIFA Women's World Cup:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Olympic Bronze Medal:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

;

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

;

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Tournament of Nations The Tournament of Nations was a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer in non-World Cup and non-Olympic years hosted by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in several American cities. The inaugural tournament ...

Individual * U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year:

References

External links

Stanford profile
*
Tierna Davidson USWNT profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Tierna 1998 births Living people American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players Stanford Cardinal women's soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players People from Menlo Park, California Soccer players from California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area Women's association football defenders Chicago Red Stars (NWSL) draft picks 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players National Women's Soccer League players Chicago Red Stars players Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players American LGBT sportspeople LGBT people from California FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in soccer Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics American soccer players Association football defenders