María Guadalupe Sánchez Morales (born 20 February 1996) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a forward for

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL). Born in the United States, she plays for the Mexico national team. Sánchez played college soccer at

Idaho State University Idaho State University (ISU) is a Public university, public research university in Pocatello, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1901 as the Academy of Idaho, Idaho State offers more than 250 programs at its main campus in Pocatello and locations ...

before leaving in April 2016. She subsequently concluded her collegiate career at

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

in 2018. Sánchez began her professional career with American club

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

, who selected Sánchez with the fifteenth overall pick 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 the 2019 NWSL season, Sánchez signed with

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

of the

Liga MX Femenil Liga MX Femenil, also known as Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, Federación Mexicana d ...

for 2020. In 2021, she moved to

Tigres UANL Club Tigres de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, abbreviated as Tigres UANL and simply known as Tigres or internationally as Tigres de México, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Monterrey metropo ...

and won the 2021 Clausura title. In the summer of 2021, Sánchez had a month-long loan to NWSL club

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

, who later signed her permanently. In 2024, she signed with the San Diego Wave. A senior and former youth Mexican international, Sánchez played at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...

and the

2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 8th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international Women's association football, women's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-20 national te ...

Early life

Sánchez is the daughter of Mexican-born Roberto Sánchez and Irene Morales, who as of 2015 were employed at a potato processing plant in

American Falls, Idaho American Falls is a city in and the county seat of Power County, Idaho, United States. The population was 4,568 at the time of the 2020 census. History American Falls was a landmark waterfall on the Snake River, named after a party of Amer ...

, United States. No club team was locally available, nor could her parents afford the costs of enrolling her on an elite club team, so Sánchez played only high school soccer. Sánchez was a four-year letter-winner at

American Falls High School American Falls High School is a public secondary school located in American Falls, Idaho. It was established prior to 1909, and the most recent school building was completed in 2002 on the south west end of American Falls. Description American ...

. She was the scoring leader in the state of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

in all four years, scoring 26, 34, 50, and 78 goals in her freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years, respectively. Her number was later retired by American Falls High School.

College career

Idaho State University

Despite her high school record,

Idaho State Bengals The Idaho State Bengals are the varsity intercollegiate athletic teams representing Idaho State University, located in Pocatello, Idaho. The university sponsors thirteen teams including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis, and tr ...

was the only collegiate program that offered Sánchez a scholarship because she did not play elite club soccer. Sánchez played for Idaho State in 2014 and 2015. As a freshman in 2014, Sánchez scored seven goals and led the team and conference with 8 assists. She was named to the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

All-Academic team. In her sophomore year, for a team that had a record of one win, one tie, and 15 losses, Sánchez scored 15 goals and had 4 assists in 17 games. She was named to the All-Conference team.

Controversy

In April 2016, Sánchez announced she was leaving Idaho State University to seek a more "competitive environment." Idaho State denied her permission to contact other universities and alleged that a third party was assisting her contrary to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

rules. About 50 university teams had expressed interest in her, but Idaho State denied her request to communicate with five universities, all major women's soccer powers. Idaho State further alleged that those five schools had communicated with Sánchez without permission. Sánchez denied the allegations and responded that Idaho State was blocking her soccer career. Idaho State subsequently granted her request to contact

and

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

Santa Clara University

Sánchez enrolled at Santa Clara in January 2017 and began playing for the

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the ...

. She appeared in all 23 games in 2017, scored five goals, and tied for the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

lead with six assists. In 2018, Sánchez appeared in 19 games and scored eight goals. She had 16 assists, first among players in all

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

programs.

Club career

Chicago Red Stars

On January 11, 2019, Sánchez was drafted by the

of the

(NWSL). She made seven appearances with the club in 2019.

Guadalajara

On 13 December 2019, Sánchez was announced by

club

CD Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara S.A de C.V. (;), nicknamed ''"Chivas"'' () and simply known as Guadalajara or internationally as Chivas de Guadalajara, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in the Guadalajara metropolit ...

as their next signing on loan for the Clausura 2020. She wore number 7 for Chivas. At the end of the Apertura 2020, it was announced that Sánchez was one of several players who would leave the club.

Tigres UANL

Sánchez signed with

for 2021 and helped the team win the Clausura 2021. After a loan to the

for June, Sánchez returned for the Apertura 2020 in which UANL reached the final and lost in a shootout. The club posted a farewell video on December 22, and Sánchez replied with gratitude for her to fulfill her "dreams."

Houston Dash

In March 2021,

acquired Sánchez's NWSL rights from Chicago in exchange for Houston's second-round pick in the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

. She signed for a month-long loan from Tigres in June 2021 and scored her first goal in the league in a 2–1 victory over the

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

. Although her loan ended, Houston retained her NWSL rights. Before the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft, the Dash released a list of nine protected players that included "a contracted international player who has not yet been announced." The NWSL released the same list but named Sánchez as that player, although her contract signing would not be officially announced until 2022. On 6 January 2022, the Dash announced that Sánchez had been signed to a two-year contact. “Joining the Dash is such a privilege for me,” Sánchez said. “It’s getting another shot at my dream, and I couldn’t be more excited to do it with a team and coaching staff that I have tremendous respect for!” In December 2023, Sánchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash reportedly worth almost , the richest contract in NWSL history.

San Diego Wave

The Dash went 1–2–1 to start the 2024 season.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

reported on 14 April 2024 that Sánchez wanted to be immediately traded from the Dash, which she confirmed on social media on 18 April. The Dash traded Sánchez to

on 20 April for $300,000 in intra-league transfer funds, $200,000 in allocation money, and an international slot for 2024 and 2025. Sánchez made her debut for the Wave one week later in a home victory over

Bay FC Bay Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team began play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 Nat ...

. She scored her first goal with San Diego against the same opponent during an

NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup The NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup () is a women's soccer competition between clubs from the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) of the United States and Liga MX Femenil of Mexico. The first edition took place in 2024, at venues in the Uni ...

match in July, tallying an assist in the same match. On 18 September 2024, Sánchez scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

in the

CONCACAF W Champions Cup The CONCACAF W Champions Cup is an annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF that determines the club champion for the region encompassing North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It is comparable to ...

. Sánchez's three second-half goals lifted the Wave to a comeback victory after facing a two-goal deficit.

International career

Sánchez was eligible to represent Mexico and the United States at the international level. In 2015, Sánchez's coach at Idaho State told her about a tryout for the

Mexico women's national under-20 football team The Mexico U-20 women's national football team is the national women's under-20 football team of Mexico and is managed by the Mexican Football Federation. Dorival Bueno is the current manager of the team. The team has reached the quarter-final ...

. She made the team and, after good performances, was named to join the senior

Mexico women's national football team The Mexico women's national football team (Spanish: ''Selección Nacional de México Femenil'') represents Mexico in international Women's association football, women's football. The team is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and compe ...

for the

. She was the second youngest player on the World Cup team. Sánchez played as a midfielder in one match, a loss to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in the World Cup. Sánchez was selected to represent Mexico at the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

held in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, where the Mexican squad went undefeated to won the gold medal for the first time in their history at the Pan American Games, defeating

1–0.

Personal life

In 2024, Sánchez appeared in the first season of '' The Offseason'', a reality television series following a group of NWSL players training before the new season.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sánchez goal.''

References

External links

* * *
Profile
at

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...