Tierna Lillis Davidson ( ; born September 19, 1998) is an American 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

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

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) and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. She was drafted first overall by the

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 ...

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 Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

. At the international level, Davidson won the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

, bronze at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, and gold at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Early life

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

Stanford University, 2016–2018

In her freshman year, Davidson 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 U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. 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, 2019–2023

In November 2018, the

changed the 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

. 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 v ...

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 professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. Sullivan played col ...

was the 1st overall pick in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. On March 11, 2019, Davidson signed a contract with the Red Stars. Davidson suffered an ACL injury in March 2022, causing her to miss the remainder of the

2022 NWSL season The 2022 National Women's Soccer League season was the tenth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2 ...

Gotham FC, 2024–present

Upon becoming an unrestricted free agent, Davidson signed a three-year contract with Gotham FC on January 2, 2024, to play through 2026. Davidson made her debut for Gotham on March 15, 2024, in the

2024 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup, known as the 2024 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the fifth edition of the NWSL Challenge Cup, a women's soccer competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The match was ...

. On November 10, she scored the opening goal 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 NWSL quarterfinals; Gotham FC would go on to win the match, 2–1. Davidson started in the team's semi-final match, where Gotham lost on penalties to the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

. Ahead of her second season with Gotham FC, Davidson's teammates voted her to be named the club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. She started each of Gotham's first three regular season matches before going down with an injury in the 40th minute of the third fixture, a 0–0 draw with the

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 ...

. On April 2, 2025, Gotham FC announced that Davidson would miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL, her second ACL injury in three years.

International career

In 2018 Davidson played for both the senior

USWNT The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

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

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. 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 United States betw ...

. Davidson scored the tying goal in the final against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, but the United States lost on penalty kicks. Davidson was not part of the final roster for the 2018 FIFA U-20 World Cup as she had continued to receive call-ups to the senior national team. 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 sam ...

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

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 ...

. 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 USWNT 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 and ...

in February. In May 2019, Davidson was named to the final 23-player squad for the 2019 FIFA World Cup. She was the youngest player on the roster and became the 6th ever under-21 player to start at a World Cup game for the USWNT after being named to the United States' starting lineup for their second group stage match. During her World Cup debut, Davidson assisted

Julie Ertz Julie Beth Ertz (; born April 6, 1992) is an American former professional soccer player. From 2014 to 2021, she played for National Women's Soccer League club Chicago Red Stars, and in 2023 she played for Angel City FC. A member of the Unite ...

and

Carli Lloyd Carli Anne Hollins (; born July 16, 1982) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. She is a two-time Olympic Games, Olympic gold medalist (2008 and 2012), two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion (2015 and 2019) ...

for the second and third goals of a 3–0 victory over

. In June 2021, Davidson was named to the 18-player squad for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

held in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Davidson made her international return from her ACL injury in April 2023, playing in the final match before the announcement of the USWNT's

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

roster. Ultimately, she was not selected to the USWNT's squad for the tournament. In February 2024, Davidson was named to the USWNT's

CONCACAF W Gold Cup The CONCACAF W Gold Cup is an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ...

pre-tournament camp and roster. She started in the USWNT's match against Argentina and Colombia. In June 2024, Davidson was selected to the 18-player roster for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in France. She started the USWNT's first two matches but picked up a knee contusion in a group stage match versus

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, forcing her to miss the next two matches of the tournament. Davidson then returned to the starting lineup in the USWNT's semi-final and gold medal fixtures. In both games, she was substituted off for club teammate

Emily Sonnett Emily Ann Sonnett (born November 25, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays for Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team. She can p ...

later in the match. The United States would go on to win gold, beating

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

1–0 on a goal from Mallory Swanson.

Personal life

Davidson married former Stanford Cardinal teammate, Alison Jahansouz, in December 2024.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Davidson goal.''

Honors

Gotham FC *

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 ...

: 2024–25 Stanford Cardinal *

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's natio ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

United States *

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Gold Medal:

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Bronze Medal:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, 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 t ...

;

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

;

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

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 tournamen ...

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

References

External links

*
Tierna Davidson
at

Tierna Davidson
at

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Tierna 1998 births Living people 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players 21st-century American sportswomen American LGBTQ soccer players American lesbian sportswomen American women's soccer players First overall NWSL draft picks Chicago Red Stars draft picks Chicago Red Stars players FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics LGBTQ people from California Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Gotham FC players National Women's Soccer League players Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in soccer Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer People from Menlo Park, California Soccer players from San Mateo County, California Stanford Cardinal women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players Women's association football defenders