da luck： From USWNT stars to World Cup winners, GOAL takes a look at every player to be first off the board…

da doce： The 2024 NWSL season is almost upon us, and we'll take a step closer to it all kicking-off with the NWSL Draft, set to take place on Friday, January 12 as more teams than ever pick from the top talent from the college system in the United States.

Who will be the No.1 pick this year? Two exciting, creative midfielders are being discussed as the biggest contenders for that honour, those being the University of Georgia's Croix Bethune and Stanford's Maya Doms. If it was the latter, she would be the fifth No.1 overall pick to come from Stanford in just the last seven years.

Whoever is first off the board will add their name to an incredibly illustrious list, too, one which started with the first NWSL Draft back in 2013. Of the 11 players to be picked at No.1, 10 have since represented the U.S. women's national team and five have won the World Cup with their country.

So as we prepare to find out who the 12th No.1 pick in NWSL Draft history will be, GOAL takes a look back at how those from previous years have fared…

Getty2013: Zakiya Bywaters (Chicago Red Stars)

A handful of future USWNT stars were chosen in the first round of the 2013 NWSL Draft, with Kristie Mewis, Casey Krueger and Adrianna Franch among them. But it was Zakiya Bywaters, an exciting and versatile forward from UCLA, who was the first ever No.1 pick when selected by the Chicago Red Stars.

A regular in the U.S. youth teams, Bywaters was ever-present for the Bruins during her time at college, and her senior year was a stand-out, with no one in the Pac-12 Conference scoring more goals. Unsurprisingly, she racked up plenty of individual honors as a result before being seen as the pick of the lot in the NWSL Draft by the Red Stars.

However, injuries would hurt Bywaters' career in the league massively. Her first season was marred by them, though she did show flashes of brilliance, and after a steadier 2014 campaign, hip surgery saw her miss the entirety of the following year. Bywaters was waived by the Red Stars ahead of the 2016 season, and that was the last we saw of this talented prospect on the field.

AdvertisementGetty Images2014: Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit)

The first of our future World Cup-winning No.1 picks came in 2014 when Crystal Dunn was selected by the Washington Spirit just ahead of two more future USWNT internationals, Kealia Watt and Julie Ertz. The first-ever player to be named ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a freshman, Dunn enjoyed a wonderful college career with the North Carolina Tar Heels, one which resulted in an NCAA Championship as well as a heap of individual honors, including the Hermann Trophy.

Already a full USWNT international, Dunn unsurprisingly thrived with the Spirit, most notably winning the Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player accolades at the end of the 2015 season. Shockingly, though, she didn't make the U.S. roster for that year's World Cup.

Having fallen just short of the NWSL Championship title in 2016, Dunn left the Spirit early the following year for an opportunity with Chelsea. She won the league in England and has continued that winning feeling since returning home in 2018, racking up three NWSL Championship titles, three NWSL Shields and a Challenge Cup across spells with the North Carolina Courage and the Portland Thorns – as well as a World Cup win with the U.S. in 2019.

She'll be starting a new chapter of her NWSL career this year, having signed for reigning champion Gotham at the end of 2023.

USATSI2015: Morgan Gautrat (Houston Dash)

Another World Cup winner, Morgan Gautrat was the youngest member of the USWNT when it lifted the trophy in the summer of 2015. That incredible feat came only a few months after she'd been drafted as the No.1 overall pick in the NWSL Draft by the Houston Dash, too. Again, she was the top pick of a class stacked with talent – Abby Dahlkemper, Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams were all among those to be chosen in the first round alongside Gautrat.

In college, Gautrat starred for the Virginia Cavaliers, so much so that she became only the fifth woman to win the Hermann Trophy twice, joining an exclusive club that includes prestigious names like Mia Hamm and Christine Sinclair. Her ability to bring that quality to Houston was limited though, with her inclusion on the USWNT roster for both the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics meaning she missed large parts of her first two NWSL seasons.

A knee injury meant her 2017 season started late, too, before she was acquired by the Chicago Red Stars in August. Here began a little more disruption as the midfielder signed for European heavyweights Lyon on a two-and-a-half-year deal, only for her to come back to the U.S. within a few months. However, once finally granted a bit of stability upon her return to Chicago, Gautrat thrived. Her 2021 season in particular, in which she helped the Red Stars reach the Championship game, was incredible.

Now 30 years old, the midfielder ended her time in Chicago in 2022 to join the Kansas City Current, and has since moved to the Orlando Pride ahead of the 2024 campaign.

Getty2016: Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns)

The 2016 NWSL Draft had quite an international flavor to it, with Costa Rica's Raquel Rodriguez, England forwards Rachel Daly and Leah Galton, and Canada's Janine Beckie among the noteworthy picks. However, it was Emily Sonnett who went first overall, following Gautrat as Virginia's second player to have the honor when she was chosen by the Portland Thorns.

The versatile defender enjoyed a fruitful start to life in the NWSL, winning the Shield in her first year, the Championship in her second and being named to the league's Best XI in her third. Sonnett's first experience outside of the NWSL was a success, too, as she lifted the Damallsvenskan title with Goteborg in a short stint in Sweden in 2020.

A member of the USWNT's triumphant 2019 World Cup roster, she returned to the U.S. in 2021 to join the Washington Spirit, where she would once again become an NWSL Champion. A season with OL Reign in 2023 saw her return to the Championship game, too, but she couldn't help USWNT icon Megan Rapinoe go out on the ultimate high.

It was Gotham which emerged victorious on that occasion, and Sonnett will hope that can be the case again in 2024 as she has since joined the club, along with fellow Reign and U.S. team-mate Rose Lavelle.