‘There’s this buzz of excitement’: Emily Fox on USWNT and Arsenal ambitions | USA women’s football team

Emily Fox made her 68th appearance for the United States in the first of two recent friendlies against Portugal and the Arsenal right-back was a steady hand for Emma Hayes.

Hayes has his eyes set on the 2027 World Cup after winning Olympic gold 15 months ago, and has used 2025 to develop and evaluate the player pool. Through 10 wins and three losses during that span, Fox has been a dynamic force that’s hard to dislodge from the right flank of a new project. His speed and skill are essential to the team’s defense and intrinsic to their offense.

Looking back to 2025 with the U.S. women’s national team, Fox said she would define this year as “part of the process.” The 27-year-old said: “I feel like every camp we learn a lot, whether it’s on the pitch or even culturally off the pitch. I think Emma and her team are really good at that. Even though we didn’t have a major tournament this year, we still felt like there was a lot of growth, a lot of change, a lot of new people getting chances and opportunities.”

Whereas in 2024 Hayes took on a program two months before winning gold, 2025 gave the former Chelsea manager more time to work on the team’s identity and refine tactics. According to Fox, Hayes focused on how they adapt. “I think it’s just about being tactically flexible and aware and understanding that with a lot of opponents, they come out one way against a team, and then when they play us, they play differently. And having that tactical ability to recognize that on the pitch, and then being able to talk to your teammates and collectively, as well as individually, make those changes on the fly.”

More experienced players such as Fox provided a vital backbone of continuity to a team evolving around them. Thanks to injuries, withdrawals and a myriad of other causes, Fox was one of the few players to start the gold medal match in Paris and the first friendly this past window. For Fox, it’s important to focus on the team’s principles as it adapts. But the impact of the team’s development with the younger generation is exciting: “With the game and with our national team, there’s just this buzz of excitement. And I feel like the young players want to see their opportunities. They want to make the most of it. They want to have fun. They want to enjoy it. I think there’s definitely that level of confidence and creativity that they all want to show, which is really exciting.”

In 2025, the USWNT lost three times in the calendar year for the fifth time. They were beaten by Portugal for the first time on October 23, but it would be unwise to take too much account of that, along with defeats to Japan and Brazil. They come in a year of transition where Hayes has prioritized onboarding new personnel and experimenting. The overarching importance of this year will lie in the lessons it offers for 2026.

A few days after losing to Portugal in Pennsylvania, the USWNT adjusted its tactics and lineup and beat the same opponents 3-1. Fox said of Portugal’s opening performance: “I thought they had a lot of patience and confidence in their game plan, and they executed it.” Echoing Hayes, Fox said the 113 days between their previous friendly and that defeat against Portugal had left them a little rusty, which was also a learning experience for the team.

“I think because we haven’t seen each other for four or five months, and Portugal was our first game, I think it was also a really good lesson in the sense of aggression and physicality that we need, and really non-tactical things like making our tackles, hitting, blocking, being aggressive. Because I also think with Portugal, they are very savvy in the way they foul and the way they play the game within the game.”

Fox moved to London almost two years ago to develop his game and experience it on the other side of the Atlantic. The Virginia native has often pointed to the allure of playing in the Champions League as inspiration for her move and last May she won it with Arsenal. Fox says the experience broadened her perception of the things she was capable of: “I feel like it added a whole new depth to me. Last year, we had to go through all the qualifying rounds before the Champions League to even be a part of it. And so it started right from the Olympics, and it was so difficult. I mean, the whole Champions League was so difficult. I think at the end of the Champions League, and even through it, I was like, “Look, I’ve been through this. I can get through this.’

Arsenal got off to a slow start in the Champions League – where they opened with a defeat against eight-time champions OL Lyonnes – and in the Women’s Super League, where they are fifth, five points behind leaders Chelsea, who they face on Saturday. But Arsenal are no strangers to coming back from defeats to win things or making a statement as a dark horse. That’s how they achieved Champions League glory and Fox says: “It’s time to turn things around and come back and make a statement. I mean, that’s definitely my mentality.”

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