Emily Fox earned her 68th cap for the United States in the first of two recent friendlies against Portugal, and the Arsenal right-back was a reliable backup to Emma Hayes.
Hayes eyes 2027 World Cup after win olympic gold 15 months ago, and used 2025 to develop and evaluate the player pool. During this time, Fox scored 10 wins and three defeats and became a dynamic force that is difficult to dislodge from the right flank of the new project. Her speed and skill are important to the team's defense and integral to their attack.
Looking back on 2025 with the U.S. women's national team, Fox says she would call this year “part of the process.” The 27-year-old said: “I feel like at every camp we take away a huge amount of experience, be it on the field or even culturally off the field. I think Emma and her team are really good at that. So even though we didn't have a big tournament this year, it still felt like there was a lot of growth, a lot of change, a lot of new people getting chances and opportunities.”
While Hayes took over the program in 2024 two months before winning the gold medal, 2025 gave the former Chelsea coach more time to work on the team's identity and improve tactics. Hayes focused on how they adapt, Fox said. “I think it's really just about being tactically flexible and recognizing and understanding that with a lot of opponents, they play one way against one team and then when they play us they play differently. And have that tactical ability to recognize that on the field and then be able to talk to your teammates and collectively, as well as individually, make those changes on the fly.”
More experienced players like Fox provided a necessary foundation of continuity for the team developing around them. Thanks to injuries, layoffs and a variety of other reasons, Fox was one of the few players to start the gold medal match in Paris and the first friendly in a while. For Fox, it's important to focus on the team's fundamentals as it adapts. But the impact of the team's development involving the younger generation is impressive: “There's a real excitement in both the game and our national team. And I feel the young players want to see their opportunities. They want to get the most out of it. They want to have fun. They want to have fun with it. I think there's definitely a level of confidence and creativity that they all want to show and that's really exciting.”
In 2025, the USWNT lost three times in a calendar year for the fifth time. They were beaten from Portugal for the first time on October 23, but it would be unwise to put too much emphasis on that, as well as the defeats to Japan and Brazil. They came during a year of transition in which Hayes made integrating new staff and experimentation a priority. The main significance of this year will be the lessons it holds for 2026.
A few days after losing to Portugal in Pennsylvania, the USWNT adjusted their tactics and lineup and beat the same opponents 3–1. Fox says of Portugal's opening performance: “I thought they had a lot of patience, that they trusted their game plan and in turn executed it.” Echoing Hayes, Fox said they looked a little rusty in the 113 days between their previous friendly and defeat to Portugal, which was also a lesson for the team.
“I think we didn't see each other for about four or five months and then Portugal was our first game and I think that was a really good lesson also in terms of how aggressive and physical we have to be and also the really non-tactical things like tackling, hitting, blocking, being aggressive. Because I also think Portugal 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 raise her catch and test it overseas. The Virginia native has often highlighted the appeal of playing in the Champions League as inspiration for her move, and last May she won with Arsenal. Fox says the experience has expanded her sense of what she's capable of: “I feel like it's added a whole different depth to me. Last year we had to go through all the qualifying rounds for the Champions League to even be a part of it. And it all started right at 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 during it, I was like, 'Listen, I've been through this. I can get through this.”
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Arsenal made a slow start to the Champions League, where they opened with defeat by eight-time champion OL Lyonne– and the Women's Super League, where they are fifth, five points behind leaders Chelsea, who they play on Saturday. But Arsenal are no strangers to coming back from defeat to win, or establishing themselves as dark horses. That's how they made their way to Champions League glory and Fox says: “It's time to change things up and come back and make a statement. I mean, that's very much my mentality.”
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