The United States Women’s National Team is currently in a decent enough position heading into next year’s World Cup qualifying, having churned through several players and tested various combinations. However,
there is also an eye on the future, with multiple Under-23 camps providing opportunities and familiarization for the next cycle. Pietra Tordin is a name to watch, with the attacker continuing to produce at every successive level, now in the National Women’s Soccer League. The 21-year-old Portland Thorns forward just completed her rookie season and should show rapid improvement in 2026 after adjusting to the professional game.
Born in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida, and carrying the lineage of a respected Brazilian footballing family, Tordin competed on various boys’ teams before eventually joining FC Prime in the Elite Clubs National League. She also played for the Olympic Development Program and at the scholastic level for Doral Academy, having taken a year off from travel ball as a sophomore after feeling “burnt out.” Top Drawer Soccer rated her as a four-star prospect and listed her as the 109th-best player in the Class of 2022, displaying “consistency in [scoring] and confidence on the ball.”
“Pietra is a prolific attacking personality that can feature anywhere along the front line or as an attacking midfielder,” according to an early assessment. “She is exceptional in 1-v-1 situations and has the innate ability to create something out of absolutely nothing. Pietra possesses an accurate shot from distance and has the confidence to score from a variety of angles inside the box. Her vision and comfort with the ball also allows for dangerous final passes to put her teammates in positions to score.”
Tordin then matriculated to Princeton University and registered eight goals and three assists in 17 appearances during her first year, receiving Ivy Rookie of the Year and second-team All-Ivy. As a sophomore, the “humble superstar” contributed 12 goals and six assists in 18 matches, being named first-team All-Ivy and third-team United Soccer Coaches All-American. After training with Orlando Pride over the summer, her third and final campaign as a Tiger was disrupted by international duty but saw her put up an impressive 10 goals and two assists in 10 fixtures on the way to winning the Ivy League regular season and postseason titles, garnering first-team All-Ivy and Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year.
Leaving college early, Tordin signed with the Portland Thorns on a two-year deal with a player option for 2027. She made her professional debut as a substitute in the opener and scored her first goal in May’s 4-1 victory over the Houston Dash, adding another finish in the 3-0 win against Club América to help her side claim third place in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup. Her contributions amounted to five goals and one assist in 28 total appearances across all competitions, which included a run to the semifinal round of the playoffs. After adjusting to the “speed of play and physicality of professional soccer,” her performances saw her named the NWSL’s Rookie of the Month for June and August.
“My positioning on the field right now is much more similar to how I played [with the national team],” Tordin told Globo. “Not as much as in college because there I had more space, although I was a different center forward than I am now because of the time and space I had on the ball. There I had more time to turn my body and have more space to dribble, but here I don’t have much space to dribble. Now I’m a post-up nine, I kind of hold the ball (pivot).”
At the international level, Tordin is eligible for the United States and Brazil, competing with the latter program in the Under-20 group, playing two friendlies and scoring in a 1-1 draw against France. She also accepted a call-up to her birth nation’s Under-20 team and became a star at the 2024 U-20 World Cup, contributing four goals in seven appearances on the way to a third-place finish, including a hat trick in a 7-0 group stage win over Paraguay. Emma Hayes named her to the “Futures Camp” last January, followed by inclusion at the Under-23 training camps in October and November, featuring against Slovakia and England. The door for her future commitment remains open, with the developing talent “seeing herself playing for [either country].”
Standing at five feet, six inches tall, Tordin is strong in the air and has earned praise for her “technical skills, sharp game vision, and leadership ability on the field,” showing the deftness to “weave, control, and score.” She is a striker who desires to be a “dedicated finisher” and can “open up space” yet competes on “both sides of the game” as a “team player with aggressiveness and intensity” in the counter-press. Showing “crazy athleticism” and “[Erling] Haaland-esque movement,” her ability to settle and take several touches inside of the box carried over from the collegiate level, with the composure and the confidence to wait for a better shooting window.
“Tordin is usually found in the highest position there is on the field, centrally, and she tends to go right when needed—maybe because her preferred foot is the right,” wrote Melina Gaspar for Rose City Review. “Additionally, Tordin does drop deep in defensive phases—just not as deep as the rest of her teammates. And the forward is always ready to go as high as she can as soon as the Thorns recover possession. The reason? She’s Portland’s target to dictate counterattacks… She can dictate the tempo from the midfield… Tordin stays between the center-backs most of the time; even with defenders breathing down her neck, she has proved she can still curl off a shot after a magical touch or two… She’s been good at making some space for herself, even if it’s reduced, and that has been helping her in creating shots.”
Tordin had a solid first season in the NWSL and established herself as a scoring option for the Thorns. The objective in 2026 is to increase production and maintain consistency throughout the entire schedule. If her scoring reaches youth and collegiate levels, then she should be a quick addition to the USWNT depth chart, possibly sliding into the World Cup or Olympic rosters.
