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Starting in World Cup debut, Virginia’s Emily Fox talks grit, preparation, and role models

NBC Sports
·4 min read

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When Emily Fox was a kid, part of what drew her to soccer was the idea of a team. “I felt so connected to my teammates,” Fox told NBC Sports ahead of the start of the 2023 Women’s World Cup. “Winning together, losing together. It was just so fun.” The 25-year-old defender from Ashburn, VA still loves the camaraderie of the game, and now she’s experienced it on the highest level, making her World Cup debut in the USWNT’s 3-0 opening win against Vietnam. In her first time on the global stage, Fox says she’s focused on doing everything she can to help the team win. “All of us know that every game is going to be a battle,” Fox says. “And so I think for the team, it's really taking it game by game and giving it your all each and every time you're out on the field.”

Fox refers to earning her spot on the World Cup team as a stepping stone, albeit a big one. “There's so much more work to put in,” she says. “With the 2019 World Cup, I remember watching the games and being like, I want to be there.” At that point, in 2019, Fox was a junior at the University of North Carolina. She hurt her knee that same year, but came back even stronger; she was the number one overall pick in the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League draft.

Now, Fox plays with the North Carolina Courage – a homecoming that she has embraced. “When I was at UNC, I could train with the Courage…and their team was unbelievable. Getting that exposure and being in that training environment helped me so much, and it made me so excited to go pro. And now I'm back on the Courage, so it is a full circle moment.”

Another lasting impact from her time at UNC: a passion for the men’s English Premier League, thanks to two roommates who always had it on. She’s continued to follow and draw inspiration from players like Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, who bring an aggression to the outside back role. “Watching them and how they almost played as a midfielder too, which I loved - I think now the outside back position is so important in the attack, as well as in the defense,” Fox said of players who’ve helped mold her approach to the game. “And I think in terms of defensive presence, on the women’s side, [England and Barcelona defender] Lucy Bronze is so dominant on the right side.”

Fox says that she has always set high standards for herself, and those didn’t really change from playing college to going pro. But Fox’s game has shifted, becoming even more dynamic and versatile since she left school. At UNC, Fox always played on the right side, but on the national team, she started playing more on the left. “I think a lot of it was just getting reps outside of practice, and training on the left side to get to the point where I felt comfortable playing both on my left foot and right foot. It became a lot easier for me to feel just as confident on either one.”

When it comes to getting out there and playing, Fox looks to three key things: “It’s connections with your team, confidence within yourself, and then just doing it,” she says. “I've always been an attacker, so it's combining everything that I have and being free and playing what I see.”

The USWNT has the hurdle of their first 2023 World Cup game out of the way thanks to that group stage win over Vietnam, but it’s early days still in the effort for the unprecedented three-peat. Next up is Netherlands, Wednesday at 9pm ET on Fox and en español on Telemundo and Peacock. “All of us have worked so hard to get here,” Fox said of herself and her teammates. “So part of it is us being able to play free and enjoy it and have fun. And then the other side is just the gritty, the pushing, the proving that we can do anything.”

To learn more about the stars of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, listen to NBC Sports’ women’s soccer podcast, My New Favorite Futbolista. For more on Emily Fox and other superstars in World Cup action, stay tuned to On Her Turf all summer long.

2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup schedule, start time, dates, how to watch live

  • When: July 20 - August 20

  • Group stage kick-off times: 12:30am, 1am, 1:30am, 3am, 3:30am, 4am, 6am, 7am, 8am, 8:30am, 8pm, 9pm, 10pm (all ET)

  • Location: Australia and New Zealand

  • TV channels en Español: Telemundo, Universo, Peacock

Streaming en Español: Peacock (all 64 matches)