“Life is so much different than I would have ever dreamed of and, at such a young age, it’s crazy to think about how things can happen so quickly.”

If there’s a sentence to describe the ongoing journey of the Thompson sisters, that’s the one. It’s all happened, and continues to happen, so quickly for two of the brightest young stars in American soccer.

Older sister Alyssa, the 19-year-old superstar-in-the-making whose reflection gave us our intro for this story, is one of the future faces of the U.S. women’s national team, a player with a World Cup already on her resume. Younger sister Gisele, 18, is following right behind. She’s already joined her sister at Angel City FC and is oh so close to making her own USWNT debut. Two sisters, two journeys, but both seemingly headed for the same place: the very top.

And, as Alyssa says, it’s all happened rather quickly. Just two short years ago, the sisters broke onto the national scene by becoming the first two high school athletes to sign NIL deals with Nike. Now, with both still in their teenage years, both seem like seasoned veterans and feel the pressure to act like they are exactly that.

In their hearts, though, there are still some aspects of teenage life desperate to break through. There’s the fun, the moments by the beach, the shopping trips with friends and family. Those moments are still there, of course, but there are new moments, new memories, being created every day, ones that the average teenagers their age can never even fathom. Those moments are coming alongside icons, idols, legends. Some of those legends are players that the two now call teammates, which is still a bit weird to both of them.

It’s all happened so fast, as Alyssa says. There’s been little time to adjust to it all. But, on the other side of it, this is the life they’ve been working for. Years and years of effort have gotten them here. It’s going quickly, but this is also just the beginning.

“It’s definitely hard when you’re doing it alone,” Alyssa Thompson tells GOAL, “but it’s so much easier when my sister gets to do it with me.”

Ahead of the 2024 NWSL season, GOAL sat down with Alyssa and Gisele Thompson to discuss their rise, their lives, and what makes them so much like, and so different from, just about everyone else their age…