The roster for the United States Women’s National Team is never settled, with each position up for grabs and the next potential talent around the corner. Each window will typically bring a share of new invitees and debuts, sometimes at the major competitions. Jordyn Bugg is one of the recent additions to the senior level and could find herself in contention for a regular role. The 18-year-old Seattle Reign FC defender is in her second professional season and also beginning to display a scoring touch.
Raised in El Cajon, California by two former college athletes, Bugg competed with San Diego Surf in the Elite Clubs National League, initially as a midfielder. She claimed the national championship in 2024, was selected Southwest All-Conference multiple times, and committed to Stanford and then Florida State University after reclassifying to an earlier graduation year. However, multiple training sessions with San Diego Wave indicated that her future lay elsewhere and provided the opportunity for instruction on how to “exude centre-back energy.”
“It was crazy to just walk on the field and play with Alex Morgan and Naomi [Girma], and a lot of really talented players and experienced pros,” Bugg shared with USSoccer.com. “I was worried about the speed of play, the size of players and the physicality of all of it and I was right. Everything just moved so fast, but I adjusted over time and all the players and coaches were just so great in helping me out and letting a kid learn the ropes… I was committed to going to college, but the more I got used to the pro environment, the more I wanted to go into the NWSL.”
After spending time with Seattle Reign FC and displaying “a very mature level” of play, Bugg pursued the NWSL’s Under-18 Entry Mechanism and signed with the club in July on a deal through 2026, including an additional option year. She made her professional debut a few days later, featuring in a 3-2 loss to Club Tijuana in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. Her rookie season concluded with eight league and cup appearances and seven starts as the club finished at 13th in the 14-team table.
Now an “indispensable starter” this year and becoming “more comfortable on the ball,” Bugg has featured in all 13 matches and converted the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over North Carolina Courage, slamming home a 35-yard finish that is already being heralded as a potential best of the year by multiple publications. She found the back of the net again in June on an untouched cross, rescuing a point at the death in a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Stars. The NWSL named her to the Team of the Month for March and June with “a perfect tackle success rate” and accurate passing, leading the Reign to sixth in the table.
Seattle has provided the young player with an environment that is fostering development through mentorship and regular instruction. “I think we’ve been playing really well together,” Bugg told local media. “I think that we’ve had each other’s backs. We’ve really been working well together… I learn so much from [the team’s veterans] just watching… All I can do is learn from them. I feel like I can go talk to them about anything, especially on and off the field, and I think just watching them has been really helpful as well… We’ve been having specific defender meetings. We’ve been able to see the growth on the field because we’ve been talking about stuff off the field. So, I think that’s been a big jump this season that we’ve taken.”
At the international level, Bugg has been a regular member of the United States program and was a late addition for the 2022 U-17 World Cup, featuring in three matches at the tournament. She also started in all five fixtures with the Under-19 team that claimed the bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games. The defender then played all but four minutes as the Under-20 squad registered a third-place finish at the 2024 U-20 World Cup, earning a nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.
Bugg was named to the roster for January’s Futures Camp, training with the full senior team. After notching the game-winning assist on “a perfect cross to the far post” in last month’s 2-1 victory over Germany with the Under-23 squad, Emma Hayes invited her to the most recent camp that included matches against Ireland and Canada. She made her senior debut against The Girls in Green, replacing Naomi Girma in the 73rd minute of the first friendly, followed by starting and going the full frame in the second, displaying positional discipline and well-measured distribution in the shutouts.
Standing at five foot seven, Bugg is a versatile and “creative” defender who can line up at centre-back and fullback and provides a balanced profile with all of the requisite aerial dominance, interventions, poise, tempo setting, and “comfort on the ball.” She is praised for “silky-smooth and innate” play that is described as “Girma-esque,” with “athleticism, clean technicality, a good football IQ, a quiet confidence, and a strong work ethic,” along with impactful chance creation in the final third. Despite the occasional youthful error, there is clear growth during one-on-one situations, with opponents forced to shoot from distance or “turn back and recycle [possession] time after time.”
“She just gets the timing of these defensive actions,” observed the Busy Watching Women’s Soccer channel on YouTube. “[She has] incredible anticipation and timing on defense. [She] plays well ahead of her years, the physicality… Just smart stuff… [She’s] a phenomenal, phenomenal passer, too. [I’m] expecting good things here.”
Despite her youth and the advantage of experience on the back line, Bugg could force herself into the USWNT conversation. She enters the picture at an opportune time, with two years until the next major competition, which enables her to develop and potentially push the veterans. There will be growing pains and her position group has competition for minutes, but Hayes appears to have found a reliable emerging talent and considers her “a candidate for the 2028 Olympics.”
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