Croix Bethune

Croix Collette Bethune ( ; born March 14, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team.

Bethune played college soccer for the USC Trojans and Georgia Bulldogs, twice being named first-team All-American. She was selected third overall by the Washington Spirit in the 2024 NWSL Draft, tying the league's single-season assist record as a rookie and being named the NWSL Rookie of the Year and the NWSL Midfielder of the Year. She was named to the NWSL Best XI both seasons she played with the Spirit. She also won a gold medal with the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Early life

Bethune was raised in Alpharetta, Georgia, the daughter of United States Air Force members Richard and Jean Bethune, and has a brother. She started playing soccer at age three or four. When she was four, her parents were stationed Stratford-upon-Avon, England, for three and a half years, where she played with boys because there was no girls' team. She played club soccer for the ECNL's Concorde Fire Soccer Club in Atlanta and was named to the national Best XI in 2017 and 2018. She committed to the University of Southern California over schools including Florida State, Duke, and UCLA. She scored 16 goals in the fall 2021 season, the third most in a season in program history, including a nine-minute hat trick in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In both 2021 and 2022, as captain of the Trojans, she was named first-team All-Pac-12, first-team All-American, and the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year. She led Georgia to its first postseason title in program history at the SEC tournament in 2023, where she scored an equalizer against Kentucky in the quarterfinals and a last-minute winner over Texas A&M in the semifinals, and was named the tournament's most valuable player. She was named second-team All-SEC and second-team All-American. She signed a three-year contract with the option to extend another year. She made her professional debut in the season opener against the Seattle Reign on March 17, starting in the attacking midfield role that previously belonged to the recently traded Ashley Sanchez. The following week, she scored her first professional goal in late stoppage time to secure a 2–1 win over Bay FC. On May 2, she assisted on three goals in a 4–2 win over the Chicago Red Stars, becoming the youngest NWSL player to record three assists in one match. On May 24, she scored a goal and broke the rookie assist record with her seventh assist of the season during a 3–2 win over the Seattle Reign. On June 15, she struck in late stoppage time to salvage a 1–1 draw against the San Diego Wave, earning NWSL Goal of the Week.

Bethune provided her tenth assist of the season in a 4–1 win over the Kansas City Current on August 25, tying the league record for assists in a season set by Tobin Heath in 2016. Five of those assists were to Ouleymata Sarr, the most between two NWSL teammates since 2019. Without her, the Spirit finished as regular season and playoffs runner-up to the Orlando Pride. Bethune was named NWSL Rookie of the Month a record four times (March/April, May, June, and August). Despite missing the last two months of the season, she was voted NWSL Rookie of the Year and Midfielder of the Year and selected to the NWSL Best XI First Team.

After eight months out of action, Bethune made her return from injury in the game against Gotham FC on April 26, 2025. She scored her first goal since the injury on August 23, striking into the net after a crafty dribble in a 3–2 win over Bay FC before an NWSL record crowd at Oracle Park. She finished the season with 2 goals and 2 assists in 20 regular-season games as the Spirit again placed second in the league. In the playoffs, she scored a late insurance goal to secure a 2–0 win over the Portland Thorns in the semifinals, before losing 1–0 to Gotham FC in the 2025 NWSL Championship. She was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team at the end of the season.

Kansas City Current After requesting a trade during the offseason, on February 11, 2026, Bethune was transferred to the Kansas City Current in exchange for in intraleague transfer funds and in allocation money, This move and Claire Hutton's concurrent but separate move from the Current to Bay FC were the third and second largest transfers in NWSL history. On July 3, she marked her 50th career regular-season appearance with two assists in a 3–0 win over expansion team Denver Summit. Later that month, she made her seventh assist of the season in a 5–1 victory over Racing Louisville, setting a new club single-season record.

International career Youth national team Bethune was first called up to a youth national team training camp with the United States national under-15 team at age 13 in March 2015. She helped win the 2016 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship, where she was named to the tournament's Best XI team. She was the youngest player on the under-17 team in November 2016. She played for the winning team at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship and competed at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. She played friendlies for the under-23 team in 2022.

Senior national team Bethune was called into her first senior national team camp as a training player in June 2024. Later that month she was named as an alternate to the national team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. Bethune made her first USWNT appearance on July 13, 2024, in the 81st minute of a friendly Olympic sendoff against Mexico. She was elevated to the main roster at the Olympics because of an injury to Jaedyn Shaw and made her Olympic debut in the 79th minute of the third group stage game against Australia on July 31. The United States went on to win the gold medal, defeating Brazil 1–0 in the final on a goal from Mallory Swanson.

On January 27, 2026, Bethune scored her first USWNT goal in a 5–0 friendly win over Chile.

Style of play An attacking midfielder, Bethune possesses excellent vision and technical skill which make her a standout passer.

Career statistics

Club

International statistics

National teamYearAppsGoals United States2024302025202026 2 1 Total 7 1

Honors and awards

Georgia Bulldogs SEC women's soccer tournament: 2023

Washington Spirit NWSL Challenge Cup: 2025

United States Summer Olympic Games gold medal: 2024 May 2024, June 2024 September 2025 NWSL Rookie of the Month: March/April 2024, May 2024, June 2024, August 2024 First-team All-American: 2021, 2022 Second-team All-American: 2023 First-team All-Pac-12: 2020, 2021, 2022 Second-team All-SEC: 2023 Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year: 2021, 2022 SEC tournament MVP: 2023